Advizex - Case Studies - Unifying IT After a Merger

Unifying IT After a Merger

Seamless Integration Across Two Enterprises

The Team

Paul Rodwell, Michael Leonard, John Moses, Joe Banaga, Wade Kirkham, Mario Autore, Krish (SharePoint/OneDrive), Kevin Ryan

The Problem

Mergers almost always come with IT headaches. In this case, a recently merged organization needed to consolidate its IT infrastructure quickly.
This involved two different Microsoft tenants, two Active Directory domains, 3,800 full-time employees, 3,800 seasonal workers, over 10,000 workstations, and more than 400 Group Policy Objects (GPOs). Everything needed to be integrated into a single, unified environment—without disrupting day-to-day operations across multiple locations, including theme parks and corporate offices.

SHI had historically provided Microsoft services to the customer. Advizex wasn’t the obvious choice, but we were able to demonstrate our experience and success with similar identity consolidation projects. Our ability to adapt to unique customer needs secured us the engagement.

The Solution

Our team stepped in with a clear and methodical plan.
First: discovery. We mapped every Exchange Online mailbox, every AD account, every workstation, and every collaboration tool across both organizations.
From there, we developed a strategy to consolidate everything into one tenant and one domain:

  • 7,800 mailboxes migrated to Exchange Online
  • Consolidated SharePoint, OneDrive, Teams, and Entra ID
  • Merged Power Platform and key SaaS integrations
  • Unified 10,000+ workstations and all users under a single AD domain

We worked closely with the client's IT team to ensure the entire process was smooth and non-disruptive. Every step was tested, validated, and finalized before moving forward.

The Implementation

This was not a simple “lift and shift.” The environments were complex, with deeply embedded legacy policies and disorganized configurations.

Joe Banaga led the Microsoft architecture efforts. Wade Kirkham and Mario Autore managed engineering. Krish focused on SharePoint and OneDrive, while Kevin Ryan ensured consistent forward momentum.

Planning and communication were tightly managed throughout, especially given the seasonality of the business and the need to avoid operational downtime.

The Technology

This consolidation touched every area of the Microsoft cloud stack:

  • Exchange Online
  • SharePoint
  • OneDrive
  • Teams

And beyond:

  • Entra ID
  • Power Platform
  • Enterprise apps
  • SaaS integrations

Two Active Directory domains were unified, and both Microsoft tenants were successfully migrated.

The Impact

The result: a clean, modern IT foundation to support unified operations.
A single identity and collaboration platform has led to enhanced security, reduced access issues, streamlined collaboration, and improved performance across existing tools.

The Conclusion

Mergers bring together systems, people, and processes. With a structured approach and a skilled team, we enabled the client to consolidate two complex environments into one cohesive, secure IT operation.

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