About OCS
Onecall Steel & Form (OCS) is a privately owned business based in the Canberra region, specialising in construction products and services. Established in 2015, it has grown to become a one-stop shop for steel and formwork supplies, catering to both residential and commercial projects.
What was the challenge?
In 2024 Onecall Steel & Form (OCS) — an ACT & NSW-based steel reinforcing and formwork supplier — approached F1 Solutions after making the decision to transition from their previous IT provider. Dissatisfied with excessive costs and inadequate response times to critical support requests, they recognised the need for a technology partner capable of delivering responsive support and clear, predictable costs.
Our initial assessment revealed the full extent of OCS's challenges. Their previous provider had migrated their environment to the cloud, from an on-premises solution, but the previous onsite hardware was never decommissioned and was left operating without maintenance. A major concern was their primary physical server, which was left powered on and running without security updates, posing a significant risk to the organisation.
The "cloud" environment hosting OCS’s virtual machines was hosted at their previous provider's premises, rather than on a dedicated cloud platform. OCS relied entirely on a site-to-site VPN to access their own business systems, creating performance issues and vendor lock-in with excessive hosting costs. Combined with aging workstations and the provider's slow response times, their team faced constant IT frustrations that impacted daily operations.
A unique solution
After the initial onboarding was complete, we commenced several projects to begin modernising OCS’s ICT infrastructure whilst providing the timely support they needed as an organisation.
Our team successfully migrated their applications and services to a new virtual machine hosted in Microsoft Azure, providing genuine cloud hosting with enterprise-grade reliability and security standards. This migration eliminated their dependence on the previous provider's infrastructure and restored direct control over critical business systems.
All redundant on-premise equipment was securely decommissioned and removed, eliminating security vulnerabilities and reducing their physical infrastructure footprint. We replaced the majority of aging workstations with current modern business computers, ensuring reliable support for daily operations.
We implemented comprehensive security controls aligned with the ACSC Essential Eight, including automated patch management, endpoint protection, strong access controls including multi-factor authentication, and continuous security monitoring. For an organisation with limited internal IT, these controls materially reduce the risk of compromise and data loss.
Throughout this modernisation, we maintained the responsive, proactive support service that OCS required, addressing issues promptly and ensuring business continuity during the transition period.
A lasting partnership
OCS needed more than just another IT provider, they wanted a technology partner who would be responsive to their needs and transparent about costs.
We worked closely with OCS leadership to understand both their immediate IT challenges and their concerns about value and support. This allowed us to design solutions and service levels that addressed their complete business requirements.
Today, OCS has the partnership they sought. They receive proactive support, transparent pricing, and strategic guidance that ensures their technology investments deliver real business value. Some major projects that we have undertaken with them include:
Cloud server migration
This project migrated OCS’s files and services from their previous provider’s self-hosted server to a virtual server hosted with Microsoft Azure, reducing monthly hosting costs by over 50% and enabling staff to securely connect remotely to their server infrastructure.
Cyber security uplift
A major cyber security uplift was undertaken during the initial onboarding of OCS’s environment, aligning their environment with the ACSC Essential Eight Maturity Level 1. Several improvements were implemented during this project, including cloud backups, separate user accounts with multi-factor authentication enabled, security information and event management via Microsoft’s Sentinel and device hardening.
Yass office setup
We supported OCS with the IT setup of their new warehouse and office in Yass. Complete IT infrastructure was delivered for Onecall Steel & Form (OCS) to support the launch of their new Yass office. Work encompassed configuring and deploying all new network hardware, including a firewall, access points, computers, and printers — alongside establishing a Sophos Red VPN to connect the Yass and Mitchell offices. Concurrently, the ageing Mitchell office firewall was replaced and redundant hardware removed, strengthening overall network security.
The entire project was completed within a two-week period, with all configurations documented ensuring OCS’s new office was fully operational from day one.
The benefits for Onecall Steel & Form
The modernisation of OCS's technology environment has delivered measurable improvements across their organisation. They have moved from daily IT frustrations and security vulnerabilities to a stable and secure environment that supports rather than hinders their business operations. Their team can focus on core business activities instead of wrestling with technology issues, whilst transparent pricing and proactive support have replaced the uncertainty and delays they previously experienced.
In addition to the benefit of having a trusted partner to consult for all ICT matters, Onecall Steel & Form have also experienced the below benefits:
Eliminated critical security vulnerabilities through proper decommissioning and modern security controls
Achieved true cloud independence with direct control over business systems in Azure
Reduced IT disruptions and support tickets through proactive monitoring and modern hardware (35% reduction in support tickets)
Established predictable IT costs with transparent pricing and no hidden fees
Improved employee productivity with reliable systems and rapid support resolution times (Average resolution time around 10 hrs, with 50% of tickets raised were resolved at first contact