.png)
Designing a Clear, Confident Identity & Collaboration Pathway for a Major NZ Tertiary Institution
A major New Zealand tertiary institution was progressing toward a future merged entity. Staff across both organisations needed to collaborate securely now, even though long-term merger planning was still in flux. Timelines were tight, pressure was mounting, and early architectural clarity was essential to keep the wider programme moving.
Date: 2025 | Client: High volume construction & materials business | Sector: Infrastructure
The Challenge.
They needed to enable secure, reliable collaboration between two organisations before any full migration or integration could occur.
There were several factors that made this difficult:
-
Two separate identity and Microsoft 365 environments with no shared architecture.
-
Limited ability for staff to collaborate without additional design work.
-
Tight timeframes tied to programme milestones.
-
Evolving long-term merger plans creating uncertainty.
-
Multiple identity and directory systems in scope.
-
Dependency on stakeholder availability and timely decisions.
-
No existing architecture to support coexistence at scale.
If nothing changed, collaboration would remain constrained, interim solutions would create technical debt, future migration complexity would increase, and both internal and external stakeholder experience would suffer
What we did (together).
Cyma was brought in as a specialist cloud architecture partner, embedded within the broader delivery team to bring clarity and structure.
Working alongside them, we:
-
Led discovery across identity, directory services, and Microsoft 365 environments.
-
Designed an interim identity and collaboration model enabling staff from both organisations to work together securely.
-
Developed a draft future state (greenfield) identity and M365 architecture.
-
Facilitated workshops and design reviews with technical stakeholders.
-
Produced clear design artefacts with assumptions, dependencies, and recommendations.
-
Helped the client prioritise coexistence over premature consolidation.
-
Kept the work at a decision-ready, high-level architecture rather than detailed implementation design too early.
Enabled secure collaboration fast
By designing an interim identity and M365 model that lets both organisations work together immediately.
Cut through complexity
With clear, decision-ready architectural guidance for both the short-term and the future merged environment.
Reduced risk and unnecessary cost
By avoiding premature consolidation and preventing technical debt.
Kept momentum high
Through collaborative workshops, practical artefacts, and focused specialist support embedded in the delivery team.
The Result.
The organisation achieved clarity, confidence, and a solid architectural direction for both immediate needs and longer-term ambitions.
Key outcomes included:
-
A clear path for secure collaboration between the two organisations during the transition.
-
Alignment between short-term requirements and the long-term identity and M365 vision.
-
Increased confidence in identity and M365 decisions.
-
Shared understanding of sequencing, dependencies, and future constraints across all teams.
-
Reduced uncertainty around future migration and consolidation activities.
-
Better, more informed technical conversations and decision-making.
Why it worked.
This engagement succeeded because of:
-
Clear role definition between delivery ownership and specialist architectural support.
-
Strong collaboration across all parties.
-
A focus on clarity, sequencing, and readiness - not rushing into premature implementation.
-
Design artefacts that created a strong foundation for later delivery phases.
Cyma provided trusted, specialist guidance that brought clarity to complex identity decisions and enabled the programme to move forward with confidence.