Project experience

Case study 01

Complete optometry clinic IT build

Fraser Valley, BC · Engagement value up to $40,000

The situation

An optometry practice needed complete IT infrastructure — not a patch onto something existing, but the whole environment specified, procured, built and supported. Diagnostic equipment had to talk to practice management software, patient records had to be protected and recoverable, and none of it could be unavailable during clinic hours.

What was delivered

• Server infrastructure — specified, procured and configured to run practice management software with appropriate storage and redundancy
• Workstations — imaged, deployed and configured across exam rooms, reception and the dispensary, with standardised builds so any machine can be rebuilt quickly
• Network and cabling — switching, structured cabling and wireless designed for the physical layout of the clinic rather than dropped in generically
• Router and firewall — perimeter security configured with segmentation appropriate to an environment holding patient information
• Backup and recovery — designed to a stated recovery objective, then actually tested rather than assumed
• Diagnostic equipment integration — imaging and testing equipment connected into the practice management workflow
• Documentation — network diagram, asset inventory and credentials handed to the client as a deliverable

Beyond the infrastructure

The engagement extended into patient acquisition: Google Ads campaigns and local SEO, run alongside the technology. The practical benefit was a single accountable partner — when the booking flow on the website needed to talk to the systems inside the clinic, there was nobody to hand the problem to.

Ongoing

The build transitioned into a managed support relationship: helpdesk during clinic hours, patching, monitoring, backup verification and hardware lifecycle planning. The most valuable part of a clinic IT relationship is rarely the install — it is the two years afterwards when nothing goes badly wrong.

Why it matters

What this experience transfers to

Clinic environments are a demanding proving ground, and the disciplines carry directly into public sector work:

• Personal information handling. Clinics operate under PIPEDA. The controls — access management, segmentation, encryption, tested backup, retention — are the same ones government security questionnaires ask about.
• Uptime that has a human cost. A clinic outage means cancelled appointments. That builds a delivery culture around change windows, rollback plans and out-of-hours work.
• Fixed budgets, fixed scope. Clinics do not have contingency funds. Scoping accurately and absorbing your own estimating errors is a habit, not a policy.
• Documentation that outlives the engagement. Practices change IT providers. Leaving an environment somebody else can pick up cleanly is a professional obligation.

For prime contractors and public sector buyers: this is hands-on infrastructure, security and deployment experience with a documented approach, available as specialist capacity on defined workstreams.