Comunet Case Study: IT Modernisation for Kid Sense Child Development

Kid Sense Child Development is a for profit organisation dedicated to supporting children with speech, language, and communication difficulties. Based in Unley, South Australia, also with five other locations, Kid Sense works with families, schools, and communities to deliver early intervention, therapy programs, and educational support tailored to each child’s needs. 

The organisation offers specialist services across speech pathology, occupational therapy, and allied health, while also providing community education initiatives to promote awareness and understanding of communication challenges. Beyond therapy, Kid Sense delivers resources, workshops, and outreach programs to empower families and educators, ensuring children have every opportunity to reach their full potential. 

To continue delivering these vital services effectively, Kid Sense needed to transition from an outdated and unreliable IT environment to a modern, secure, and scalable system. Their legacy infrastructure was complex, misconfigured, and frequently disrupted daily operations, all of which was creating frustration among staff and limiting their ability to focus on the children in their care.

The project aimed to modernise Kid Sense’s IT environment through: 

 - A full upgrade to Microsoft Windows 11 to improve security, performance, and device compatibility. 

 - A phone system replacement to enable unified communications across all sites.

 - Ongoing managed IT support to create a reliable, responsive, and proactive technology foundation. 

 The goal was to transform IT from a barrier into an enabler. This meant ensuring technology worked seamlessly every day, supporting productivity, collaboration, and service delivery. 

Prior to partnering with Comunet, Kid Sense faced daily IT frustrations. Staff frequently encountered login issues, performance problems, and connectivity failures that affected their ability to deliver therapy and manage operations efficiently. 

Comunet discovered that Kid Sense’s existing environment was overly complex and misconfigured, resulting in constant support calls and wasted time. No one had invested the effort to rebuild the system from the ground up to ensure stability and scalability. 

Migrating 45 devices to a modern Windows 11 environment while maintaining service continuity required careful planning. Comunet provided Kid Sense with advanced notice, allowing time for budgeting and preparation to minimise disruption. Once implemented, staff were able to log in and start using their new systems within 30 minutes - an immediate sign of success.

To address Kid Sense’s requirements, Comunet implemented a comprehensive modernisation program including: 

 - Comunet rebuilt Kid Sense’s infrastructure environment to simplify and prioritise a Microsoft cloud first approach to an easily manageable and simple environment to maintain and significantly reduced their operating costs. 

 - Managed Service Desk: Providing ongoing support in partnership with Kid Sense’s internal IT contact, ensuring proactive issue resolution and seamless operations. 

 - Microsoft Windows 11 Upgrade: Delivering a compliant, secure, and high-performance environment, optimised for productivity and future scalability. 

 - Unified Communications Platform: Introducing integrated voice, video, and messaging tools in a single system, improving connectivity, and reducing communication costs. 

 - Infrastructure Rebuild: Rebuilding Kid Sense’s infrastructure with a Microsoft cloud-first approach, simplifying the environment for easy management and significantly reducing operating costs. 

Comunet’s partnership approach was central to the project’s success. From the outset, the team worked closely with Kid Sense leadership and staff to deeply understand their challenges, priorities, and future technology goals. 

Rather than providing one-off fixes, Comunet positioned itself as a long-term partner, helping Kid Sense map out a technology roadmap aligned with organisational growth. The collaboration involved open communication, clear planning, and proactive engagement at every stage. 

By identifying the upgrade requirements early, Comunet gave Kid Sense time to plan financially and operationally. This transparent and collaborative approach reduced stress, avoided disruption, and built lasting trust between teams. 

After witnessing the success of the IT transformation, Kid Sense moved its phone system to Comunet as well - citing the stark difference in reliability, responsiveness, and support quality compared to previous providers. 

Since partnering with Comunet, Kid Sense has seen a complete turnaround in its IT performance and reliability. The organisation now operates within a modern, stable, and efficient environment that enables staff to focus on supporting children rather than troubleshooting technology. 

The benefits of the partnership have been significant: 

 - Seamless day-to-day operations: Staff begin each day with confidence that their systems will work. No more daily IT frustrations or delays. 

- Greater productivity: Faster logins, improved performance, and reduced downtime allow therapists and educators to spend more time supporting children and families. 

 - Enhanced collaboration: Unified communications now connect all six sites in one platform, improving coordination and consistency across teams. 

 - Future-ready infrastructure: Upgrading to Windows 11 provides a secure, compliant, and scalable foundation that supports continued organisational growth. 

 - Cost savings and improved functionality: The new phone system delivers enhanced features, better reporting, and noticeable reductions in operational costs. 

 - Increased confidence in technology: Staff describe their systems as faster, easier, and more reliable - transforming IT from a blocker into a true enabler. 

 “Everything is better under Comunet. Everything is faster, easier, more reliable. The staff are fabulous, and we can finally get on with doing what we need to do, because we’re no longer distracted by IT problems.” 
- Joanna Buttfield, Executive Director at Kid Sense 

Efficiency at Kid Sense has increased tenfold since the transition. The organisation is now well-equipped to leverage technology in delivering high-quality therapy, education, and family support across South Australia. 

For over 25 years Comunet has been designing and implementing IT strategies that leverage technology to achieve business objectives for small businesses, through to enterprise organisations. With expertise across all areas of IT including strategic consulting, cloud technology, cyber security, and software, we help clients on their digital transformation journey. Through our partnerships with leading global vendors, we deliver the best technology solutions effectively and efficiently.

To learn more about how Comunet can assist your organisation with cloud migration, please contact us.