A 20-Year ICT Partnership Supporting Growth, Security, and Nationwide Service

With growing teams and sensitive client data to protect, Abbott needed an ICT partner they could rely on. See how Totality keeps their people supported, systems secure, and operations running smoothly across New Zealand.

About Abbott Insurance Brokers

Abbott is a nationwide insurance and risk advisory business, supporting thousands of clients with commercial and domestic insurance, life and health insurance, private asset management, and KiwiSaver. Their model is built on personal relationships, trust, and the safe handling of sensitive client information – making reliability, cybersecurity, and business continuity essential. With offices spanning Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington, Nelson, Christchurch, Rangiora and Dunedin, Abbott needed technology that would scale with their growth and a partner who could support their entire footprint.

The Challenge: Nation-Wide Growth & Increasing IT Complexity

Growing Beyond Small Business IT: Abbott originally relied on a single IT contractor. As the business scaled to seven offices, this model no longer worked. They needed:

• Nationwide coverage
• Multi-layered expertise
• Faster response times
• A partner who understood their business deeply

A Diverse Workforce Needing Seamless Technology: With more than 100 staff – each with varying levels of digital capability – upgrading systems required careful planning and a focus on user experience.

Rising Cybersecurity Threats in a High-Risk Sector: As a financial services organisation handling confidential client data, cyber maturity became a critical priority. Abbott needed tools, guidance, and proactive monitoring to reduce business risk.

The Partnership with Totality

Abbott’s relationship with Totality spans 20+ years, a sign of long term partnership and growth together. Across that time, what has remained constant is trust, communication, and consistency.

“Totality have effectively been our IT department. Having a trusted partner who guides us with clear, honest advice has been invaluable through our growth.” – Anthony Jones, General Manager Operations

ICT Requirements

• Strengthen cybersecurity maturity
• Support enduser helpdesk needs
• Deliver nationwide meeting room technology
• Guide device lifecycle management and modernisation
• Provide strategic IT advice, not just fix issues

The Solution:

Modern ICT for a Modern, Distributed Workforce
A key milestone for Abbott has been the steady modernisation of its technology environment, guided by Totality’s long-standing partnership. A convenient monthly per-seat support model ensures staff can access help quickly and keep working without disruption, no matter which office they’re in. Alongside this, Totality manages Abbott’s device lifecycle end-to-end – from preconfigured laptops to seamless rollouts – making upgrades like the move to Windows 11 simple and non disruptive for users.

State of the Art Meeting Experience
Totality’s technical guidance has also enhanced the way Abbott collaborates both internally, and with clients, nationwide. With Microsoft Teams-enabled meeting rooms now standard across multiple offices, Abbott’s teams and partners can connect easily, reducing travel while improving communication and training.

Security at the Core
Cybersecurity remains central to Abbott’s operations, given the sensitive client information the business protects. Totality has helped strengthen this by introducing tools like Huntress, which has identified both external risks and internal behaviours that could pose security issues. This has improved awareness across the organisation and increased confidence in Abbott’s cyber posture.

“Totality understands our business and our people. That’s why the relationship works – and why it’s lasted more than twenty years.” – Andrea Poole, Business Support Manager

Outcomes Achieved

Through its long-standing partnership with Totality, Abbott has strengthened its technology foundation and improved the way its nationwide teams work every day. Key outcomes include:

• A more resilient and modern ICT environment
• Stronger cybersecurity posture
• Faster issue resolution and improved staff confidence
• Consistent technology standards nationwide
• A trusted, long-term partnership

A Recommendation for other New Zealand Businesses:

As Anthony, Andrea & the Abbott team plan ahead for further growth across New Zealand, they will continue leveraging their technology partnership with Totality, and can share a word of advice for other businesses:

“After 20+ years of partnership, we can certainly say our business chose the right IT provider in Totality. So to any other businesses searching for a trusted provider, we recommend talking to Totality. They always pick up the phone, are always nearby no matter where you’re based, and are a good group of people to work with.”