IT support for surveyors and planners
Survey crews collect data in the field, the office turns it into plans and the planners turn it into consents. We make sure the data, software and devices behind that chain are fast, secure and backed up.
IT for surveyors & planners
Land surveying and planning consultancies handle some of the heaviest data of any small office. Field crews bring back GNSS and total station observations, drone imagery and point clouds, which the office processes in CAD and design software before lodging survey datasets through LINZ Landonline. Planners work alongside them with GIS layers, council plans and resource consent applications that can run to hundreds of pages. All of it has to be kept, because a boundary or a consent condition can be questioned years later.
That combination puts real pressure on hardware, storage and networks. Point clouds and imagery can fill a laptop in a week, CAD workstations need proper graphics, and field controllers and tablets must sync back to the office without files being lost or overwritten. Survey firms also tend to run a mix of older specialist software and newer cloud tools, and licences for both need careful handling, especially when a workstation fails the week before a lodgement or a consent hearing.
Office IT supports survey and planning practices with three to seventy-five staff. We specify CAD and GIS workstations, set up storage that copes with very large project data, organise sync from field devices, manage software licences and keep everything backed up with tested restores. Our technicians work onsite in Auckland and Hamilton, and we support regional offices remotely, with planned visits for projects such as server, storage or network upgrades that need hands on the hardware.
Common IT problems in this industry
Very large datasets
Point clouds, drone imagery and aerial photos can reach hundreds of gigabytes per project. Ordinary cloud sync and small laptop drives struggle.
CAD and GIS performance
Design and GIS software needs strong graphics and plenty of memory. Generic office PCs make every redraw slow.
Field to office data flow
Data from controllers, tablets and drones has to land in the right project folder without overwriting earlier work.
Records kept for decades
Survey records and consent files can be needed long after the job. They must survive staff changes, hardware replacements and software upgrades.
Specialist licences
Survey and design software licences are costly and often bound to dongles, servers or named users, and break easily during upgrades.
Regional and remote staff
Crews and planners often work away from the office and need secure access to project files from site or a regional base.
What we set up for you
CAD and GIS workstations
We specify desktops and mobile workstations with suitable graphics cards, memory and fast storage, and quote them in writing before ordering.
Storage for big projects
We set up fast network storage or a hybrid cloud arrangement so large datasets stay quick to open while documents remain easy to share.
Structured field uploads
Each project gets a clear folder layout for raw field data, processed data and deliverables, with a simple upload routine for crews.
Long-term archive
Completed jobs move to a searchable archive with backups and version history, so old surveys and consents can be found and restored years later.
Licence management
We track specialist software licences, dongles and licence servers, and handle reactivation when machines are replaced.
Secure remote access
Staff away from the office reach project files through Microsoft 365 or a secure connection to office storage, with multi-factor sign-in.
Systems we support
We work with the software and equipment your business already relies on, and with your software vendors when something needs their help.
- LINZ Landonline for survey dataset lodgement
- AutoCAD and Autodesk Civil 3D
- 12d Model for survey and civil design
- ArcGIS and QGIS for mapping and spatial analysis
- Trimble and Leica field and office software
- Council online consent and planning portals
- Microsoft 365, SharePoint and Teams
Start with a free IT health check
A technician reviews your computers, accounts, backups, security and network, then gives you a short written report with the risks ranked and a price to fix them. No charge, no obligation.
Book the health checkServices that fit
Cloud & servers
Onsite servers, NAS and Azure set up and looked after, or your old file server moved to the cloud.
Cloud & servers
Backup & disaster recovery
Backups of Microsoft 365, servers and key files, checked daily and test-restored, plus a written recovery plan.
Backup & disaster recovery
Managed IT
One monthly price per person for support, security, updates and backups. Your outsourced IT team.
Managed ITIT for surveyors & planners: questions
Should our survey data live in the cloud or on a local server?
Usually both. Documents and deliverables suit Microsoft 365, while large point clouds and imagery that several people open every day are often faster on local network storage that is backed up to the cloud. We measure your data and internet speed before recommending a design.
Can you help with drone and point cloud storage?
Yes. We plan storage capacity for the volume your crews collect, set up a sensible structure for raw and processed data and make sure it is all included in the backup.
How do you handle software licence dongles and servers?
We keep a register of every licence, where it is installed and how it is activated. When hardware changes, we move licences carefully and work with the vendor if a reset is needed.
How long should we keep survey records?
That depends on your professional obligations and your own risk view. Once you decide, we set up an archive and backup approach that keeps records readable and recoverable for that period.
Can field staff upload data from site?
Yes. With a reliable mobile connection, field devices and laptops can upload directly to the right project folder. Where coverage is poor, we set up a simple routine for uploading when crews return to the office.
What does support cost a survey practice?
Plans run from $69 to $169 per user per month plus GST. Workstations, storage and network upgrades are projects, quoted in writing first so the cost is clear before anything is ordered.
Other industries we work with
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