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Service desk supporting a self-storage REIT acquisition integration
Case Study · Real Estate / Self-Storage REIT

Forty-five analysts. Sixty days. Sub-five-percent attrition.

Standing up a 45-person Service Desk to absorb a confidential acquisition, delivered on a cadence the client could actually onboard.

Sector
Real Estate / REIT
National self-storage operator
Engagement
SOW · Contingent
Acquisition integration support
Timeline
60 days to full deploy
3 batches of 15, every 2 weeks
Team Size
45 Service Desk Analysts
Tier 1 · fully onsite
Result
<5% attrition
Industry standard 15–25%
— The Challenge

A confidential acquisition. A service desk that had to scale fast.

A national self-storage REIT, closing a large-scale acquisition found the integration overwhelming its IT Service Desk overnight.

  • The need: 45 Tier 1 analysts, mostly onsite.
  • The constraint: only ~15 onboardable every two weeks.
  • The catch: a confidential deal: sell the work, not the name.
The hardest part wasn't filling forty-five seats. It was filling them in batches the client could absorb, and having every one stay.
— Our Approach

How we delivered: on the client's cadence.

  • Sourced before signing.

    90+ pre-screened by the day pricing was agreed; batch one live in week two.

  • Two-week cadence, locked.

    15 analysts every two weeks, matched to the client's onboarding throughput.

  • Vetted on the live stack.

    AD · M365 · Windows 11 · ticketing. Hands-on tests, not résumés.

  • Local talent, onsite-ready.

    Built on the local talent pool: analysts who could start onsite fast, no relocation.

  • 100% cleared.

    Every analyst background-checked and NDA-bound, per MSA.

— The Outcome

What it looked like by the numbers.

45
Tier 1 Service Desk Analysts deployed
Entry-level + early-career · screened on live stack
60
Days from SOW signing to full team
Three batches of 15, every two weeks
<5%
Attrition across the engagement
Industry average: 15–25% on entry-level seats
100%
On-time batch delivery
Every batch landed on the scheduled date
Every batch landed on the date we were promised, and the people stayed. In the middle of an integration, that’s the difference between noise and silence — and Thunderhawk gave us silence.
Infrastructure & Operations Leader National Real Estate Investment Trust

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