Akina Network Rebuild
When Akina Inc decided to move on from their previous MSP, they knew the network needed work. What they didn't know was how much of their core infrastructure they didn't actually own—or what they'd find hiding in the gaps their MSP left behind.
Technology Stack
What we walked into
The previous MSP owned the router and firewall units for Akina and its subsidiaries, as well as the backup appliance. The rest of the network was a mix of unmanaged switches and consumer-grade access points scattered across multiple office and lab spaces.
That meant Akina didn’t fully control their own network. Hardware changes, configuration updates, and even basic troubleshooting required going through an MSP that had every incentive to keep things proprietary.
The stuff they didn't mention
Transitioning away from an MSP always involves some discovery, but this one had more than the usual share of surprises. We found colocated hardware that wasn’t documented anywhere, and a remote desktop solution that Akina’s accounting firm was using to access their systems— neither of which came up in any transition conversations with the outgoing provider.
These weren’t malicious omissions exactly, but they’re the kind of thing that happens when one company holds all the institutional knowledge about your infrastructure. Someone at the MSP knew about these setups because they’d put them in place. They just never thought to mention them when handing things off, or it was handled by someone else and nobody we dealt with thought to really look through the documentation.
A network that's actually theirs
We replaced the entire network stack with Ubiquiti equipment—managed switches, proper access points, and a unified management interface that gives Akina visibility into and control over their network. A Synology NAS handles centralized file storage and backups, replacing the MSP-owned appliance. The Ubiquiti one-click VPN setup made it easy to replace the MSP’s remote desktop setup with a secure solution that can be managed right alongside the rest of the network.
The result is a network that Akina actually owns, controls, and understands. No proprietary lock-in, no undocumented dependencies, and no surprises waiting to be discovered.