Digital transformation of a global insurance company’s IT infrastructure

A full refresh and upgrade of their IT to help employees and critical systems

A global insurance company needed to completely refresh their outdated desktops and laptops in the UK. They needed better hardware, the most recent operating system, and a VPN to keep their data safe. It had to do this without costing the earth, while making sure their people could work anywhere, at any time. That meant using cloud software from cheaper managed service providers.

They also wanted to use Microsoft’s 365 services, fully moving all their existing Exchange, Lync and SharePoint data online. They were keen to move away from their on-site service, because of the high cost using this infrastructure—along with the service-desk model.

Everything needed to shift to remote working

Before we could move their IT over to the cloud—and set them up to work remotely—we needed to migrate their data across. So we configured everything in a domain-separated M365 environment, and used appropriate Mobile Application Management (MAM) policies, as well as OneDrive. We also met all their critical business needs by working with their InfoSec and Data Protection teams. We could then move these additional applications to their new service provider through Service Readiness processes.

We had to cope with the lockdown blip

When COVID-19 restrictions hit the UK in March 2020, we completely redesigned the programme plan to roll out the new desktops and laptops quickly, upgrade their VPN, and migrate their SharePoint and M365 data. This meant working hand-in-hand with third-party suppliers across Europe. All with an entirely virtual team ourselves.

That meant figuring out how to get desktops and laptops to over 5,500 end users across the UK and Europe. But it wasn’t just the hardware that was a challenge. Most of their old applications didn’t work with their new operating system, so we needed to roll out new cloud solutions instead. On top of that, we had to upgrade their VPN, and migrate all the data from their SharePoint and Microsoft 365 accounts.

That wasn’t all. With the new devices on their doorstep, people needed to know how to use them. So we created a comms and training plan, building the materials they’d need to get started. And setting up an on-demand support team to help them fix any issues.

In just over 18 months, we completely refreshed their systems. By moving to a more remote culture, we kept their vital services running throughout lockdown and prepared them for a more digital future. Meanwhile, we took out around £2 million a year cost from BT on prem.

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