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This client operates within the global food and beverage industry, providing news, insights, and analysis on trends, innovations, product launches, sustainability efforts, and business developments across sectors such as packaging, ingredients, and beverages.
Their content includes articles, reports, awards, and events, aimed at professionals looking to stay informed about the evolving landscape of the food and beverage industry.
Our relationship with them spans nearly 18 years. When we first started working together, they were a large company with many employees and a dedicated internal IT manager. At that time, we provided ongoing support for a CISCO product, which was the focus of our involvement.
After some years, the company stopped using the CISCO product and no longer required our services. However, around five years ago, they re-approached us to manage a one-off project involving the migration of their on-prem Exchange system to Microsoft 365’s hosted Exchange, marking the beginning of a new phase in our partnership.
Then in 2023, after the company had undergone significant changes, they contacted us again.
They had downsized considerably and, unfortunately, couldn’t justify having a full-time IT manager anymore. They were at a crossroads and realised they needed IT support, deciding to partner with us.
When we reconnected, they had four physical servers in their office that were no longer necessary for their smaller team. These servers were causing issues—not only were they loud and generating a lot of heat, but they were also driving up electricity costs.
Additionally, the company was still relying on an on-prem Active Directory system, which required their remote workers to use a VPN just to access files, complicating remote work unnecessarily.
We quickly identified that moving them to the cloud would be the most efficient and scalable solution.
Here’s what we did:
Migrating to Cloud Services: We helped the client shut down their on-prem servers and moved everything to cloud-based services, freeing up physical space and eliminating the noise and heat problems.
Transition to Entra ID: Since they were still using an on-prem Active Directory, we migrated them to Entra ID (formerly Azure Active Directory), which provided a much smoother remote working experience—no more VPN headaches for their employees!
Server Decommissioning: We are auditing the remaining servers, ensuring they can be decommissioned safely, allowing the company to fully embrace the cloud.
The shift to cloud IT has been transformative for this client in several ways:
Lower Overheads: With the servers no longer running 24/7, they will see a reduction in energy consumption and lower overheads. While they now pay a monthly fee for cloud services, it’s a fraction of what they would have spent on new hardware and ongoing maintenance.
More Office Space: By removing the server racks, they’ve freed up valuable office space that can now be used for other purposes.
Remote Work Flexibility: Employees no longer need a VPN to access files. They can work from anywhere, accessing everything seamlessly through the cloud, providing more flexibility and boosting productivity for their remote staff.
Cost Efficiency: Replacing the old servers would have been a massive expense. Instead, they now have a flexible, scalable cloud setup that aligns with their smaller team and current needs.
Futureproofing: We’ve realigned their IT infrastructure to fit the company’s new size, ensuring it can scale to suit their future needs.
Our client is now in a much better place with their IT. They no longer have to worry about server failures, increasing electricity bills, or space issues caused by physical hardware.
With our ongoing IT support, they can focus on their business while we handle any tech-related issues that arise.
This case demonstrates how a business can benefit from moving to the cloud, especially when downsizing. We’re glad that we could help this long-standing client adapt and thrive in a changing business environment.
