Transitioning To A Cloud Based System
For Focus Management Consultants Limited flexibility and security was top priority as they were looking to migrate their entire organisation to the Cloud.
THE PROJECT
Focus Management Consultants Limited (FMCL) is a recruiting company for the food industry based in Bollington, Manchester. FMCL had a requirement for a fully managed Cloud Based System. They required the flexibility to adjust the number of computers and services that they had, to reflect the needs of the business. Additionally, they wanted to become a fully Cloud-Based and remove their on-premise server system.
Both their requirements go hand in hand and allowed us to put together a light, agile and flexible network that easily can grow alongside their organisation.
Initial Steps
The first step for us was to analyse FMCL’s current setup. That way, we could see that the only on-premise technology they had, was a file server and domain controller. The phones, business software and email were already hosted in the Cloud giving the project a good start. We advised a move to Office 365 for their files and Azure AD for their security services. From here a quote was put together for a fully managed IT service solution.
As with any managed service, some of the items are based on the number of users and some are based on the number of workstations. We find that this makes it very easy for the customer to predict and control their IT costs.
MANAGED IT SERVICES
Implementation
Once the project had been agreed, a project plan is put together and dates for the various migration stages are booked in the diary. As with any managed IT services implementation, the key to success is good planning and customer communication.
We always keep the customer informed about what will happen and when from a business impact perspective.
Another important part of an implementation that many MSPs miss out on is training. Moving to a new system like Office 365 can bring many benefits to the business, but only if the users of the system know about the new features and how to use them. Otherwise, they will continue to use the system in the same way as they did before! Therefore training is important. It’s also an opportunity to inform the customer of new security threats and explain how the new systems can make their working lives easier.
Services chosen for their workstations:
- Computer Support
- Encryption
- Antivirus
Services chosen for each user:
- Office 365
- Office 365 Advanced Backups
- Advanced Anti Spam
- MFA or Multi-Factor Authentication
CONCLUSION
Once this managed IT services solution had been installed the customer knows that for every user and every computer they have a fixed set of services and systems that the business requires and that these are fully managed by us. This gives confidence that IT is cost-effective, structured and flexible.
After more information or simply want to set up a fully managed IT service solution? Contact us and talk to one of the experts we have here at Redsquid