Project Overview
Hobbycraft had under-used Microsoft 365 licences and limited internal support; working with Transparity, they accelerated a move to Modern Workplace capabilities to enable secure remote collaboration during Covid-19. The project centred on Microsoft Teams for communication and co-authoring, with governance via Endpoint Manager and single sign-on through Azure Active Directory.
Transparity migrated licensing to its CSP platform and supported user adoption through its adoption and change management approach, including a dedicated Training and Adoption Portal, reducing support demand and increasing Teams usage. The solution combined collaboration with security and identity best practice.
The Challenge
Hobbycraft was using Microsoft 365 minimally, having procured its licences from a third party. There was no support package in place, and no real Microsoft knowledge being shared internally – yet as a progressive retailer, Hobbycraft wanted to modernise its environment to increase collaboration and secure its systems.
Rather than a transactional licensing relationship, Hobbycraft wanted a partner to support its wider digital transformation, starting with a Microsoft Teams deployment. They selected Transparity for its demonstrable experience guiding companies through their cloud journeys, along with the added benefits of moving their licences across.
Originally, the transformation was planned as a phased approach. The outbreak of Covid-19 changed that, creating an immediate need not just to implement remote working and increase collaboration, but to bring users up to speed with the new Microsoft technologies quickly.
The Solution
Transparity proposed moving Hobbycraft’s Microsoft licences onto the Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) platform of Transparity’s Microsoft Solutions Partner programme. Microsoft 365 was provided for the retailer, incorporating Windows 10 and the familiar Office applications, alongside Enterprise Mobility + Security – a suite of features well suited to Hobbycraft’s new remote working needs.
Microsoft Teams quickly became integral to the company’s operations, giving staff a centralised place to communicate and collaborate. With persistent chat, voice and video conferencing, co-authoring of documents and desktop sharing, employees could keep in touch and continue working on projects together despite being physically apart.
Microsoft Endpoint Manager, part of Transparity’s device management capabilities, gave Hobbycraft a way to manage and secure access to company data from a central location, enabling a remote working policy that became critical during the pandemic while keeping staff productive in a secure environment. It gave the business full visibility over who had access to data and apps, with the ability to control this in just a few clicks. Azure Active Directory, meanwhile, gave staff a single, secure identity to use across their Microsoft applications.
Moving to Transparity’s CSP platform brought competitive pricing and reduced consulting costs, alongside a range of inclusive value-adds – including expert support from Transparity’s Microsoft specialists, and, as a Microsoft Direct Partner, the ability to escalate issues directly to Microsoft when needed.
To help employees adapt to their new Microsoft technologies, Transparity also implemented its Training and Adoption Portal (TAP) – an easy-to-use online learning platform covering Teams, Office, Outlook and more, included as part of Hobbycraft’s CSP licensing at no extra cost. This brought staff up to speed quickly while helping maximise return on investment at a time when controlling expenditure was essential.
TImpact
A secure, modern way to collaborate
Hobbycraft now has a secure platform for straightforward collaboration and communication between employees while out of the office, with a marked uplift in Microsoft Teams usage across the business.
Support demand stayed low
Despite the leap in Teams usage, Hobbycraft has seen a surprisingly low number of support calls to its internal IT team – a direct result of the Training and Adoption Portal helping staff get comfortable with the new tools themselves.
Licensing that flexes with the business
Hobbycraft isn’t tied into a long contract, and was able to scale licensing down immediately when it needed to furlough a large number of staff, using Transparity’s self-service Control Centre to review and adjust usage in a few clicks – cutting unnecessary expenditure at a critical time.
A trusted partner beyond the pandemic
Hobbycraft now has its Microsoft licences through a technology partner that continues to advise and support the business through Covid-19 and beyond, with direct access to Microsoft escalation when needed.
