Project Overview
Newark and Sherwood District Council needed rapid deployment of Microsoft Cloud for 700 users and assurance they were maximising their M365 licensing. Recommended by Microsoft as a FastTrack partner, Transparity delivered a Microsoft 365 consulting engagement focused on a hybrid Exchange Online rollout, migration to Microsoft Intune device management, and Azure Application Proxy.
The project, a Microsoft 365 migration public sector success story, combined best-practice guidance with FastTrack resources. Outcomes included fuller utilisation of M365, secure organisation-wide collaboration, and stronger disaster-recovery readiness, with next phases covering OneDrive, SharePoint and Viva, aligning to Modern Workplace services.
The Challenge
Newark and Sherwood District Council needed to deploy Microsoft Cloud technologies to their 700 users as quickly as possible and were looking for support to get it done quickly and with minimal disruptions to their team. They wanted to ensure they were getting the full potential of their M365 license and not missing any key features and capabilities. The council explored their options and turned to Microsoft to recommend an experienced FastTrack Ready partner to suit their needs.
On recommendation from Microsoft, Newark and Sherwood District Council turned to us to support their deployment of a range of Microsoft solutions with our FastTrack Service. With decades of combined experience in Microsoft Cloud and extensive experience working with public sector organisations, we were perfectly situated to support them.
The Solution
To help Newark and Sherwood District Council hit their digital transformation goals we supported their deployment of multiple services – a hybrid deployment of Exchange Online, Microsoft Intune to manage the council’s mobile devices, and Azure Application Proxy to make web resources available across mobile devices via 365. We migrated the council to Microsoft Intune from their existing solution bringing them greater returns on their investment by using the untapped capabilities within their M365 licensing.
We provided guidance and best practice advice via our FastTrack Service with additional expert consulting with an overview on Microsoft Intune policies to ensure the project ran smoothly.
In addition, we used all resources, platforms and links available to us via FastTrack to make their roll-out as quick as possible. Once fully onboarded with Intune and Exchange Online, the council requested support on Azure Application Proxy. As part of the FastTrack benefit, our experts engaged with a dedicated Microsoft Subject Matter Expert to find the answers and solutions they needed with step-by-step guidance every step of the way.
Newark and Sherwood District Council has been so pleased with our FastTrack service that they’re continuing to work with us through the rest of their M365 project including OneDrive, SharePoint and Viva. The council saved on consultancy and made use of existing technical resources in-house for the deployment, avoiding the need for additional staffing costs.
The Outcome
As a result of this project Newark and Sherwood District Council is utilising the full scope of their M365 license and seeing the full return on their investment. Their employees are able to make use of the latest technologies and collaborate securely across the organisation.
For their constituents, the council is now more available than ever with robust infrastructure to support the continuation of their work in the event of a disaster recovery situation.
