Discover how we helped The Food Standards Agency continue working safely during the pandemic, consolidate and reduce their technology costs and increase security with a modern management approach.
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) is a government agency responsible for food safety and hygiene, employing over 1200 staff across England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
"Because of the work we did with PowerON to implement modern device management we have been able to provision, update and manage endpoint devices for our staff across the UK without having to depend on central locations. This has been central to the FSA’s ability to maintain food safety throughout the course of the pandemic."
What was the challenge?
The Food Standards Agency wanted to consolidate their technology (and costs) whilst making the move to modern management, to increase security and control over their IT estate.
After purchasing Microsoft’s EM+S suite they realised they were paying for external mobile device management solutions that were already provided by Intune in the new Microsoft licence. As they were looking to adopt a Microsoft-first strategy across their IT estate, they decided to migrate their users across to Intune.
Users and devices are exposed to far less risk, can work productively without interruption, and the IT team can focus on high-value projects.
They were facing a massive challenge in migrating to Intune within a short timeframe, needing to complete deployment before the renewal date of their current MDM solution. They wanted an experienced partner to lead and manage the user migration to Intune, providing support and experience along the way.
They also had the wider goal of adopting a modern management approach to their IT estate – they understood where they wanted to be, but wanted help getting there in the most efficient and effective way possible. Adopting a modern management approach requires a lot of planning and organisational change, so the Food Standards Agency needed a partner with the right experience to help them see the project through successfully.
What were the benefits?
Taking a Microsoft-first approach to IT across the organisation meant reduced costs, increased ROI and simplified management.
Costs were reduced once they were able to migrate across from the external solutions and deploy the technologies already available to them within their EM+S licence.
The move to a modern management approach meant that they were able to increase the security of their IT estate and reduce repetitive, manual processes for the IT team. They had increased control over their devices and user activity whilst providing a robust framework for the organisation to build on in the future. Their users and devices are exposed to far less risk, can work productively without interruption, and the IT team can focus on high-value projects.
The Food Standards Agency were working with limited resources and needed an easy management process that fit into their Microsoft-first strategy. Their users and devices are dispersed across different countries, so we helped them implement a solution that would be efficient for their IT team whilst also adhering to best practice.
“The Food Standards Agency are great to work with, and very passionate about what they do. The team is really knowledgeable and innovative, so they wanted to adopt a modern management approach - Intune was the springboard to success!”
What did we do?
In the first phase of our work, our consultants ensured that Azure Active Directory and Intune were configured and aligned with the current MDM configuration and identified, tested, and documented a migration methodology for the wider rollout.
The next phase then focused on the rapid migration of corporate mobile devices from the previous solution to Intune, avoiding additional licensing costs from the external MDM solution.
Once the migration was complete, we worked with the Food Standards Agency to support the planning and considerations in relation to their technology roadmap going forward. They wanted to explore future developments within the Microsoft stack and consolidation options, ensuring that they can become aligned to the modern management vision. We delivered a Modern Endpoint Management Solution Alignment workshop to give Food Standards Agency a clear understanding of the deployment and planning considerations for configuring and managing devices, outlining the scope items to provide them with clear understanding on how they can engage across the various moving parts.
What is a solution alignment workshop?
Our solution alignment workshops are perfect for helping organisations solve problems or move forward with their IT strategy.
Our workshops help you consider all possible options for your organisation, exploring the technical, financial, and business benefits of each one, and strategically identifying the best-suited solution for the business.
We work to assess your organisation, processes and current technology to ensure your business needs are central to any technology or IT investment, laying the groundwork for your team to start work (or continuing the journey together, if that’s what you prefer).
If you’d like any further info please don’t hesitate to get in touch with me on robert.mcmurdo@poweronplatforms.com.
