Businesses across the globe have spent close to a year trying to adjust to new ways of working. Some are working from home, some have reduced staff teams, and others are adopting new methods of completing existing tasks to be more effective.

At Evolve, we have not only made these changes possible for many small to large businesses but have allowed them to thrive and improve their work functions, even with the current pandemic causing problems for so many. The current health crisis has made it even more apparent how important effective working is, and how little room there is for unnecessarily long and outdated processes in the modern workplace.

Evolve is assisting customers in converting from old practices and helping their transition to a more efficient way of working. Read on to find out one such customer’s story and how we at Evolve solved their business challenges.

 

The challenges posed to the business

A financial services client sought our assistance to a workflow challenge exacerbated in the current climate.

They were working with an early implementation of SharePoint online, which had not been configured correctly from its original deployment and, like many legacy applications, had not been maintained over the years.

Running on an old version of SharePoint, especially if it is not well-tailored to your business operations, can create considerable issues in the day-to-day running of your business; and has the potential to stop your business from functioning effectively altogether.

Let us explore some of the issues an old version of this particular platform could have caused for our client.

Malware viruses and hackers have become much more sophisticated in recent years. Cyber-attacks have risen by 400% since the outbreak of Covid-19¹; hackers are trying to utilise the opportunities companies have inadvertently left them due to poor IT infrastructure.

With this deployment, it was a stereotypical data breach scenario waiting to happen – a disaster at the best of times but, with the current uncertainty in the world, that could have been enough to do irreparable damage to the company as a whole, both financially and in terms of trust within their customer base.

A lack of a permission-based structure made it almost impossible to know who had access to which files and documents, creating an unnecessarily disorganised and unproductive workplace. The system was without an order to the way that data was stored, making it a struggle for employees to find the relevant information they needed to go about their workday; staff had to spend valuable resources gaining access to essential information – this is time that could have been more efficiently used elsewhere. In the modern world with the advancements in technology, there is no longer the need to suffer from costly poor organisation.

With this lack of structure, management had serious concerns about the security of the business – not only from external cyber threats, but potential data exploits from within the business too. Without a permission-based structure grading access on a ‘need to know’ basis, staff could potentially access sensitive information above their grade.

Staff too were frustrated with having to use a system that was outdated and not fit for purpose. As a result of this, both management and employees noted a reduction in the workflow and the potential for growth in unhappiness in the working environment.

The company as a whole was suffering because of one, but very important, feature of its IT infrastructure. This shows how easy it can be to change your company’s fortunes if you are not hitting targets, are falling behind in production, or perhaps you think there is more to offer in terms of customer care? Whatever the extent of the change you feel is needed, your IT infrastructure and management could be the most effective solution you are looking for.

Evolve will ensure your infrastructure and support are best equipped to assist in the running of your day-to-day duties and help you thrive as a company.

 

How we helped

We restored efficiency to the business by cutting-edge deploying tools within the Microsoft 365 cloud ecosystem. Utilising the current (and ever evolving) version of SharePoint as the file storage backbone, we provided the business with a structured, permission-based file management system.

Front-end access was provided to all the users via Microsoft Teams, the latest flagship all-in-one communication, productivity and collaboration application.

Across any device, Teams provides seamless access to company resources, files and documents, while also tying together company departments into ‘Teams’ of users – each departmental Team containing a ring-fenced area for social media style chat collaboration, video conferencing capabilities, as well as the all-important file storage system.

By migrating all of the company’s data and ensuring all staff were trained in getting value from the new software, we allowed the business to function to its full potential again and relieved stress for both management and employees alike.

Something as fundamental as this can improve staff morale and increase profitability within a business by cutting human error and saving time, while considerably reducing risk.

This is just one example of a business we have helped achieve a secure and productive IT infrastructure – do you need to achieve the same? We can help. Contact us today to book your free discovery call, from which you will obtain a greater understanding of the technology roadmap that will aid in the development of your business and its working practices.

.

Need to get more from your tools?

At Evolve, we have a wealth of expertise in tailoring and implementing modern work solutions that add business value by driving efficiency and cutting costs, which is ever more important in such a dynamic climate as we find ourselves in today.

We are uniquely placed to support you in achieving a frictionless transition to the cloud or we can help you along on the journey in acquiring more from the tools you may already have in place.

To learn how our team can support your digital transformation by aligning technology to your business goals and challenges, please book a discovery call with us today.

If you have any questions or wish to discuss anything read in this article further, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.