Background

yoko:10 was engaged to establish a clear approach for deploying Microsoft 365 services, and to support their deployment and adoption across the organisaiton. The engagement covered several aspects of Micrsoft 365, including collaboration, information governance and security.

Strategically the organisation wished to avoid on-premises IT hosting, and had selected a workplace architecture comprising Microsoft 365, Azure and other cloud technologies.

Requirements

Green-field site

As a green-field development, with no legacy infrastructure or policies in place, the organisation was effectively starting from scratch. This offered a golden opportunity to define the correct information management and collaboration strategy from day one.

It also called for an exemplary approach to implementing modern workplace technologies, ensuring maximise productivity for employees and to ease the on-boarding of newly recruited staff.

Responsibilities and Requirements

A Microsoft partner was required to define a programme of work that optimised the existing investment in Microsoft 365, and ensured adoption Microsoft 365 services. This included the setup of SharePoint and Teams environments; determining the appropriate information governance policies; and deploying an intranet service that would optimise staff engagement and communication.

Maximising IT investment

The technology investment made by the board needed to yield maximum value from the outset, enabling effective collaboration across teams as early as possible.

So having a knowledgeable implementation partner to support this was of the highest priority.

Why yoko:10?

Alex Eggar, a modern workplace consultant at yoko:10, comments: “I think the client most appreciated yoko:10’s depth and breadth of knowledge of Microsoft 365 and information governance. We were able to bring technical insights as well as an appreciation of any business implications based on their decisions.”

“We were also well-placed to advise on how best to utilise Microsoft 365 services in the most pragmatic and beneficial way.”

Project Overview

Planning and Strategy

To properly determine the correct approach, and the Microsoft 365 services which should be deployed, yoko:10 first conducted a series of workshops with business users.

Alex explains: “It’s really important to engage employees and involve them throughout the process. We listened to their concerns and provided the right level of information and guidance. Not only does this ensure the best decisions are made, it also enables early user adoption, which is crucial in maximising the return on any investment in Microsoft 365.”

As a result, the organisation had a clear understanding of how Teams, SharePoint and OneDrive would support collaborative working across departments. Yammer was also identified as an ideal tool for supporting internal communities, or just putting a shout out when there’s birthday cake in the office!

Business Continuity

Being a cloud solution, the flexibility of Microsoft 365 facilitated remote working and working from home, which had always been an important aspect of the organisation’s IT strategy.

With the benefit of foresight and thorough planning, when the recent pandemic struck, the client was able to respond quickly to lockdown restrictions, without any interruption to productivity or customer responsibilities.

Information Governance

With a rare combination of skills, spanning core Microsoft 365 technologies, document management and information governance, yoko:10 are uniquely placed to guide their clients’ Microsoft 365 deployment from a non-technical perspective.

Good data protection and data management practices should never be an afterthought. yoko:10 included these considerations from the outset, setting their client up for success as the organisation grew and more complex Microsoft features were explored.

Tactical Delivery

yoko:10’s intimate knowledge of the Microsoft 365 platform also enabled the organisation to tackle several key tactical projects, alongside the wider strategic rollout of Microsoft 365.

For example, yoko:10 built a Power Apps ‘ticketing’ system to manage and prioritise work requests, for several internal departments.

Alex comments: “This is another example of how a specialist modern workplace partner can help make the best use of an existing investment.”

Outcome and Benefits

Over a 12-month period, the organisaitons quickly grew, recruiting an additional 250 employees and onboarding many additional partners and customers.

With a robust, well planned and well governed Microsoft 365 environment underpinning efficient business processes, the organisation has made an extremely confident start despite the difficult circumstances of 2020.

yoko:10 says

“Supporting the overall strategy for Microsoft 365, and seeing our involvement help a growing organisation thrive, has been a really enjoyable project for yoko:10.”

“Over the past months we’ve felt like an extension of the organisations internal teams, rather than an external consultancy. We’re sure this will continue with future engagements, reflecting our ethos of solid, long last client relationships. “