As the South-West’s premier roofing and cladding contractor, Progressive needed a secure, efficient solution to support their off-site team and reduce infrastructure costs. At Nexus, we were delighted to provide them with a game-changing migration to a serverless environment using Microsoft Azure and SharePoint, coupled with an upgrade to Microsoft 365 Business Premium. The results speak for themselves:
Enhanced Security
With Microsoft Intune and Defender, Progressive now enjoy robust cyber protection, which safeguards their data and devices.
Seamless Collaboration
Remote workers can efficiently collaborate via mobile devices using Teams, boosting productivity and project delivery speed.
Cost Savings
By moving to the cloud, Progressive has significantly cut down on maintenance and support costs, freeing up resources for growth.
Director Andy Smith sums it up best: “Our team are more productive than ever when they’re out on site, meaning we can improve the speed of project delivery, which is a huge benefit to our customers.”
The Story in Full
Progressive are the South-West’s premier roofing and cladding contractor, based in Exeter and employing over 50 staff. They work directly with construction companies, property groups and architects to design and deliver first-class projects for their clients. Progressive are a leading commercial supplier of wall and roof cladding since 1988.
Migration to the Cloud
As with all of our managed IT service clients, we strive to ensure our clients’ infrastructure is running as efficiently as possible. When Progressive’s on-premises server came up for replacement, we proposed a migration to the cloud.
The Challenge of On-Premises Servers with Remote Workers
Progressive was managing a single on-premises server, incurring expenses for maintenance, support, and renewal. Maintaining an on-premises setup not only proved costly but also left them exposed to security risks, as the existing infrastructure lacked enhanced security features, making their applications and data susceptible to potential attacks.
With a team of off-site roofing professionals who needed to operate remotely, they faced challenges in efficiently collaborating on documents using their mobile devices. They needed a solution that was secure and efficient, which supported their remote workers and, over time, would reduce their maintenance and support costs.
Going Serverless with Microsoft Azure and SharePoint
The Nexus team recommended a serverless environment utilising both Microsoft Azure and SharePoint. This offered vast efficiency improvements whilst also enabling their staff to better collaborate on documents through mobile devices, via applications such as Teams. Moving to the cloud made their data more accessible, secure, and manageable, and meant they no longer needed to rely on a VPN for remote access.
The Business Premium Difference
To improve their cyber security, we also recommended an upgrade to their Microsoft 365 licensing to Business Premium. This gave them access to several premium applications such as Intune and Defender. Microsoft Intune is a service that helps businesses manage and secure their employees’ devices, such as smartphones, tablets, and computers. Once all the devices were enrolled into Intune, the management and security of their devices was simplified, enabling a more organised, secure, and efficient work environment for their business.
Historically, Progressive were using Webroot for their antivirus, but included in the Business Premium licensing is Microsoft 365 Defender. Microsoft Defender is a comprehensive and advanced antivirus solution offering threat prevention, detection, and response capabilities. The solution includes Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA), conditional access policies, spam filtering, email encryption, data loss prevention, and much more.
In Their Words
“The improvements we’ve experienced through this migration have been game-changing. Our team are much happier because they can get on with doing what they do best, knowing that the technology around them is there to help and not slow them down. They’re more productive than ever when they’re out on site, meaning we can improve the speed of project delivery, which also is a huge benefit to our customers.”
Andy Smith, Director
“It’s also comforting to know that we’re protecting our systems with the latest cyber solutions and our infrastructure costs will be massively reduced.”
“From the outset, it was evident that the Nexus team comprehensively understood our business. Their recommendations were built on reliable, future-proofed products, instilling confidence in our choices. Regular communication maintained transparent timescales throughout the project. The presence of a dedicated project manager, coupled with our highly supportive account manager, ensured a seamless migration and we couldn’t be happier with the result.”
By utilising cloud computing and adopting enhanced security features through Microsoft Business Premium, Progressive has been able to reduce costs across their infrastructure in terms of support, maintenance, and physical hardware, improving the collaboration and efficiencies of their team and increasing their cyber security protection.
Ready to explore how Nexus can transform your business with cloud solutions? Contact us today on 01392 205 095 or email us at hello@nexuos.co.uk
