Age UK Ealing is a local independent charity whose objective is to promote the interest of older people in any manner deemed by law to be charitable in and around the London Borough of Ealing. Age UK Ealing became a brand partner of Age UK (the national charity) in 2011, prior to which the charity was called Age Concern Ealing (ACE). Age Concern Ealing was formed in 2003 by way of merger of four smaller Age Concerns in the borough of Ealing and until recently it was trading as Age UK Ealing
Age UK Ealing initially approached Qlic regarding their antiquated Windows 7 devices, which were due to be unsupported by Microsoft from January 2020. Upon further inspection, their Account Manager noticed the organisation hosted an on-premise Windows SBS 2008 server, also unsupported by Microsoft from January 2020.
The needs of the organisation were simple, requiring basic email and file/folder access and access to cloud-based Charity Log CRM. For that reason, our initial thoughts were focused on minimising their on-premise hardware footprint as much as possible and maximizing usage of cloud-based services.
We recommended their aging desktops be replaced for Windows 10 laptops with a hot-desk docking solution, allowing for full flexibility when working between the office and home.
The on-premise server was also responsible for hosting the organisations Exchange email; therefore our recommendation was to migrate this over to Microsoft 365 Exchange.
We also advised them to move away from an on-premise server for their file storage and into Microsoft 365, migrating their shared files into SharePoint Online and individual home drives to OneDrive. This would allow their users to easily share and manage files, folders and any content from any device, regardless of whether it’s owned by Age UK Ealing or a personal device.
We advised Age UK Surrey to implement SysPeace Server Protection to ensure high level protection for their remote server. SysPeace is a professional Host-based Intrusion Detection and Prevention System that detects and blocks any intruders at the gate.
We recommended migrating their current email and document solution to Microsoft Office 365. For data security, we suggested implementing Datto Backupify – an external third-party backup solution provides protection against accidental or intentional deletion of data from SharePoint, as well as users’ OneDrive’s, Mailboxes, contacts and calendars.
Lastly, in moving away from the on-premise server we wanted to retain centralised management of user laptops, so we recommended connecting all Age UK Ealing’s machines to Azure Active Directory & Microsoft Intune mobile device management, alongside deployment of Multi-Factor Authentication.
The migration to SharePoint not only improved their security, but also enabled more flexible remote working, with staff members being able to access their files, even in areas of limited connectivity, and when ‘on the go’. This optimised their business continuity, efficiency and compliance with the Cyber Essentials framework.
The implementation of security and backup processes greatly improved the security and user access policies for files, as well as allowing data recovery and no risk of outages due to hardware, software, or power failure.
Age UK Ealing continues to benefit from the added peace of mind of having our support team on-hand with fast responses and resolutions in the event of any problems with their devices or IT infrastructure.
The organisation has been able to continue working with little interruption during the current pandemic, allowing staff to take devices home and continue working, safe in the knowledge that Age UK Ealing’s data is safe and secure anywhere in the world.
- Microsoft 365 Exchange
- SharePoint Online
- SysPeace Server Protection
- Datto Backupify
- Azure Active Directory
- Microsoft Intune
- Multi-Factor Authentication
Prior to and since engaging Qlic as our IT supplier towards the end of 2019, we have been very pleased with the solution and service quality provided. From the project initiation stage, Qlic invested enough time and effort to understand our needs and were receptive, flexible, transparent, and swift during our commissioning process. Our new IT system has been awarded the Cyber Essential Accreditation. Very recently, Qlic has supported us with our office relocation project and in response to Covid-19 pandemic – the new system meant that we were able to adapt very quickly. The implementation of both projects was smooth and on target, so far, no complaints – Mike Horton (Head of Business Development), the engineers Martin Hull (Project Lead) and Sam Sly, and the rest of team were brilliant – thank you.
