Chartered Institute of Public Relations is the world’s only Royal Chartered professional body for public relations practitioners, with nearly 10,000 members.
Their members are recognised PR professionals. CIPR work with and for them to set, maintain and advance standards. They do this through their industry-respected qualifications; their Continuing Professional Development scheme, Accreditation and Chartership programmes; their open, in-house and bespoke training; our industry awards and conferences; and the production of research, best practice and skills guidance.
CIPR were planning on moving over to Infinity’s IMIS platform, but was not yet using SharePoint Online, meaning all user’s files and folders were not able to be shared via the cloud, and their files were not accessible unless they were in the office.
CIPR were also did not have Office 365 implemented, meaning all their user’s emails and files were not under the correct security procedures to keep the data of the company secure and did not have the correct email backup.
Furthermore, CIPR did not have a very secure device management as they were using a fully hosted environment. CIPR also had no form of security backup such as multi-factor authentication which could put their data at risk of being hacked.
Qlic advised migrating all their files and folders to SharePoint Online. This allows their users to easily share and manage files, folders and any content from a device which is connected to the internet. It also empowers teamwork, seamless collaboration, and quick search for information.
As well as migrating to SharePoint, we suggested migrating their current email solution to Microsoft Office 365, as this allows secure email access via any additional devices that the users may use. When migrating to Office 365, Qlic suggested also implementing Datto Cloud as this offers unlimited data retention and any deleted or corrupted data can be recovered within minutes.
Qlic also proposed the idea of connecting all CIPR’s machines to Azure Active Directory, ensuring only users with an active CIPR email account will be able to login and use the organisational device. When connecting this, we would also implement multi-factor authentication for all Office 365 accounts, meaning it will require the user to verify themselves using a numeric code before accessing their emails and files.
One of the main benefits that CIPR immediately realised was the migration over to SharePoint not only improved their security, but also enabled more flexible remote working and staff members can now access their files in areas of limited connectivity and when ‘on the go’. This optimised their business continuity and efficiency.
The implementing of security and backup redundancy 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.
CIPR also had the added peace of mind as our service desk was on-hand with fast responses and fixed issues in the event of any problems with their devices or IT infrastructure.
Our own half year review of external services showed that Qlic’s support remains highly regarded by all staff. We don’t have a single negative comment to pass on – just our thanks for continuing to look after us so well!
