Managed Services, digital modernisation through IT partnership

Challenge

A leading traffic management and safety solutions provider in South Australia, faced a significant operational and security challenge. The company had grown organically over 16 years, but its digital infrastructure had become fragmented and insecure. Key issues included:

• Unmanaged Workstations: Every workstation was treated as a unique entity with no standardisation, leading to inconsistency, security gaps, and a lack of compliance.
• Third-Party Access Chaos: A multitude of third-party applications required their own logins and password management. When staff members left, dormant access points remained, creating a major security risk and potential breach.
• Confusing SharePoint Governance: The SharePoint platform, a core part of their operations, had become a “permissions spaghetti.” Users were overwhelmed by complex, hard-to-maintain permissions structures, making it difficult to understand who had access to what.
• Lack of Modern User Enablement: Many staff members, especially those in the field, were unaware of the full potential of the modern Microsoft stack, including Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA), the concept of AI, or how to effectively use Teams and OneDrive.

Our Approach

We partnered with the organisation to build on their technical stack, creating a unified, secure, and user-friendly digital experience. Our approach was to centralise and modernise their identity and device management, while simultaneously simplifying their data architecture:

• Deployed Microsoft Intune: A robust, cloud-based endpoint management solution now manages all workstations, enabling consistent imaging, application deployment, and security policy enforcement across every device. This strengthened compliance while reducing the administrative burden on the IT team.
• Centralised Access with Entra ID SSO: Microsoft Entra ID became the single source of truth for all identities, enabling Single Sign-On (SSO) across hundreds of third-party applications. Staff can now access their work from any device using Microsoft credentials, supported by strict Conditional Access policies and MFA requirements that allow only compliant, managed devices to connect.
• Restructured SharePoint Governance: A complete audit and restructure of the SharePoint environment resolved complex permissions issues and introduced a clear, logical hierarchy. Streamlined onboarding and offboarding processes now ensure user access is managed automatically and removed when roles change, maintaining a clean security posture.
• Empowered Staff with Training: Regular “Lunch and Learn” sessions helped staff understand the core concepts of the Microsoft stack, including MFA, AI, Teams, and OneDrive. The sessions built confidence across the workforce and encouraged more effective use of the tools they rely on.

Outcomes

The transformation delivered immediate and tangible benefits for the customer organisation.

• Enhanced Security: The implementation of MFA and Conditional Access created a more resilient security perimeter. Access is now strictly tied to the device and user identity, significantly reducing the risk of compromised credentials.
• Consistent and Reliable Workstations: The Intune platform ensures every workstation is deployed and configured identically, eliminating the “one-off” setup issues and providing a consistent user experience for all employees.
• Reduced IT Overhead: By automating device management and access control, the IT team can focus on strategic initiatives rather than routine maintenance and troubleshooting.
• Clearer Access and Permissions: The restructured SharePoint environment is now intuitive and manageable. Users can easily find the information they need, and administrators have full visibility and control over access.
• Improved User Adoption: Through our training programs, staff now understand the capabilities of the Microsoft ecosystem. This has led to a significant increase in user adoption and confidence, with nearly all employees now using MFA correctly.

By focusing on these key areas, we helped the organisation build a digital foundation that is not only secure but also agile and ready to support their continued growth as a trusted provider of safety and efficiency.