The question every leader should ask this week:
"If my Cloud provider went down tomorrow, would my business stay online and remain trading?"
If the answer isn't a confident "yes," it's time to reconsider your business continuity strategy...
Recent outages from AWS (20-10-25) and Azure (30-10-25) left global organisations offline for hours. Critical applications went dark, disrupting entire operations, along with the associated revenue streams and the cost of a workforce unable to work!
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The Challenge
The Customer was working through a partnership disaggregation from a consortium IT Service to regain IT autonomy, underpinned by a strategic MSP partnership to augment limited in-house IT skills. The Customer went to market to seek a single supplier to accelerate the immediate requirement and support their long-term digital strategy to modernise IT with 'better use of data for insights and improvements'. With data sovereignty being a key concern for the Customer, a UK-based service provider was essential.
The Solution
The Customer engaged Exponential-e to deliver a fully managed IT service, including:
- End to end migration of critical systems and workloads into Azure.
- UK-based Managed Cloud Services for Azure-based workloads.
- Dedicated IaaS for localised/sensitive workloads
- UK-based user service desk for ~400 end users.
- Onsite support function.
- Lifecycle management of end user devices.
- Local Area Network deployment and management.
- Wide Area Network.
The full stack solution provided excellent value to the Customer, allowing them to accelerate the disaggregation through a single supplier partnership.
The solution was fully delivered by Exponential-e delivery services - Project Management, Azure Migration Specialists, User Specialists, Service Management and Onboarding Teams over a period of eight months. This ensured the project was delivered on time and budget to meet the transition targets defined by the Customer.
Solution Benefits
- Deployment and configuration of CAF-aligned Azure Landing Zones.
- Azure Migrate-based migration of Windows Server and Linux Virtual Servers to Azure.
- Migration of 9TB file data to Azure Files.
- Infrastructure resiliency with Azure Site Recovery and Azure Backup.
- Deployment of Intune and MEM for unified device management.
- Unified identity services through Microsoft Entra.
- Cloud Backup for Microsoft 365.
- Seamless cutover of user support services.
- Optimised wireless network coverage within key user locations.
- Three-Year Azure Savings Plan for cost control over contract terms.
Azure Stack HCI
The Good, The Bad & The Hybrid
In this exclusive whitepaper from Exponential-e's Cloud transformation specialist, James Pearce, discover how the next generation of hyperconverged infrastructure is transforming the way organisations design, deploy, and manage cutting-edge IT infrastructure, along with a proven roadmap for its successful implementation.
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In today's interconnected society, our data is a fundamental part of our personal and professional lives, informing everything from the way we communicate and collaborate with our colleagues to the way we do our weekly shop. Seamless, secure flows of data have transformed the way we access many critical services and helped bring a rich vein of new innovations to market, but as with any period of intensive technological evolution, these benefits have come at a price…
In a highly unpredictable geopolitical landscape, the growing volumes of data created, stored, and transferred by public sector and enterprise organisations present an extremely attractive target for bad actors, as does corporations' intellectual property and citizens' personal data. It's unsurprising that organisations across the public and private sectors are treating the continued integrity of their data as a critical priority – not only to avoid the financial and reputational consequences of a breach, but also to provide customers and prospects with assurance that their critical data will always be protected, both at rest and in transit.
Data sovereignty is a key part of this journey, by which we mean – in the broadest sense – guarantees over the geographical locations in which data may be stored. Most technology providers will already have such guarantees in place, typically involving the location of their hosting environments. However, with the now near-ubiquity of Cloud platforms and the growing complexity of security and compliance, the nature of true data sovereignty is no longer so clear.
With this in mind, consider the following questions when evaluating Cloud providers…
Is your Cloud provider fully incorporated in your desired location? While they may maintain hosting environments there, can they say the same for the Cloud platforms you will be utilising, particularly if they are operating as part of a larger umbrella company? If not, you cannot guarantee that your data will remain within the country when in transit, which may lead to compliance and security issues
Will they maintain full jurisdictional control of all data? Related to the above point, with several governments having now implemented regulations that grant them access to data stored in Cloud platforms (e.g. the US Cloud Act), providers must be able to guarantee that customer data will never be subject to such overreach. This is especially critical for any sort of public sector data, particularly Government and defence.
Can they specify which personnel have access to their Cloud platforms? Again, all engineers who will be maintaining the Cloud platform and acting on behalf of customers must be based in their sovereign nation, with the appropriate clearances and certifications in place.
Does their data sovereignty extend to their disaster recovery and business continuity practices? The sovereignty of data centres must extend to back-up environments, which must also be located in the designated geographical region, with air gapping, data encryption, and zero-trust security measures utilised as appropriate, and all of this subject to annual audit.
Will they maintain full jurisdictional control of all data? Related to the above point, with several governments having now implemented regulations that grant them access to data stored in Cloud platforms (e.g. the US Cloud Act), providers must be able to guarantee that customer data will never be subject to such overreach. This is especially critical for any sort of public sector data, particularly Government and defence.
Can they specify which personnel have access to their Cloud platforms? Again, all engineers who will be maintaining the Cloud platform and acting on behalf of customers must be based in their sovereign nation, with the appropriate clearances and certifications in place.
Does their data sovereignty extend to their disaster recovery and business continuity practices? The sovereignty of data centres must extend to back-up environments, which must also be located in the designated geographical region, with air gapping, data encryption, and zero-trust security measures utilised as appropriate, and all of this subject to annual audit.
This is why Exponential-e has continued to develop our ability to guarantee true data sovereignty, in direct response to the evolving digital and geopolitical landscapes. To this end, we were recently certified as a VMware Sovereign Partner, reflecting our ability to provide complete assurance around the sovereignty and control of digital assets. The are multiple dimensions to this, including our hosting facilities, support, management, regional jurisdictions, security clearances, and ability to deliver complementary services, such as Bring Your own Key (BYoK) and both shared and dedicated Cloud environments. As a proudly UK-based company for more than twenty years, our full range of solutions is designed with true sovereignty inherent in the design – something we continue to develop in response to the latest regulations, geopolitical shifts, and security challenges.
If you are in any way concerned about the sovereignty of your data and your key platforms, do not hesitate to reach out to our team, who will guide you through these challenges, ensuring you can continue your Cloud journey with complete peace of mind.
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Across both the public and private sectors, organisations have been accelerating their Cloud transformation plans for more than a decade now. What began as a rather niche technology has now become an intrinsic part of enterprise infrastructure, to the extent virtually every organisation utilises Cloud platforms of some description. And that's great! As the past seventeen years have demonstrated, there are numerous advantages to Cloud adoption, from the inherent scalability and agility to the potential for enhanced security across the most highly distributed infrastructure.
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For a number of years now, the evolution of the Retail sector has typically been positioned as brick-and-mortar shops - including many longstanding fixtures of UK highstreets - fighting a losing battle against online retailers, such as the seemingly monolithic Amazon. However, the reality of the situation is not quite so clear cut…
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The Finance sector has always been one of the most dynamic, rapidly evolving industries, and this shows no signs of changing any time soon. But while shifts in the landscape may well open new opportunities, they will also come with new challenges, and it is the organisations who are ready and able to face these head-on who will continue to thrive in the years ahead.
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Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) is rapidly establishing itself as the solution of choice for the next generation of enterprise networks, where optimal control, visibility, and scalability are essential. In the first quarter of 2024 alone, the SASE market experienced a 23% surge, as more and more organisations began taking advantage of its capabilities.
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The Challenge
The customer embarked on a strategic digital transformation by migrating critical business systems from fragmented on-premises infrastructure to Microsoft Azure. This transition would not only modernise their IT operations across five European countries but also deliver significant financial savings and operational efficiencies through smart licensing and resource planning.
Throughout the transformation process, the customer faced challenges with maintaining disparate legacy systems across multiple locations, which led to inefficiencies, high operational costs, and limited scalability. They needed a unified, secure, and scalable Cloud platform to support business growth and enable remote working capabilities.
The Solution
The customer engaged Exponential-e to deliver a phased Azure migration strategy, including:
- Professional Services for planning, governance, and execution
- Managed Services for ongoing support and optimization
- CSP services for Azure resource billing
The migration was executed in stages across five European and UK locations, using a combination of rehosting and rebuilding application servers. Microsoft technologies such as Azure Migrate, Azure Backup, Azure Site Recovery, and Azure Virtual Desktop were key enablers.
The project was delivered collaboratively between the customer's internal IT team and Exponential-e's consultants, ensuring alignment with business goals and knowledge transfer. The approach followed Microsoft's Cloud Adoption Framework, ensuring best practices in governance, security, and operational readiness. The successful implementation positioned the customer for future innovation and growth on a modern Cloud foundation.
Solution Benefits
- Migration of 38 Virtual Machines to Azure.
- Implementation of 2 x 100TB GRS Reserved Backup Instances.
- Licensing of 48 x SQL Server Standard (two Core Packs).
- Licensing of 22 x Windows Server 2022 Datacentre (eight Core Packs).
- Overall savings of £100,000 on Azure spend through strategic use of Microsoft Savings Plans and Reserved Instances.
- Improved governance, scalability, and remote working capabilities.
- Consolidation of infrastructure across five countries into a single Cloud platform .
Azure Stack HCI
The Good, The Bad & The Hybrid
In this exclusive whitepaper from Exponential-e's Cloud transformation specialist, James Pearce, discover how the next generation of hyperconverged infrastructure is transforming the way organisations design, deploy, and manage cutting-edge IT infrastructure, along with a proven roadmap for its successful implementation.
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Selecting the right storage architecture is essential for organisations that are leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), Big Data and IoT analytics. For example, AI applications that involve scientific and medical research create and interact with numerous large files, and therefore need a storage system that can scale to a petabyte level, with zero restrictions. Similarly, ML applications and Big Data projects require a scalable, cost-effective storage solution to accommodate the high volumes of data that will be produced. This raises the question of which storage solution enterprises should use to underpin their overall analytics strategies.
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The past decade has been a challenging one for the Retail sector, to say the least. Much has already been written about the impact of online shopping and streaming services on the high street, and the rise of COVID-19 and recent supply chain disruptions have only compounded the challenges facing even the most established brick-and-mortar retailers.
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When it comes to building brand loyalty, customers increasingly expect the retailers they shop from - whether that's online, in person, or via click-and-collect - to demonstrate tangible efforts to operate in an ethical, sustainable, and environmentally friendly manner in everything they do.
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In light of numerous dramatic shifts in the geopolitical landscape in recent months, this blog has reiterated the need for organisations across all sectors to strengthen and - if necessary - reconsider their cyber security postures, in order to prepare for the anticipated attacks by global bad actors. The legal sector is no exception, particularly as these attacks are anticipated to specifically target the most high-value data.
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The way in which we consume content has changed forever. Physical media and prescheduled TV and radio have rapidly given way to the convenience, accessibility, and range offered by streaming services. Independent content creators share the digital stage with the most well-established industry leaders, and numerous organisations have embraced the mantra that 'content is king', utilising online video as a key tool for building engagement with their prospects and customers.
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The Retail sector is more diverse, dynamic, and rapidly changing than any other time in its history. This not only encompasses the way customers make their purchases – with online shopping, click-and-collect, and in-person shopping all converging to offer true, end-to-end experiences – but also the way retailers open and operate new sites. Whether this means trendy pop-up shops, kiosks at other brands' locations, or booths at events, retailers from up-and-coming start-ups to global leaders are no longer relying on fixed high-street locations to welcome their customers and put their wares on display, instead making sure they are present wherever their ideal customers are, and fully prepared to offer a world-class experience that builds brand recognition and loyalty.
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Achieving successful digital transformation across the Architecture, Engineering and Construction Sector.
New technologies are transforming every aspect of how projects are brought from conception to completion across the AEC sector. As a result, numerous leaders across the sector are accelerating their digital transformation plans, embracing the Cloud, AI, big data, and IoT in order to both overcome their immediate challenges and bring their long-term business goals closer.
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The past few years have been challenging for the global Manufacturing sector, with both Brexit and COVID-19 creating a wide range of operational disruptions whose impact is still being felt. Indeed, as recently as January 2023, we saw UK manufacturing shrinking for the sixth consecutive month1.
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Manufacturing workflows are evolving at an unprecedented rate, and the trend shows no signs of slowing down. The increasing effectiveness and affordability of 'smart' technologies and the Internet of Things means IT and OT are increasingly interconnected, with increasing volumes of data flowing between sites and devices on an ongoing basis.
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Although digital transformation amongst Legal firms has typically been comparatively slow compared to other sectors, the journey has picked up speed over the course of the last decade.
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Like many fixtures of our lives, Britain's pubs were heavily impacted by COVID-19, with their familiar patrons unable to come in for a post-work drink, or meet with friends at the weekend. But while it was undoubtedly a difficult period for the industry as a whole, this great British institution did as it has always done, and adapted to suit its patrons' evolving requirements.
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Like many longstanding institutions, Britain's world-renowned pubs are undergoing their own digital transformation journey, utilising leading-edge technologies to offer truly personalised experiences to patrons of all ages and backgrounds - from longstanding regulars visiting for their usual pint, to families looking for a meal, and young professionals working on the go. It's an exciting time for the sector as a whole, but at the same time, the drive for modernisation must not come at the expense of patrons' safety and enjoyment.
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