How Gauntlet Group moved its IT to the cloud with Pavilion
CHALLENGES
Following a successful first 26 years trading, Gauntlet Group came into 2020 looking to carry out a full-scale IT transformation. The project would involve merging multiple legacy systems into one insurance industry platform, and potentially moving from an on-premises environment to the cloud. A key requirement was to securely control access to the new hosted platforms for the Gauntlet user base which was split equally between office-based staff and remote appointed representative users.
Having already built a trusted 10+ year relationship with Gauntlet, the Pavilion team were engaged to manage this major transition. The ultimate goal was to unify the systems and provide seamless and consistent working environments for Gauntlet and AR users across the UK, all of whom now needed the ability to work from anywhere. To make the challenge more complex, the transition was completed during the July lockdown period.
SOLUTION
The Pavilion team assessed all the software applications that Gauntlet were using to identify overlaps, redundancies and how it could all work together.
Our technical team worked closely with staff to explore and analyse system performance, usage and capacity to provide a plan for producing a long-term roadmap for unifying technology to create the best system possible to support Gauntlet’s business. This included telephony, core IT systems, internet, Microsoft 365 environment, and user devices.
RESULTS
The solution Gauntlet chose was to move to a Microsoft 365 environment and migrate all their server workloads and data to the PAV cloud providing the ideal cloud hosting solution for the business's systems and applications without the hassle of time-consuming management.
Transitioning the business to a cloud-based Microsoft 365 solution provided a secure platform which empowers employees to be productive through centralised collaboration tools and improved business continuity. Delivering the latest Microsoft applications across both personal and company-owned devices allows employees the freedom to work from any device and in any location.
Critical to the successful adoption of the new insurance platform was a direct interconnect between the vendor and the PAV datacentres. The new hosted solution was protected by a secure VPN solution with multi-factor authentication.
ABOUT THE CUSTOMER
Gauntlet Group is a Leeds-based commercial insurance broker, risk manager and Appointed Representative network principal which has earned Chartered Insurance Broker status from the Chartered Insurance Institute and well-deserved respect within its industry. Established for over 25 years, Gauntlet have an unswerving commitment to developing and delivering timely and valuable solutions that address the needs of over 7,000 commercial clients and businesses nationwide.
“We came into 2020 looking to create a big shift in our IT. We wanted to modernise it to support our growing business, and create some efficiencies and resource savings at the same time. We had already formed a trusted working relationship over the past decade with the Pavilion team, and they excelled themselves again with this project. They always set out the different solutions in a way that non-technical people can understand and make decisions from. The result is that we have a scalable and cost-effective cloud deployment, and a remote workforce with all the tools they need to get the job done. I can’t thank the Pavilion team enough for their efforts.”Roger Gaunt, Managing Director, Gauntlet Group
PAV I.T. Services delivers first-class IT Support, Project Delivery, as well as hosted Cloud and IT Security Services to companies of all sizes across the UK. Our customers trust us to optimise their IT infrastructures to boost productivity, maintain high levels of network security and free their time to focus on their business.
