CASE STUDY
Ei Group, the largest pub company in the UK, set out to modernise and standardise its existing Microsoft enterprise technology, increase security and maximise investment from existing licences.
Ei Group has more than 3,000 properties, predominantly run as leased and tenanted pubs, making it the largest pub company in the UK. In order to continue its growth, it needed robust and reliable technology
Services
Microsoft 365
Azure
Fresh
Professional Services
Managed Services
Digital Transformation
Industry
Leisure and Hospitality
Organisation size
2,000+ employees
In 2018, Ei Group updated its IT strategy with the aim of instilling a business-wide cloud-first approach. However, on-premises infrastructure and expensive, outdated tech made it increasingly complex to manage.
Ei Group sought to modernise its existing Microsoft enterprise technology, increase security and maximise investment. The business also aimed to improve the employee experience with better communication, collaboration and engagement. Simplifying the end-user device management model made upgrading its tech a top priority before support for the technologies could cease.
With no cloud presence, Ei Group was not getting the most from its Microsoft 365 subscription. Crucially, this included the security suite, which carries valuable features for a geographically dispersed business with a rapidly growing estate.
Advania began by assisting Ei Group in defining a starting point and managing its complex list of workstreams. We then developed a strategy, a roadmap for timely execution and KPIs to measure success. As the UK’s leading Microsoft partner, we identified where Ei Group could better leverage its existing Microsoft subscription and access support services.
We worked together to build a system centre configuration manager instance. This could be used to deploy Windows 10 to current devices, which could be co-managed with Microsoft Intune. We established that most of the group’s existing policies could be replaced using this software. This enabled the business to retire a lot of its surplus legacy configurations.
Our teams also designed a Windows Autopilot service to simplify the group’s device deployment process. This was created to make the onboarding process consistent and easier for new recruits.
Leigh Milton
Head of IT Systems and Development
Ei Group
Take a look at some of the results that stood out for Ei Group.
months to complete digital transformation
users migrated to Microsoft 365
invested in the project
Whether you’re facing similar challenges to peers across your industry, or you have a unique need for something different – speak to us to find out what we can do.
