Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue

Konsolute delivers a modern connected Intranet for Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Service

Case study

Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Service

Konsolute delivery a modern Intranet built on Microsoft 365 which enabled Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Services to communicate effectively across their organisation and bring together people, services, topics into a solidated platform

Solution Summary

Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Service (BFRS) is the fire and rescue service for the county of Bedfordshire. Within its values of serving the community and protecting citizens from fires and other emergencies, one of the key aims of BFRS is to utilise assets effectively and to maximise the use of data analytics and digital solutions to drive improvements. Konsolute worked with BFRS to help them achieve this aim, provisioning a comprehensive intranet as part of a wider SharePoint Online solution.

Challenge  

BFRS has fourteen strategically positioned fire stations around the county of Bedfordshire, with headquarters located in Kempston alongside an emergency communication centre, training centre, fire station, and equipment maintenance workshop. There are also two offices located in the north and south of the county housing the Community Engagement Team. The authority employs over 560 members of staff spread across these disparate locations, demanding a comprehensive online solution to maintain open communication channels and collaborative working amongst all members of the organisation. The authority also operated its fire stations 24/7, 365 days a year, either with permanent staff or using an RDS system, meaning all online systems must be reliable and available at all times.

  • Government
  • Frontline Services

Solution Strategy

Konsolute first outlined and undertook an implementation period consisting of three phases: a Discovery phase, a system design and configuration phase, and a reporting collaboration and mobile working phase. This period enabled us to determine the specific requirements of BFRS in detail before implementing the solution steadily through test and review stages, ensuring that it delivered the required results to the client.

Konsolute delivered the Discovery phase by firstly engaging with stakeholders to capture requirements through workshop sessions. We encouraged all aspects of the organisation to participate in these workshops in order to gain a cross-sectional representation of the business. As part of the workshops, we endeavoured to demonstrate some of the products and features of Office 365 that would be applicable to the workshop’s attendees. Through these workshops, we made the requirement gathering process interactive, asking attendees to discuss their issues and concerns relating to processes undertaken on existing platforms as well as discussing future requirements. These issues, concerns, and requirements were grouped together to form the basis of user stories.

The user stories were then mapped into a technical roadmap and prioritised in order to design a SharePoint Online solution capable of delivering BFRS’s business requirements. As a part of Sprint planning, we invited all stakeholders and product owners to define the “Sprint”. Each Sprint endeavoured to deliver complete User Stories, and typically ran for approximately two weeks. The overall outcomes of the Discovery phase formed an MVP (minimum viable product) which provided detailed information on the proposed solution, resulting in the key design principles of: enabling all information sources, boosting the employee experience, fostering open collaboration, enabling flexible and smarter working, ensuring security and compliance, and successful governance. The resulting solution was assessed against the defined design principles and remediated based on user feedback as part of the pilot stage.

The results of the Discovery phase were also used as a basis on which to design a training plan. In-person user training was implemented alongside a learning portal, allowing users to navigate and view the training materials most applicable to them.

Result

The intranet system implemented by Konsolute enabled staff across the various offices of the Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Service to remain connected and collaborative regardless of location, offering all members of the workforce effortless access to central information and open communication channels to key team members across the organisation. Hosted on SharePoint Online, the Intranet integrated seamlessly with the existing and new elements of the BFRS Microsoft 365 system. The SharePoint Online capabilities, including “audience targeting”, enabled the users of the BFRS intranet to view information intelligently based upon their membership of certain sites or teams, removing search time from the workday and making daily tasks more efficient. Overall, working with Konsolute left BFRS with a far more connected and efficient working style, with all members of the organisation able to communicate and view information in one convenient and easy-to-use central location.


FCO logo

Konsolute delivers a digital transformation for Foreign Commonwealth Office Services

Case study

Foreign Commonwealth Office Services (FCOS)

Konsolute delivery a modern Intranet built on Microsoft 365 which enabled FCOS employees across various office locations and speaking various languages to communicate effectively

Solution Summary

FCO Services are part of the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO), operating commercially as a Trading Fund who provide a range of integrated services such as security services worldwide to the FCDO and other UK government departments, supporting the delivery of government agendas. FCO Services operate and deliver worldwide, working with over 250 embassies, high commissions, and other critical government facilities across 168 countries.

Konsolute carried out the design, development, and implementation of a collaborative platform programme for FCO Services which included the successful delivery of their modern Intranet solution.

Challenge  

The FCOS organisation involves collaboration between both internal and external workers based in offices all over the world. Furthermore, the staff working in these locations operate in various languages, making FCOS a multicultural and multilingual organisation. FCOS therefore required an Intranet solution capable of connecting employees across locations worldwide, opening communication channels and enabling ease of access to essential information by members across the organisation. The FCOS Intranet fundamentally needed to connect members of the organisation to key information, people, and services across locational, cultural, and linguistic barriers, supplying a free flow of information to the workforce in its entirety. This information should be presented to individual employees based on their specific job roles and requirements, allowing each member of the workforce to prioritise the information that they care about the most.

The solution needed to be easily customised to reflect the branding and vision of FCOS as an organisation in order to foster a cohesive company culture across its multiple locations. It also had the role of ensuring transparency across the organisation, enabling all employees to access a central hub of information and putting transparency at the very heart of the company culture.

As part of a wider SharePoint-hosted system, FCOS’s Intranet needed to be capable of integrating fully with Microsoft 365, giving employees access to an important line-of-business applications through one centralised system. This included the building out of business-critical applications, using the Microsoft Power Platform.

  • Government
  • Ministerial Department

Solution Strategy

Konsolute set up a detailed implementation plan according to the client’s key requirements through conducting a comprehensive Discovery Phase. During the Discovery Phase we conducted workshops and discussions with stakeholders and users across the company to identify key personas and User Stories, helping us to build a picture of the individual requirements of FCOS users. The Discovery Phase better informed our implementation plan for the specificities of the client.

Konsolute used their proprietary product known as ‘Kolumbus’ to infer an Information Architecture from their existing data repositories which included SharePoint and Lotus Notes databases. This process classified data into categories and sub-categories, creating taxonomies and giving a holistic view of the data created across the organisation. Kolumbus’ centralised dashboard gave a comprehensive view of the organisational data from which unstructured data could be queried and information architecture could be established.

A phased rollout was then introduced. This involved rolling-out the Intranet to various departments within the organisation to facilitate discussion and feedback on the solution. This feedback was noted and used to inform changes and updates to the solution, concluding in an organisation-wide rollout of the final solution.

Finally, employee training sessions for the new Intranet solution were hosted, enabling end-users to utilise the new solution to its maximum potential and in the best way to benefit the specific needs of their job role.

Result

The Intranet enabled FCOS employees across various office locations and speaking various languages to communicate effectively. The Intranet’s inbuilt enterprise social networking capabilities, using tools such as Microsoft Yammer, enabled employees to stay connected via the corporate Yammer feed. Employees were enabled to connect across social media channels and create blogs and surveys, opening communication channels and fostering connectivity across the organisation’s departments and locations. The ability of the Intranet to work across all devices, without impacting the effect on the end user, ensured that all users could remain connected even when out of the office or travelling.

Using the targeted audience capabilities of SharePoint and Konsolute’s range of SharePoint Online components, the Intranet provided users with an employee centralised view. Feeding them with information connected to their projects or departments based on the sites and teams they participate in. The site structure encouraged the breakdown of silos across the organisation, allowing projects and interest groups to be found. Tailored information was made available to each user through a personalised Intranet home screen, engaging and immediately presenting users with relevant and interesting information. This resulted in reduced search time for daily activities and an overall more up-to-date workforce.
The fully tailorable Intranet design also enabled FCOS to maintain brand integrity and to present organisational values to their workforce. With a completely customisable design and features, the new Intranet was successfully tailored to reflect the key aims and vision of FCOS.

The SharePoint Online-based Intranet solution integrated seamlessly with the organisation’s existing Microsoft 365 tenancy, meaning employees could access familiar business applications via one centralised location. The structured and intuitive design reduced the confusion of working cross-platform, therefore simplifying the end-user experience.


accentlogotransparent

Konsolute delivery a Modern Intranet Solution for the Accent Group built upon Microsoft 365

Case study

Accent Housing Group

Konsolute delivered a modern intranet solution for the Accent Group bridging the gap between frontline workers and the rest of the organisation, enabling workers in the field to access the relevant information from wherever they are.

Solution Summary

Accent Group are a housing association, managing homes for several local authorities across England and Wales. Accent Group manage over 20,000 homes spread over the North, East and South of England. They required a comprehensive Intranet solution to maintain open communication channels and collaboration, from any device. Konsolute worked with Accent Group to refresh their outdated Intranet which was built on a legacy SharePoint platform. Accent Group’s previous investments in Microsoft 365 licenses were used to deliver a modern Intranet solution.

Challenge  

Accent Group has a large mobile workforce, with over sixty percent of their employees working in the field. They therefore required an adaptive platform to support frontline workers, enabling them to access information securely and easily from wherever they are. They key requirements of the solution were enabling a disparate workforce on the move to find, harvest, and upload information easily from a range of devices. Accent Group also required a platform through which employees could easily communicate and connect with other employees breaking down the hierarchical barriers of communication. The organisation also required a platform on which all members of their workforce, regardless of location, could be kept updated with important company news and information. This was important to company branding, maintaining a cohesive brand and company culture for all workers.

  • Government
  • Housing Management
  • Property Management

Solution Strategy

Konsolute began with a series of requirement gathering and discovery workshops involving a variety of users and key stakeholders. Workshops were conducted to capture key personas, the key areas in which the business can improve and better utilise its Microsoft 365 capabilities. As a result of this process, a series of User Stories were identified, and their Acceptance Criteria agreed on. Key personas were also identified against the client’s requirements to gain a cross-sectional representation of the organisation. This enabled Konsolute to provide an accurate estimation of cost and effort for the project.

The project, informed by the above key personas and user stories, was then conducted using an agile methodology known as SCRUM. Konsolute designed wireframes, to establish the layout and structure of the new Intranet’s components. Then completed the requirement specification design, to document and agree on the functionality of the components supporting the Intranet solution. Konsolute then further consulted stakeholders in order to define “Sprint cycles”, ensuring that each stage of the process is implemented and immediately reviewed. This strategy also doubled as a roll-out strategy for the solution.

The initial Sprint Cycle focused on implementing the core Intranet components as well as its homepage. Subsequent sprints then involved the roll out of departmental sites.

We then conducted business change and readiness training sessions, in which we demonstrated key functionalities to each department and introduced training materials for further learning. We also established and maintained continued support throughout the extended roll-out and provided help for the organisation’s transition to Microsoft 365.

Result

Utilising their modern Intranet solution, Accent Group colleagues were able to maintain a cohesive working environment through maintaining regular communication. The Intranet solution bridged the gap between frontline workers and the rest of the organisation, enabling workers in the field to access the relevant information from wherever they are, via the native SharePoint mobile app.

The easy-to-use search tool enabled employees to find corporate internal applications quickly for their immediate use. The Intranet service also opened communication channels between members of the workforce in disparate locations, streamlining communication and maintaining the open flow of information across the organisation.

The up-to-date, custom designed Intranet solution provided a new fresh environment which enabled Access Group to demonstrate their corporate brand and values to their organisation and workforce, reinforcing brand culture and cohesiveness.


DHSC

Konsolute Complete a Successful Digital Transformation for DHSC

Case study

Konsolute Complete a Successful Digital Transformation for DHSC

Konsolute worked with the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) to complete a Digital Transformation of the organization's program of work.

Solution Summary

The Department of Health & Social Care (DHSC) is a Government department responsible for government policy on health and social care matters in England. They are also involved in elements of the Scottish Government, Welsh Government and Northern Ireland Executive. They oversee the National Health Service (NHS), a subsidized medical and health service available for UK citizens. 

Konsolute worked with DHSC to complete a Digital Transformation of the organization’s program of work. Konsolute provided an in-depth analysis of DHSC’s data, to enable them to structure their data efficiently and find essential information quickly. Konsolute then consolidated all DHSC’s data onto a single platform to increase productivity and collaboration, providing a secure and compliant infrastructure, for DHSC’s 4,000 users.  

Challenge  

DHSC had a large mass of both structured and unstructured data, stored across various locations. Konsolute faced the challenge of analyzing and structuring around 50 terabytes of data, stored within repositories such as File Shares and SharePoint. Data was also stored within Access Databases, Excel macros and connected workbooks. A large proportion of this was legacy data. 

Analyzing and making sense of all the data was vital, as DHSC operate in a highly secure, trusted and essential sector. Konsolute placed great importance on thorough data analysis before deciding what to keep, archive and migrate on to DHSC’s new platform. 

  • Healthcare
  • Social Care

  • Kolumbus 
  • Microsoft 365
  • SharePoint Online
  • Microsoft Teams
  • Power Automate
  • Power BI

Solution Strategy

Konsolute began with a Cloud Strategy and Readiness assessment. This consisted of addressing security and compliance needs. Through Microsoft’s security and compliance features. Konsolute were able to systematically improve device management, Intune, sensitivity and retention labelling. 

Konsolute then used the discovery tool, Kolumbus, to provide insight into DHSC’s data, and the various repositories it was stored in. Kolumbus sifted through the unstructured and structured data, to analyze and understand its contents and potential complexities with migration.  

This detailed analysis was used to drive the migration path. The various data repositories were then consolidated to remediate issues. Work areas such as file share and SharePoint were sorted into organized structures, to be managed in SharePoint Online and OneDrive for Business. 30TB of useful data was migrated, using Azure infrastructure to support complex applications.

Result

Konsolute used Kolumbus to provide an in-depth analysis of the data. DHSC were able to make a quick, informed and decisive decisions regarding which data was important for migration. Konsolute were then able to streamline the organization on a unified Microsoft 365 platform. 

Microsoft Teams was utilized to enrich the organization’s ability to collaborate. The enhanced communication is showcased by the ‘Track and Trace’ feature. Microsoft Teams enabled DHSC to set up and collaborate quickly, responding to COVID-19 cases as an organization. The overall result was the creation of a secure and compliant, data-driven cloud infrastructure. This drastically aided business functionality and engagement within DHSC.  


Subsea7

Konsolute Complete a Successful Digital Transformation for Subsea 7

case study

Konsolute Complete a Successful Full Provisioning of Microsoft 365 for Subsea 7

Konsolute work with Subsea 7 to implement a full Microsoft 365 tenancy that allowed teams to work both online and remotely, as required by the client, remaining enhancing their collaborative abilities.

Solution Summary 

Subsea 7, a prominent organisation in the engineering, construction, and service Industry, required solutions to automate business processes, increase business engagement, and help connect their geographically distributed teams.  

Konsolute provisioned a rollout of Microsoft 365 through a series of pilots, using workshops with stakeholder to gather information from which to create a strategic roadmap for the implementation of Microsoft 365 capabilities across the organisation, providing bespoke information architecture, governance, and security procedures. 

Konsolute delivered a phased rollout that reduced business impact and resulted in a more cohesive organisation, increased user engagement, and, ultimately, an increase in productivity.  

Challenge  

Subsea 7 required an enhanced working system with the main purpose of increasing collaborative working and connectivity between geographically disparate teams. Due to many of these teams working remotely in vessels, offline synchronisation capabilities were a key requirement of the organisation. 

Subsea 7’s existing system consisted of multiple collaborative environments across various systems, causing confusion when working across teams or projects, resulting in wasted time and effort. These disparate working systems lead to a lack of organisation-wide accessibility to key information, constituting a significant obstruction to information sharing and collaboration. This informed a main aim of Konsolute’s work with the organisation: to improve connection and collaboration ease and efficiency.  

The client also lacked automation of their business processing, further hampering the efficiency of the workforce at large. Subsea 7 accordingly required a full overhaul existing manual business processes, replacing them entirely with new systems and features to enable automation. This transition had to be completed in such a way that ongoing business processes were not interrupted by the work being done by Konsolute.  

Subsea 7 were also lacking business engagement in their organisation as well as adoption and change managementand therefore carried the significant risk of losing the advantages of technological improvements to the business. Konsolute were therefore required to work closely with the organisation, its stakeholders, and certain members of the workforce in order to ensure that all updates to the business processes that were implemented could be adopted and utilised to the full.  

"Konsolute were very professional and took special interest in how the organization is run today. From there, we have managed to map out and produce a plan for deployment of the M365 toolsets that is flexible to accommodate the changing needs of the business. They have worked as a partner and helped to remove issues when they arose. Great effort and fantastic company to work with."

- Subsea 7 Cloud Solutions Manager

  • Engineering
  • Construction
  • Energy

  • Microsoft 365
  • SharePoint Online
  • Microsoft Teams
  • OneDrive for Business
  • Microsoft EMS
  • Intune 

Solution Strategy  

Konsolute proposed to the client a full roll-out of Microsoft 365 across the organisation through a series of pilot rounds. Pilots were employed in order to gauge the organisation’s response to the strategies and implementation process undertaken by KonsoluteThe preliminary strategy implemented by Konsolute in this regard was to run workshops with Subsea 7 stakeholders across the client’s various office locations located around the world. These workshops were held in order to gather both qualitative and quantitative data regarding the client’s requirements for their Microsoft 365 journey.  

The output gathered from the requirements workshops were analysed and mapped, from which a strategic roadmap for the overall Microsoft 365 rollout was defined. A phased rollout was then implemented according to the strategic roadmap. The phases of the rollout were defined in order to ensure that the implementation process did not interrupt the client’s ongoing business process.  

Konsolute proceeded to help Subsea 7 establish an Adoption and Change Management practice according to the Microsoft Change Management Framework through a series of pilots. These pilots were intended to pare the client to fully adopt their new Microsoft 365 capabilities, embracing the services and using them in their day-to-day practices. The Adoption and Change Management training involved working with the Shareholders of Subsea 7, conducting scenarios and awareness workshops in order to boost the competency and responsiveness to Microsoft 365 benefits within the organisation.  

Konsolute implemented and undertook an entire organisational migration of the organisation onto the new Microsoft 365 cloud tenancy. Pilot users were migrated on a rolling basis according to business priority. The migration process followed the bespoke Information Architecture developed by Konsolute for the clientThis worked alongside a tailored Governance systemensuring that the client’s new technology continues to work well within the organisation. Throughout the migration process, Konsolute adhered to a comprehensive Security management plan, implementing compliance procedures and barriers on sensitive data according to the organisation’s requirements.  

Results

As a result of their collaboration with Konsolute, Subsea 7 were left with a cohesive organisation, with all teams and locations connected through Microsoft 365 and cloud capabilities. Konsolute implemented a full Microsoft 365 tenancy that allowed teams to work both online and remotely, as required by the client, remaining enhancing their collaborative abilities. Konsolute conducted a series of workshops and pilots followed by a phased rollout in order to tailor the process to stakeholders’ requirements and reduce the impact to existing business processes. Konsolute’s focus on Adoption and Change management resulted in more engaged and aware users, prepared to uptake the new technologies upon implementation. Overall, the migration and implementation of Microsoft 365 by Konsolute resulted in a distinct increase in productivity in Subsea 7 as an organisation.  


LLWR

Konsolute works with Low Level Waste Repository to Automate Business Procedures and Streamline ISO Standards Adherence

case study

Konsolute works with LLW Repository to Automate Business Procedures and Streamline ISO Standards Adherence

Konsolute worked with LLWR to help automate business processes and establish a Electronics Documents Records Management System (EDRMS) for the maintenance of their records, including evidence records for the attention of industry regulators.

Challenge

LLWR needed to establish better channels for communication and collaboration between sections of the organisation. The reduction of paper records was also a main aim of this project, looking to digitise where possible and establish an effective management system for the archival of records. Konsolute was also asked to implement a system for the maintenance of records for regulators. Finally, Konsolute worked with LLWR on the automation of their business procedures, aiming to establish more efficient and effective processes.

Strategy

Konsolute implemented SharePoint Server in order to manage LLWRs highly sensitive files alongside an Electronic Documents and Records Management System (EDRMS). 

Konsolute fitted LLWR with a bespoke ISO certified Quality Management System, allowing the organisation to manage and maintain evidence of industry standards being upheld in daily work. Konsolute also established an automated document management process with the use of SharePoint workflows.

Konsolute implemented an Information Architecture system, alongside a tailored governance plan and security and compliance measures, considering the high importance of security to LLWR’s data.  

A centralised storage system was implemented for engineering documentation, and a system was created for the management of Portfolios, Programmes, and Projects.  

Finally, Konsolute completed the migration of data from various existing data source.

Result

LLWR achieved a unified document management platform, holding and maintaining all data with the requisite level of security and compliance. Konsolute empowered LLWR with the ability to archive and dispose of data based upon regulatory requirements. And helped them specifically adhere to ISO 9001 and 45001. Konsolute further streamlined LLWR’s business process, enabling the organisation to automate processes and consequently improving efficiency and auditing.

"Thank you to Konsolute who delivered and successfully implemented an EDRMS which helped us to reach our ambitious goal to reduce paper records by 95% and adhere to the regulations imposed by industrial governing bodies"

- Quality Manager

  • Nuclear
  • Nuclear Decommissioning

  • ISO Certified QMS System
  • SharePoint Server


Amnesty

Amnesty International Completes a Digital Transformation with Microsoft 365 and the Services of Konsolute

case study

Amnesty International Completes a Digital Transformation with Microsoft 365 and the Services of Konsolute

Konsolute worked with Amnesty International Secretariat to complete a Digital Transformation of the organisation’s internal system and business procedures. Konsolute primarily implemented the roll-out of Microsoft 365 services SharePoint, Exchange, and OneDrive for Business for use across Amnesty International’s 3000 users. Konsolute also completed a migration from Lotus Notes to Microsoft 365 and managed Amnesty’s programmes and projects. Finally, Konsolute aided Amnesty in the construction and management plan of their applications such as Individuals At Risk database.

Challenge

Amnesty International Secretariat is comprised of multiple offices worldwide and regularly collaborates with external satellite offices, sharing sensitive data regarding human rights cases. Across these offices, Amnesty required a cohesive, unified platform to facilitate collaborative working. Amnesty also required help with information architecture and governance, ensuring that all data and assets are structured.

Strategy

Konsolute conducted a full data migration to Microsoft 365 cloud services. This was done through the use of AI-driven data discovery using Konsolute’s discovery tool, Kolumbus. This enabled Amnesty to infer an Information Architecture by identifying common characteristics across their existing data.

Konsolute implemented an Information Architecture structure as well as an Information Governance processes which ensured that the Amnesty’s data / processes were secure and compliant. Konsolute also completed the implementation of Programmes and Projects through a centralised provisioning engine built upon Microsoft Azure technology.

Amnesty campaign for individuals, families, communities and organisations around the world who have had their human rights violated. Amnesty required a secure and compliant platform due to the sensitivity of the data relating to the cases. Konsolute implemented a bespoke application known as Individuals At Risk (IAR) hosted on Microsoft Azure and Microsoft 365.

Finally, Konsolute carried out a core modernisation of Amnesty’s business processes to build numerous applications leveraging native Cloud Azure features.

Result

After working with Konsolute to implement a bespoke Microsoft 365 experience, Amnesty was left with a cohesive connected organisation, empowering employees with increased productivity and efficiency as well as streamlining crucial communications. Amnesty achieved standardisation across its various business units alongside increased operational efficiency and a reduction in operating costs.

"Konsolute have enabled us to envision our digital transformation that connects our people and processes through Microsoft 365. This has allowed us to mobilise our workforce and work more effectively across geographical boundaries"

- Amnesty CIO

  • Non-profit
  • Not-for-profit organisation