How the Midcounties Co-op standardised its IT while maintaining diversity

The business used multiple suppliers and a spread of third-party support agreements, some of which had expired

The Midcounties Co-operative is the largest independent co-operative in the UK. It has a workforce of 8,000 employees across more than 300 food retail and post office outlets, 44 childcare facilities, 30 healthcare facilities, 60 travel outlets and 85 funeral care sites, as well as head offices.

Together, these facilities serve a customer base that includes over 700,000 members. However, IT services were based on a disparate collection of technologies assembled over many years of expansion. Working with an array of suppliers, different business units within the organisation had deployed a range of IT solutions that were predominantly hosted on-premises, and applications were managed in-house according to individual needs.

There was a diverse spread of third-party support arrangements in place, some of which had expired. Additionally, standardisation was lacking across all layers of the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) stack; from networking, servers and data storage through to applications and end-user interfaces. This was restricting efficiency and collaboration across the business as well as complicating overall IT operations.

The strategy was to be as standard as possible and as diverse as required

At the same time, the business had accumulated a large number of licensing agreements. Microsoft technologies were fundamental to the organisation, but the licensing position required in-depth observation to ensure the most cost-effective arrangements. This was crucial to meeting evolving needs and extracting maximum value from the available tools.

Upon joining the organisation, CTO Aaron Clayton worked with the senior IT team to develop an IT strategy that introduced greater standardisation while continuing to provide individual business units with the specific solutions they required.

"The strategy was developed around a simple statement: to be as standard as possible and as diverse as required," Clayton said. "Looking at the entire OSI stack, our goal was simplification, which meant locating and implementing solutions best suited to our organisation's needs. We wanted to move from on-premises towards a cloud-based solution and address concerns around back-up and recovery."

Resolution

In order to modernise, The Midcounties Co-operative enlisted CDW to conduct a review of the organisation's current estate. The company proposed a new Enterprise Subscription Agreement (ESA), and consulted with Microsoft to establish the most cost-effective solution. They based this on an assessment of usage and an aim to bring all previous licences under one single agreement.

The cost avoidance totalled £2 million over the three-year period of the agreement, with the added value that the Co-operative could also access new apps and services, as well establishing an upgrade path for future evolution.

CDW's Integrated Technology Team worked with The Midcounties Co-operative to implement the most relevant and up-to-date software, and upon reaching the renewal period, CDW recommended a migration to Microsoft 365. This moved the Co-operative from on-premises provision to a cloud-based model, enabling it to establish a standard set of IT services across the organisation and delivered a more scalable platform to handle increasing business demands. The migration also led to improved business continuity and strengthened the organisation's disaster recovery capabilities.

The organisation also modernised its working practices. With Microsoft 365 and an associated VDI solution, The Co-operative introduced agile and flexible working options for employees needing to access services remotely. In parallel, it scaled up collaboration tools with the roll out of a new SharePoint platform. Future plans to harness Microsoft Teams and Skype for Business are also in progress.

The introduction of greater flexibility was underpinned by new security measures including multi-factor authentication. Working with CDW, the Co-operative has strengthened data encryption with Microsoft Azure Information Protection and introduced Microsoft Intune to provide non-intrusive security for mobile devices with single sign-on.

CDW also deployed its Microsoft adoption team specialists to provide bespoke guidance materials for users and on-boarding assistance as employees adjusted to the new platforms.

How the Midcounties Co-op standardised its IT while maintaining diversity

The business used multiple suppliers and a spread of third-party support agreements, some of which had expired

Result

The consolidation of IT suppliers has reduced pressure on IT professionals and presented important financial efficiencies.

"Cost-effectiveness is a clear benefit, but it's also about adhering to our principles of inclusivity, ensuring members and employees are supported," said Clayton. "We now feel correctly equipped for the size of business we have become."

The savings realised by the new agreement enabled the Co-operative's IT team to proceed with its modernisation project, as well as opening up access to new apps and services to be leveraged in future.

Employees have also embraced the introduction of OneDrive, and are now sharing links rather than emailing entire documents. "It is not just a technology adjustment but a cultural shift too," said Clayon. "We are introducing new thought processes and working patterns that were not possible prior to the new solution. Senior executives…have identified improvements in productivity and interaction, which is more flexible and easier to follow."

The Co-operative said that the support of CDW's adoption team has been crucial in helping employees adapt to the new technologies. A series of surveys to measure satisfaction levels among employees showed scores of over 75 per cent in areas including preparation and support.

The use of Microsoft Azure has removed the headache of capacity planning, and further expansion is planned for the future. "The capacity is there when we need it," said Clayton, adding, "We have a huge programme of change around digitalisation and e-commerce and it will be vital for us to have resources that can grow as required."