NetMonkeys Ltd

Guiding TEP's Strategic Migration to Microsoft 365 SharePoint Online.

The Challenge

Current setup causing a lag in productivity.
TEP faced disruption with their on-premises SharePoint v13: 

1. Complexities and inefficiencies in their existing setup. 

2. Frequent downtimes and unreliable connections to SQL. 

3. Sluggish performance affecting productivity. 

Considering the vast scope of migration, including 10,000 historic sites and 1,000 active sites, meant the project required a seamless transition without any operational downtime.

The Goal
Beyond a simple migration.
To undertake a full transformation harnessing the complete potential of SharePoint Online and other Microsoft 365 tools. 

The Solution
Bring in the troop.
With our profound expertise in Microsoft 365 migrations and IT solutions, Netmonkeys were chosen as the strategic partners to walk TEP through the move.

The Process
Steps to success.
A break-down of our migration strategy: 

1.  Migration of Existing Data: While TEP took the lead in data migration, we provided invaluable assistance, ensuring a smooth transition without data loss. 

2. Modern Site Implementation: Leveraging SharePoint Online’s modern sites for enhanced performance and future-proofing. 

3. SQL Dependency Reduction: Transitioning from a SQL-heavy setup to a more streamlined SharePoint Online environment. 

4. Focus on Key Projects: Prioritising the migration of TEP1 projects, Homes England, and Client Portals to SharePoint Online. 

5. Permissions & Navigation: A deep dive into user permissions, groups, and navigation to ensure a secure yet user-friendly environment. 

6. Integration with Other Microsoft 365 Tools: While the immediate focus was on SharePoint, the design ensured compatibility with future integration of tools like Microsoft Teams. 

The Execution
Action to make it happen.
The migration was meticulously planned and executed in phases: 

Phase 1: Template site setup, including walkthroughs, documentation of existing setups, redesigning of site indexes, and creation of new sites and templates. 

Phase 2: The actual migration and go-live, including building the live system, assisting TEP with content migration, and providing support during the transition. 

Throughout, NetMonkeys provided continuous support, training, and expertise, ensuring that TEP's team was well-equipped to harness their new platform's capabilities. 

The Outcome
Reaping the benefits.
Post-migration, TEP experienced: 

Enhanced Reliability: The issues of downtimes and unreliable SQL connections were a thing of the past. 

Boosted Performance: Faster load times and smoother operations significantly improved user experience and productivity. 

Streamlined Operations: The new setup was simpler, more intuitive, and offered advanced features, making daily operations more efficient. 

Future-proofing: The new environment was not only robust but also scalable, ensuring TEP was ready for future growth and technological advancements. 

The Conclusion
Transformation upon reflection
TEP’s decision to migrate to SharePoint Online, with NetMonkeys as their implementation partner, marked a pivotal moment in their digital transformation journey. The successful migration not only addressed their immediate challenges but also positioned TEP for sustained success in an increasingly digital world.

Revolutionising The CATAX Claim Process

In The Beginning…

Capital Allowance is a form of UK tax relief for commercial property owners.

Due to the complexity of the process, it’s often ignored by accountants and ultimately billions of pounds remain unclaimed.

CATAX provides the knowledge, expertise, and experience that allows commercial property owners to access this hidden value.

They rely on information and data for their success.

Multiple kinds of documents need to be created, edited, and shared by multiple different sources for every case and claim.

The Solution
Understanding and mapping the entire claim process allowed NetMonkeys to create, develop, and configure the best business applications and technology for the solution.

Storage was the initial focus.

An infrastructure was built that confidently handles all of the claim process data and information to make it an entirely digital system.

Accessibility and visibility were then addressed.

Viewpoints into the system were created for every role in the process.

CATAX staff, surveyors, accountants, solicitors & agents can access the system to see exactly the information they require to complete their tasks.

Furthermore, the creation, editing, and sharing of documents are completed in a safe and secure environment making valuable business data visible only to those that have permission.

Business Development and Growth were considered at every step.

Models for hierarchies of Franchises and agents were built in from the beginning to allow the rapid addition of users to the system.

Complex and versatile reporting is also available that encourages CATAX to innovate and adapt to market forces and trends.

The Value
The CATAX strategy was to take the industry by storm and quickly grab market share before their competitors could enter.

Maintaining that position in the industry would require a commitment to development and investment.
The system we created adds value to this strategy in a number of ways.

1. It was successfully used as a sales tool for CATAX to recruit the agents that would be essential to their continued growth.
2. The unified platform it supplies is perfect to conduct business to business processes in a transparent and auditable manner.
3. The task-based nature of the system hugely reduces the time to complete claims. This means that fewer admin resources are needed and it also allows faster cash flow to be realised for the funding of further development.
4. Accreditations, partnerships, and endorsements from folks such as ICAEW and The Law Society were secured by demonstrating the system.
5. The ultra-efficient service that claimants receive is exemplary, negating the effect of postponed or cancelled claims.

External to the system is the value that NetMonkeys bring to CATAX as a partner, operating as a watchtower for business applications and technology for both their business and industry.

We are always at their table.

The Potential
The CATAX system needed to have an ultra-reliable and durable foundation in order to assist the company’s entrance into the market.

However, it will be the agility and flexibility of the system that enables its full potential to be realised.

Changes, amendments, and new features are encouraged through regular performance meetings involving NetMonkeys, CATAX, and external users.

Maximising user adoption of the system uncovers areas of improvement that can only arise through consistent use. And having NetMonkeys acting as in-house consultants and architects of the system allows these improvements and changes to be applied in the quickest and most considered way.

The aggregate of marginal gains will greatly support the continued success of CATAX as a business. The system we have created allows for the measurement of incremental improvements in a live environment through bespoke reporting.

Using the data available to create new and innovative reports will also help in the prediction of future patterns for the business and continue to strengthen CATAX’s position as a market leader that creates industry standards.

Manufacturing 365 Success for Invopak

In The Beginning…

NetMonkeys recognised that Invopak was growing rapidly with users being added across a number of sites.

As a result, multiple physical versions of Microsoft Office had been assigned across the company on many devices in many locations.

This inevitably led to issues with version and file compatibility along with a number of licensing concerns.

Aligning the IT services and business applications for every user had to be a business priority.

The Solution
NetMonkeys identified a company-wide implementation of Microsoft Office 365 as the perfect way forward for Invopak.

The E3 licensing plan offered a solution for Invopak that would ease problems immediately and offer the perfect foundation for additional cloud applications in the future.

NetMonkeys knowledge and experience of Office 365 migrations gave the Invopak board confidence that the project would be completed in the most efficient manner with negligible downtime for users.

Invopak’s relationship with NetMonkeys is built on two vital factors; the trust that they have in our ability and their own understanding that ‘The Companies who adopt the best technology always win’.

The Value
The Office 365 Enterprise E3 plan delivers exceptional business value for Invopak across a number of areas.

1. Cost – there is an immediate reduction in IT cost benefit through monthly subscriptions.
2. Mobile Working – users can access their accounts from any device in any location.
3. Compatibility and Collaboration – all users are working from the same versions of Office applications making collaboration simple.
4. Availability – 365 services are guaranteed with 99.9% uptime guaranteed by an SLA.
5. Support – the maintenance and support of cloud solutions are simplified without physical onsite servers.
6. Storage – along with 1TB of personal One Drive storage, every user’s mailbox is now 50GB eliminating the need for any archiving and making searches for important legacy emails simpler.
7. Security – Invopak’s user data is safe in five layers of security of Microsoft’s cloud without the potential failure of on-site servers.

It was evident that this project would be the beginning of Invopak’s long term vision for their business. Working with NetMonkeys Develop & Assist to create a road map of how this vision would be realised and supported by business technology will be a crucial step for the company.

The Potential
As part of every solution that NetMonkeys create, develop, and configure, the potential for future success is considered as a major factor.

The flexibility of 365 licensing allows users to be added inexpensively with budgeting for staff recruitment becoming a clearer and simpler process.

As the Microsoft Office applications are uniformly updated, users will develop and train at the same rate to ensure that collaboration and output becomes more streamlined.

NetMonkeys is adamant that the most important resource for any business is its people.

Solutions such as Office 365 charge a company’s people with the tools and power to make huge improvements in tasks and processes.

New applications, rolled out to 365 users, such as Yammer and Delve have already had a great positive impact within Invopak through user adoption and influence. It is precisely this kind of applied thinking and working that will allow the true potential of the company to be realised with NetMonkeys always on hand to consult and support through business technology.

QuestGates Claims Management Transformed

In The Beginning…

QuestGates develops & delivers innovative and bespoke loss adjusting and claims solutions with technical expertise and the highest quality service. The nature of loss adjusting means that vast amounts of information and data has to be created, viewed, edited, and shared for every claim.

With several offices located across the country, all dealing with a wealth of third-party partners and claimants, creating a secure system to give all users access and a viewpoint into this information would be a complex challenge.

The Solution
QuestGates' existing claims process had to be surveyed and analysed by the NetMonkeys team to create a solution that would support and augment QuestGates' business strategy.

Creating a B2B Interface
Our initial evaluation of the process showed that it was dependent on a number of disparate legacy systems and databases. The first component of the project was to make a successful unifying and secure B2B web entry point into all of these systems allowing insurers to view their claims and obtain management information.

Connecting Out
The information and data that claims are reliant on comes from a variety of different sources– for example, insurers and contractors – each with their own systems. It was essential to allow a digital conversation to interpret and automate the transfer of this data between a number of systems using .xml technology. Additionally, any changes made to this information can then be viewed by all of these sources in a live environment.

Personal Viewpoint
The user experience of the system was the key to both its security and success. Every user is given a personalised view of the system that allows them to view, add, and amend the data that they are responsible for or need to see. These levels of access provide vital information ranging from management information reporting through to claimant’s progress and status notification.

The Value
QuestGates' business strategy of growth and development requires detailed attention and commitment to user experience. This has to be the case for all new and existing customers, suppliers, and claimants.

The NetMonkeys system compliments this system and adds value in many ways:

The efficiency gains of using the system are wide-reaching with time saved leading to more effective use of resources.

A greater volume of claims can be addressed in an easily auditable manner making compliance with Insurer Service Level Agreements a much simpler process.

The co-ordination of claim information is streamlined for better use of contractors and external suppliers.

The claimant experience is strengthened through easily updated information resulting in fewer complaints.

The overall success and usability of the system have become a sales tool for QuestGates to demonstrate in attracting new customers.

The relationship between NetMonkeys and QuestGates itself has become an important business advantage for the future. With NetMonkeys acting as a watchtower for business technology in the loss adjusting industry, change suggestions and support for the system are consistently at the highest level possible.

The Potential
The QuestGates system had to incorporate existing sources of data and processes whilst building a platform for future development. It was essential that both the system and its users maintained the agility to adapt to new processes as they become appropriate. These new processes may be a result of changes in the business environment or advances in business technology and applications.

The potential for recording and viewing all data and information within the system using mobile devices is also a clear way forward. Parts of the claims management process are already active through mobile use with much more development planned. And further advances in general connectivity alongside NetMonkeys research will allow this potential to be realised in the near future.

With every claim, the system handles it gathers data and information that will be utilised for new, in-depth, and innovative reporting at management level. NetMonkeys is constantly reviewing how this data and reporting can be presented in order to assist and influence the company objectives for QuestGates.

It is exactly this type of commitment and support to the system that will guarantee the partnership of NetMonkeys and QuestGates continue to innovate together long into the future.