A common goal of digital transformation is business agility. The ability to deploy, scale, and adjust technology delivery with
business demand and a rapidly changing global environment. For companies ‘born in the cloud’, this is achieved easily, at least
initially. For larger organizations with a legacy of on-premises applications, siloed architectures, and technical debt, this is harder
to achieve.
Integrating on-premises apps and services with cloud infrastructure and Software as a Service (SaaS) applications is challenging.
Delivering those apps and services to a distributed workforce of office, home, and remote users exacerbates this. New
applications developed in the cloud are not immune to this. Those apps often rely on dependencies running on-premises. Those
dependencies range from data stored on-premises to identity delivered through tools like Microsoft’s Active Directory. Bridging
the gap between existing apps and services and their modern peers is critical to the success of transformation projects.
Technology is only one component of any transformation project. Expertise and
technical knowledge are also required from the planning of Day 0 to the operations
of Day 2. In today’s hyper-competitive technical staffing market, new expertise
comes at a premium. Successful transformations look to leverage existing staff
expertise wherever possible. This is commonly achieved by using solutions that can
provide a common operational model for modern and legacy systems.
Microsoft’s portfolio of solutions, ranging from Microsoft 365 (M365) to the Azure
cloud platform, offers a unique advantage when bridging this gap between where an
organization is, and where they are going. The broad portfolio of services provides
platform integrations between on-premises or legacy/architectures and
modern/cloud counterparts. They also provide a familiar operational model that
leverages existing expertise through the transition into normal operations.
This provides an ideal platform for extending on-premises into the cloud in a hybrid model. A platform that provides value,
whether an organization is looking to offload productivity tools to a SaaS model (M365) or build a hybrid cloud model and
complementing existing applications with Azure for the development of new software. When building modern applications that
can integrate with legacy systems, and existing operational knowledge, Microsoft offers the right tools for the job.
Microsoft’s offerings go beyond delivering modern applications, providing a full suite of solutions designed for a modern work
experience with full support for security and compliance. M365 offloads the hosting and support of productivity apps, while
delivering an integrated collaboration experience complete with voice, video, and file share through Teams and OneDrive. This is
hardened with integrated identity and secure delivery, without the need for cumbersome tools like Virtual Private Networks
(VPN). These capabilities allow organizations to avoid deploying redundant tooling while taking advantage of existing operational
knowledge and engineering capabilities throughout their transformation journey.
CompuNet’s team has deep roots in infrastructure, with a long history of deploying and supporting Microsoft workloads
on-premises. This deep expertise carries forward into our cloud architecture teams, providing the right expertise to guide
transformation initiatives or build hybrid IT capabilities. Our teams start by understanding your existing operational models and
dependencies, in order to architect the future state that meets your business requirements. Our teams work to leverage your
existing expertise and investments, while providing the right platforms for growth and adaptability.
CompuNet transformation projects typically start with expert-led cloud workshops. These workshops are guided discussions with
client technical teams focused on understanding current requirements and operations, then using that understanding to define
cloud use cases that deliver the desired outcomes. These workshops are designed to identify knowledge and operational gaps
early, ensuring they are accounted for in solution architectures. Through a strong partnership with Microsoft, these workshops
can often be offered at no cost. This makes them a natural starting point for organizations of all sizes.
The workshops act as a foundation for the transformation process, building an understanding of common business requirements
and the applicable use-cases. Transformation projects are holistic in nature and must account for Security & Compliance, Access
& Experience, Modern Applications, Modern Work, and Cloud Platforms. These workshops address specific challenges, while
maintaining a broad view of the big picture landscape.
The result of CompuNet workshops is a defined roadmap for a transformation initiative based on use cases jointly defined by
your teams and CompuNet’s experts. They lead directly into options for proof of concept (PoC), and architecture design sessions.
Many of these additional activities have Microsoft funding options available through CompuNet to reduce or eliminate costs for
qualifying customers.
For customers relying on existing Microsoft productivity, development, identity, and management tools, Azure is often the natural
fit. By leveraging existing in-house expertise, carrying forward existing tooling, and extending capabilities through Azure, organizations
can modernize while avoiding much of the complexity. With CompuNet’s guidance organizations can rapidly assess
options, fill expertise gaps, and embrace transformation for their business.
These outcomes can be further extended through CompuNet’s broad suite of as-a-service offerings: Backup-as-a-Service (BaaS),
Business Continuity/Disaster Recovery-as-a-service (BC/DRaas), Managed Security Services (MSS), Network/Transport Services,
and Hosted Collaboration. All of which allow customers to offload operational overhead while maintaining flexibility, choice, and
peace of mind.
When it comes to delivering transformation, CompuNet’s team has the capabilities you require and the experts to get you there.
