Capita sets itself up for hybrid work with Azure Active Directory and Microsoft Endpoint Manager

In 2019, UK consulting company Capita set a course to simplify internal infrastructure and build a more flexible hybrid workplace. Capita’s Chief Technology Officer Manpreet Singh says drivers for change came from increasing numbers of workers transitioning to working remotely and from-home. “At that time, their user experience proved to be inconsistent depending on which office they were in, whether they were working from home, and so on,” Singh says. Another consideration was the cost of existing infrastructure, which wasn’t justified by its effectiveness in providing a great user experience. Singh adds, “We wanted to reduce cost by consolidating a number of different deployed vendor technologies around a Microsoft solution that could avoid the investment in licensing and operating those third-party pieces.” 

Improved security, boosted productivity with Azure AD

Even before COVID-19 brought the need for increased agility and adaptability into sharp focus, employee surveys indicated that growing numbers of workers looked for more flexibility in work practices, with options to work remotely in addition to in-office and from devices of their choice. Capita rallied its organization behind a “New Ways of Working” strategy, a plan to mobilize the workforce, provide increased opportunity for collaboration and participation, and support expressed requirements for a more flexible work environment. 

It took courage to make such business-critical decisions in the middle of COVID-19, when offices were closing, and it looked like remote work would be the norm for the foreseeable future at Capita. But Capita decided to push forward, get ahead of the issue, and set an aggressive schedule for a transformation underpinned by technology. It would be centered on migration from existing point-products to a Microsoft 365 platform solution; the new design was built around Azure AD identity and access management for users, devices, and apps, and Microsoft Intune (within Microsoft Endpoint Manager) for managing, updating, and securing users’ devices. 

Singh says Capita set an ambitious schedule. “We gave ourselves a three- or four-month window and in that time migrated some 66,000 users, 11,000 mobile phones, and 106 applications. Within about six weeks, we were able to mobilize 40,000 people working from home.” 

Successful adoption with targeted training

Lucie Peters is Communications Manager at Capita and has followed the transformation closely, helping design internal communications around the transition to support user adoption, and monitoring feedback from users to make sure the new environment meets effectiveness and efficiency goals. “It was important our colleagues were on board with the changes we were making that would affect the way they access Capita resources and do their work, and yes—the responses have been incredibly positive,” she says. 

Peters speaks of using available communications and collaboration features from the Microsoft 365 environment to help smooth the adoption process and get staff up to speed quickly and without a hitch. In some cases, says Peters, training could be led by using Microsoft Teams and Yammer to explain how best to get up to speed. “We staged the rollout carefully, watching for any issues and using our new communications channels to address them. We used Teams to hold drop-in sessions, recording those for offline use. We used Yammer to develop user communities, helping us gather feedback, understand any problems and ensure users felt engaged in the process,” Peters says. 

The rollout quickly gained momentum, with SharePoint channels opening up for spontaneous peer advice, troubleshooting, and self-help. Peters adds, “It turned out to be a very collaborative exercise, and all of the different Microsoft 365 components helped us achieve the success we were looking for.” 

Reduced cost through simplified operations

Singh says that, alongside that positive user experience, administrators, too, have reported measurable benefits. These include time and cost savings from features such as Azure AD single sign-on, multifactor authentication, and self-service password reset. 

He sees a three-fold benefit: “Microsoft Security provides a faster, simpler user experience. And it saves money both in retiring third-party tools, and in time saved for our administrators.” 

Walking the walk at Capita

Singh has seen increased user engagement as access and authentication mechanisms have helped make remote work even more effective and productive. “Improving connectivity means people feel, well, more connected,” he says. “Results from recent surveys show colleagues are interacting more often and more naturally with peers, managers, and senior leaders; we have a more inclusive environment.” 

The New Ways of Working strategy has already become the standard operating procedure at Capita, and the new Microsoft infrastructure’s flexible and extensible feature set has formed the foundation for a modern, forward-looking hybrid workplace. 

Peters points out that the internal success of this project was also important as a reference and validation for strategies proposed to customers seeking advice, as they embark on their own digital transformation journeys. “From a consultancy perspective, being able to demonstrate to customers tried and tested solutions that you believe in and that you have the demonstrated skill sets to deploy and operate is definitely a bonus.” 

Singh continues, “We’ve shared our experiences of this project with some of our major clients in Local Government, Health and Education, along with the private sector in Insurance, Utilities, and Finance, and have been able to successfully support them too with their own hybrid workplace strategies and digital transformations—deploying and managing these same Microsoft technologies and solutions to provide them with the same benefits we’ve achieved within Capita. We’ve lived through the same pain points and are now reaping the rewards.” 

The secure foundation for a “virtual first” future

Asked to summarize Capita’s experience consolidating around Microsoft technologies, Keith McCarthy, Capita’s Group Strategic Partnerships Director, says, “It’s actually brought us closer together as an organization. Look at my scenario: my manager lives in Scotland. I live in Southern England. His manager lives in India. How often would we physically get together? Rarely. Whereas virtually, we now meet whenever we like.” He sees this as just one example that illustrates a broader benefit enjoyed by all workers across the organization. 

“Our redesigned, consistent ways of working provide a hybrid model to better support our people and clients. Through challenging the status quo of how we’ve always done things, we have redesigned our ways of working to empower everyone to focus on the outcomes and contribution that we each make in our roles,” McCarthy says. “Our new Microsoft cloud infrastructure will empower colleagues to work in the most flexible way, making work about the outcomes we create, not the places we go!” 

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