Featured case study

Adapting to the hybrid world and beyond

Equilibrium is an independent, award-winning financial planning and investment management company, managing over £1bn of assets with the purpose of making people’s lives better.

The challenge

Equilibrium wanted a partner who would keep them readily updated on the latest Microsoft and technology innovations to best inform their strategy, moving forward.

One of the key challenges for Equilibrium was becoming fully cloud-based. Before the pandemic, everyone in their team worked from a desktop computer and were entirely office-based. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, that quickly needed to change.

An ongoing challenge due, to the firm being a financial services company, is cyber security. It is critical that appropriate cyber security steps are taken, including a programme of training to continuously remind employees about cyber security and how to prevent attacks.

The challenge

Equilibrium wanted a partner who would keep them readily updated on the latest Microsoft and technology innovations to best inform their strategy, moving forward.

One of the key challenges for Equilibrium was becoming fully cloud-based. Before the pandemic, everyone in their team worked from a desktop computer and were entirely office-based. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit that needed to quickly change.

An ongoing challenge due, to the firm being a financial services company, is cyber security. It is critical that appropriate cybersecurity steps are taken, including a programme of training to continuously remind employees about cyber security and how to prevent attacks.

The solution

Axon was appointed by Equilibrium in 2015 as their managed service provider. Part of this service includes being their trusted technology advisor. A key aspect of this is to ensure that Equilibrium is aware of all relevant Microsoft and technology updates so they can make optimum use of what is available.

Axon’s core activities with Equilibrium include:

Support for all hardware and Microsoft applications 

Access to the Axon Customer Hub to log and track tickets and raise requests

Monitoring of cyber security issues

Raising awareness on cyber security with the Equilibrium team

Starters and leavers in the company 

Fortnightly catch-up with account manager 

Updates on any Microsoft changes and developments

Informing the technology roadmap  

Alongside Axon’s core ongoing activities, Equilibrium also wanted to update their CRM as their current system hadn’t been meeting their needs for some time. Axon provided a discovery session to go through the requirements and to look at how best to start on their Dynamics journey. Axon initially helped to decide the direction and build a skeleton version of a tailored Dynamics CRM. Equilibrium has taken the build forward supported by Axon’s ongoing advice.

The solution

Axon was appointed by Equilibrium in 2015 as their managed service provider. Part of this service includes being their trusted technology advisor. A key aspect of this is to ensure that Equilibrium is aware of all relevant Microsoft and technology updates so they can make optimum use of what is available.

Axon’s core activities with Equilibrium include:

Support for all hardware and Microsoft applications 

Access to the Axon Customer Hub to log and track tickets and raise requests

Monitoring of cyber security issues

Raising awareness on cyber security with the Equilibrium team

Starters and leavers in the company 

Fortnightly catch-up with account manager 

Updates on any Microsoft changes and developments

Informing the technology roadmap  

Alongside Axon’s core ongoing activities, Equilibrium also wanted to update their CRM as their current system hadn’t been meeting their needs for some time. Axon provided a discovery session to go through the requirements and to look at how best to start on their Dynamics journey. Axon initially helped to decide the direction and build a skeleton version of a tailored Dynamics CRM. Equilibrium has taken the build forward supported by Axon’s ongoing advice.

“Axon were superb in helping generate a flexible working policy and getting the team set up for hybrid working. It’s been great for everyone. They can work in the office and from home. Axon’s support in rolling this out has been brilliant.”

Amanda Jackson, Technology Manager, Equilibrium

The impact

Working with Axon has provided Equilibrium with a trusted partner that essentially works as their IT department.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Axon adapted quickly, ensuring that cloud-based working – including Microsoft Office and One Drive – were set up to enable the team to get up and running as they began working from home. Multi-factor authentication was quickly implemented for all team members on their mobiles by Axon’s support team.

When the pandemic slowed down and the team were no longer fully working from home, Axon supported with the set-up of their flexible working policy. This included advising on which laptops to purchase and how best to set the team up. Over 50 laptops were implemented across a six-week period.

The impact

Working with Axon has provided Equilibrium with a trusted partner that essentially works as their IT department.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Axon adapted quickly, ensuring that cloud-based working – including Microsoft Office and One Drive – were set up to enable the team to get up and running as they began working from home. Multi-factor authentication was quickly implemented for all team members on their mobiles by Axon’s support team.

When the pandemic slowed down and the team were no longer fully working from home, Axon supported with the set-up of their flexible working policy. This included advising on which laptops to purchase and how best to set the team up. Over 50 laptops were implemented across a six-week period.

Axon offers Equilibrium the peace of mind that they are covered in terms of all security risks. Moving forward, Axon will continue to be a trusted advisor and partner, helping Equilibrium to head in the right direction and determine the best way forward.

“Axon is a trusted partner who essentially works as our IT department. Everyone we work with knows our business, the people, how we work – and there’s a great relationship between, us which is very helpful. It’s great to have people you can trust to go to for advice on anything technology-related. They really want us to succeed and head in the right direction.”

Amanda Jackson, Technology Manager, Equilibrium  

Equilibrium described Axon in three words as: “Trusted. Knowledgeable. Unique.”

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