Ellisons Solicitors has been established in the east of England for over 250 years. With around 200 staff, including 20 partners, it operates from seven locations.
Recognising that it had underinvested in technology over a period of years and that refreshing its IT would be an enabler for its business, Ellisons embarked on a major digital transformation programme between 2016 and 2018.
The programme involved multiple strands. For example, Ellisons’ existing remote connectivity, wireless and internet did not have the reliability it required. It also wanted to create more operational flexibility and to support better mobile working. In parallel it planned to launch a drive to digitise its existing paper-based records, and therefore required appropriate storage, collaboration tools and security to support this.
On the recommendation of its interim CIO, Ellisons approached Vohkus for advice on applying new technologies to build the new infrastructure. Vohkus provided recommendations for a scalable and manageable platform that would support the future of the business and underpin its governance aims.
Through its cloud arm, Vohkus ran a cloud migration readiness assessment (CRA) in consultation with Ellisons’ managing partner and senior partners. The CRA is an initial ‘light touch’ workshop, intended to identify business priorities, workloads and any potential benefits of applying cloud technologies. Encouraged by the results, Ellisons opted for a full replacement of the entire infrastructure and commissioned a detailed technology discovery exercise from Vohkus.
