North Wales Fire and Rescue Service work with Valto to achieve ‘Intranet Anywhere’ with Microsoft 365.

Founded in 1996, North Wales Fire and Rescue Service serves communities from 44 stations by responding to incidents in an area covering 2,400 square miles and over 700,000 people. Nearly half the 900-member staff are in operational and support roles, including on-call firefighters who protect and create a safer environment for their communities. The multifaceted organization responds to approximately 3,200 fires, 500 road traffic collisions and 500 non-fire emergencies. They also attend around 3,600 false alarms of various kinds every year. The organization is committed to safeguarding communities served through fire prevention, emergency response, and safety enforcement.

NWFRS was using an on-premises file server to manage information, including back-office data for payroll and finance. Whether mobilizing frontline crews or managing support resources, technology touches every part of the service. Unfortunately, the on-premises data was not accessible to staff from home. Since on-call firefighters regularly visit a station only during weekly drill nights, they would have to go to a station to access information.

NWFRS wanted to create an intranet accessible from any device, at any location to better serve staff. The organization also needed to ensure all data was properly secured for staff accessing information remotely, and NWFRS wanted to get the best value for the money out of existing Microsoft 365 licenses.

Choosing Valto, a Microsoft Adoption and Change Management Specialist

After considering internal resources, NWFRS sought a consultancy with SharePoint expertise to effectively deliver the project. Using G Cloud, a United Kingdom government initiative that allows public sector organizations to buy cloud-based services, NWFRS chose Valto to effectively deliver user adoption, security, and technical knowledge. Valto specializes in Microsoft 365, Microsoft Azure, and other Microsoft solutions.

One of the main reasons why NWFRS chose Valto was the company’s Microsoft Adoption and Change Management Specialization. This specialization is awarded to Microsoft partners who have demonstrated expertise in helping clients successfully adopt and manage Microsoft solutions. Partners must pass a rigorous audit of delivery capabilities.

For NWFRS, user adoption was a key pain point. Valto’s specialization in user adoption was extremely important. Additionally, NWFRS was impressed by the work Valto has done with non-profit organizations such as the Chester Zoo and Sportily, as well as charitable contributions to WeMindTheGap and Cheshire West Foodbank.

NWFRS gains expert advice, a roadmap to implementation, and cost efficiencies

NWFRS underwent Valto’s comprehensive Microsoft 365, SharePoint, and Teams Scoping: 1-Day Workshop to define a roadmap for successful intranet deployment and Microsoft 365 adoption. Valto ensured NWFRS was getting the most value from its existing Microsoft licenses by utilizing those licenses for Microsoft SharePoint, Stream, Power Apps, Power Automate, and other products.

Additionally, Valto supported the creation of a new SharePoint-based intranet that makes it easy for NWFRS to share the latest information, news, and events with staff, greatly improving and modernizing communications. Valto ensured a smooth migration of documents through training on how to use the native SharePoint migration tool.

“We are very satisfied with Valto’s services. Our firefighters and staff members are now able to access any data they need with our new SharePoint intranet. All work has been completed to a high standard. They have had excellent, clear communication, and a high standard of project management,” said Louisa Phillips, IT Support Manager, North Wales Fire and Rescue Service.

Professional consulting leads to secure modern communications

As part of the implementation, Valto also deployed its custom Controlled Documents product for SharePoint on the NWFRS intranet, ensuring NWFRS staff can easily find key documents including critical policies, procedures, and forms. Departmental site templates and training enabled content authors to continue to build content within the internet. A Valto-led security hardening exercise helped ensure compliance with public sector standards.

With the new intranet, NWFRS gained tangible benefits, including enhanced access, streamlined workflows, and improved internal communications, without increasing IT licensing costs. NWFRS firefighters can remotely access data, find documents, and connect to critical policies through a simple search interface.

Valto helped NWFRS get the best value for its money by harnessing the value of Microsoft licenses already paid for and delivering a roadmap to solve challenges.