Civica safeguards critical services for citizens with Microsoft Defender for Cloud

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Civica, a global GovTech champion, aims to strengthen security, enhance visibility, and streamline operations to safeguard critical public services delivered to citizens around the world.

To achieve this, Civica partnered with Microsoft, implementing Microsoft Defender for Cloud and leveraging the Microsoft security ecosystem to create a unified, automated security framework.

This initiative led to accelerated threat detection and response, improved security visibility and collaboration, and a more resilient security posture.

“The fact that Microsoft’s solutions are natively integrated with much of what we already do was a huge benefit. We get to use one solution everywhere and can automate security tasks and continuously build on the work we’ve already done.”

Ian O’Brien, Chief Technology Officer, Civica

Civica is a global GovTech champion, supporting over 5,000 public bodies to deliver essential services to more than 100 million citizens worldwide. From local and central government to education and healthcare, its software underpins critical operations on which communities depend every day.

With a people-first approach, Civica is committed to delivering the best possible services to citizens while equipping its employees with cutting-edge, innovative tools to achieve this mission. As a global GovTech champion, Civica continually enhances its security to protect its services and support its growth and innovation in an increasingly digital world. To strengthen its security posture and support future growth, Civica turned to Microsoft for a cloud-native application protection platform (CNAPP) leveraging Microsoft Defender for Cloud for a solution that could protect its multicloud environment.

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Security above everything

As a trusted partner to public sector organisations, Civica understands that security isn’t only a priority—it’s a necessity. Handling vast amounts of sensitive information, the company must ensure its systems remain secure and resilient against evolving threats.

“We work in critical areas and handle sensitive information, so we must ensure everything is secure, keeping both ourselves and our customers safe,” explains Renata Vincoletto, Chief Information Security Officer at Civica.

Civica had already built a robust security programme with a skilled team and extensive coverage across the organisation. However, its existing security tools operated in silos, making it challenging to achieve a unified, end-to-end security approach.

“We didn’t have a fully connected security system that covered the entire extended detection and response lifecycle,” explains Ian O’Brien, Chief Technology Officer at Civica UK. “We wanted to change the way we work and saw an opportunity to do that by partnering with Microsoft.”

Building on the partnership with Microsoft

Civica’s collaboration with Microsoft started with its Azure migration, establishing a strong foundation. By leveraging cloud-native protection, the organisation enhanced its security posture, defending against modern threats and mitigating risks.

Building on this success, Civica saw Microsoft’s advanced security solutions, including Microsoft Defender for Cloud, as the natural next step. The enterprise-wide coverage via the integrated solution which Microsoft could offer stood out from anything else that was available.

In addition, a key driver in Civica’s decision to expand its collaboration with Microsoft was the need for speed, automation, and efficiency, so that security improvements could be implemented rapidly. The familiarity of the Microsoft environment was a huge advantage.

“We didn’t want a three-year modernisation upgrade, we needed something we could implement quickly,” adds Ian O’Brien. “Microsoft’s cloud-based security solutions, particularly Defender, allowed us to make rapid improvements without extensive proof-of-concept work.”

“Microsoft Defender for Cloud provided us with a scalable, efficient security platform, helping us to protect our delivery of critical public services worldwide.”

Renata Vincoletto, Chief Information Security Officer, Civica

Gaining full visibility

One of the most impactful benefits of implementing Microsoft Defender for Cloud was enhanced visibility. With a unified view, Civica can detect risks earlier, respond faster, and has strengthened its overall security posture.

Before adopting Microsoft’s security solutions, Civica relied on multiple disparate tools to secure its Azure and on-premises environments, which required time-consuming manual efforts to correlate data. The advantage of the Microsoft cloud-native application protection platform is that it extends across architectures to offer comprehensive protections.

“Previously, we couldn’t see the big picture. We had to dig deep into each tool separately to find the information we needed, which was incredibly time-consuming. When dealing with security incidents, time is precious,” explains Renata Vincoletto. “Now, we have full visibility.”

With Microsoft Defender for Cloud’s proactive threat detection and risk assessment capabilities, Civica has gained comprehensive insights across its environments. Renata Vincoletto emphasises, “From a security standpoint, this is fundamental. I can’t protect what I don’t know. The ability to identify risks across our entire environment has been a gamechanger.”

By integrating Microsoft’s security ecosystem, Civica eliminated blind spots and streamlined its security operations, allowing teams to focus on prevention rather than firefighting.

Clear ownership, stronger security

With greater visibility came greater accountability—a crucial step in strengthening Civica’s security posture. The ability to track actions, assign ownership, and pinpoint responsibilities means that security risks can be addressed faster and more effectively.

“One of the biggest improvements has been not just visibility, but also accountability,” says Renata Vincoletto. “With Azure’s tagging capabilities, we can now see exactly who owns what. That means we can go directly to the right person when an issue arises.”

This clear chain of responsibility has improved incident response and encouraged proactive security measures. Teams can take ownership of their environments, ensuring that best practices are followed and security risks are minimised before they become critical threats.

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Simplifying security management

Microsoft Defender for Cloud has simplified security management for Civica, enhancing efficiency, collaboration, and automation. By moving to a fully integrated, cloud-based security framework, teams can now track, manage, and optimise security operations seamlessly, eliminating complexity and reducing manual effort.

Security is no longer fragmented across multiple tools and teams. Instead, a unified system ensures that everyone—from implementation to incident response—is aligned across cloud and on-premises, working with the same security data, policies, and insights.

“We have different teams owning different parts of the process,” explains Ian O’Brien. “Some of my team handles implementation, while Renata’s team focuses on what comes out the other end. Now that we’re all using a single, shared system, it’s much easier for everyone to understand how things fit together and collaborate effectively.”

Microsoft Defender’s native integration with Civica’s cloud environment has also enabled greater automation, allowing security teams to reuse processes, streamline workflows, and proactively manage risks at scale.

“The fact that Microsoft’s solutions are natively integrated with much of what we already do was a huge benefit,” says Ian O’Brien. “We get to use one solution everywhere and can automate security tasks and continuously build on the work we’ve already done.”

“Having everything in one place makes things so much easier,” adds Renata Vincoletto. “It’s where we’re headed and having all our products aligned in a single, integrated Azure environment helps us work smarter and faster.”

Security is embedded throughout the development lifecycle

Team collaboration has been transformed with integrated tools and greater visibility. Teams are now working closely together, breaking down silos and embedding security earlier in the development lifecycle.

“The integration and communication between teams has improved significantly,” says Renata Vincoletto. “For example, my team now works directly with product and development directors to assess vulnerabilities, understand security risks, and ensure they are addressed early in the product lifecycle.”

With centralised security dashboards and real-time insights, teams can identify vulnerabilities sooner and work proactively to mitigate risks before they become critical issues, whether managing servers, containers, microservices, app services, or storage.

Overcoming challenges with smart deployment

For Civica, while the implementation was smooth, time and resources were a challenge. With a vast environment consisting of hundreds of subscriptions across multiple teams, rolling out a robust security framework efficiently was no small task. However, Civica’s cloud-native approach enabled it to leverage existing expertise to deploy Microsoft Defender for Cloud quickly.

Moreover, throughout the implementation process, Microsoft provided ongoing support, helping Civica refine its approach and adopt best practices efficiently while navigating potential challenges. This support underpinned the team’s success.

“Every time we need something, Microsoft is there,” says Renata Vincoletto. “They guide us through workshops, best practices, and partner recommendations, ensuring we minimise disruption while maximising value.”

Unlocking cost savings for greater public benefit

While security and efficiency were the primary drivers of Civica’s Microsoft adoption, cost savings have emerged as an additional benefit.

“Cost savings weren’t the main goal, but having greater financial visibility allows us to make smarter decisions,” explains Renata Vincoletto. “Right now, we’re still transitioning, paying for the platform we’re leaving while onboarding onto the new one, but I’m looking forward to seeing the full impact.”

By streamlining operations, reducing complexity, and automating security processes, Civica is positioning itself for long-term financial efficiency. These savings can be redirected toward improving citizen services, reinforcing Civica’s commitment to driving innovation in the public sector.

Doubling the benefits with Microsoft’s security solutions

Civica’s security transformation didn’t stop at Microsoft Defender for Cloud. To maximise protection and efficiency, the organisation expanded its use of Microsoft Sentinel and other Microsoft security tools, further strengthening its defences and enhancing incident response capabilities.

“Most of the security tools are already implemented, but the migration isn’t fully complete,” explains Renata Vincoletto. “Even now, during our proof-of-concept phase, we’re seeing huge improvements, especially in threat detection. Microsoft Sentinel has made it much easier to track the full path of an attack, helping us understand whether a threat originates from a server, a desktop, or another endpoint.”

By integrating Microsoft Sentinel for advanced security analytics and Microsoft tools for enhanced compliance, Civica has gained deeper insights into the full lifecycle of threats. These solutions allow the security team to detect, analyse, and respond more efficiently while ensuring a proactive approach to cyber resilience.

“For my team, it’s been an eye-opener,” adds Renata Vincoletto. “They’re expanding their knowledge, seeing how all systems are interconnected, and understanding the bigger security picture. This has been an incredibly positive shift for us.”

Shaping the future of GovTech with Microsoft

Civica’s journey with Microsoft is far from over. As the organisation continues to innovate, it is actively exploring new security solutions, automation, and AI-driven technologies to enhance efficiency and protection.

“The goal is to strengthen resilience, improve automation, and advance cloud security,” says Renata Vincoletto. “We’re rolling out Microsoft Defender for Endpoint for device protection and leveraging Microsoft Purview for data governance. In the future, we may even go passwordless, integrating FIDO2 keys, Windows Hello, and Conditional Access to improve both security and user experience.”

AI is set to play a key role in Civica’s future, particularly in security automation and risk prioritisation.

“Microsoft is a market leader in several areas, including AI, which we’re keen to explore,” says Ian O’Brien. “While we’re still early in our AI journey, we’re closely monitoring developments, running proof-of-concept tests, and ensuring we use AI appropriately and strategically.”

“We need tools that can spot patterns, prioritise risks, and highlight urgent threats, eliminating manual effort and making response times faster and more efficient,” adds Renata Vincoletto. “Microsoft Security Copilot is something I definitely see as part of our future.”

Civica’s decision to move to Microsoft was not simply about security; it was a strategic, future-focused, and transformative business decision.

“Microsoft Defender for Cloud provided us with a scalable, efficient security platform, helping us to protect our delivery of critical public services worldwide,” concludes Renata Vincoletto. “This shift has allowed us to tackle security from the start. Teams are collaborating more and we’re already addressing vulnerabilities that were previously harder to detect. Security is no longer an afterthought—it’s embedded into everything we do.”

“From a security standpoint, this is fundamental. I can’t protect what I don’t know. The ability to identify risks across our entire environment has been a gamechanger.”

Renata Vincoletto, Chief Information Security Officer, Civica