One New Zealand saves $800,000 by modernizing with Windows 365 and Microsoft Intune

When One New Zealand (One NZ) became the first telco in the world to launch satellite texting through Starlink, it sent a clear message: innovation is the company’s business model. Serving more than 2 million people across a geographically rugged country, One NZ is known for creating a better-connected New Zealand by bringing service to remote and underserved regions. But while the company pushed boundaries for its customers, its own technology backbone was straining under the weight of legacy systems and costly complexity.

That burden only deepened after One NZ separated from its parent company and was left with a patchwork of platforms, applications, and processes that demanded constant upkeep. The company needed a modern foundation for seamless point-of-sale access, stable call center performance, and secure and flexible mobile corporate work. At the time, One NZ was running its desktop environment on traditional virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI), which proved costly to maintain and difficult to extend across such a diverse workforce.

Leadership recognized an opportunity. To keep pace with its mission to expand digital access nationwide, the company needed to modernize how its people worked. That meant eliminating outdated infrastructure, simplifying endpoint management, and giving employees a more consistent, secure, flexible experience.

A clear break from legacy complexity

One NZ set out to replace its aging desktop setup with a modern, cloud-first foundation. The company needed something easier to manage and faster to provision across retail, corporate, and global operations. After years of inherited systems, the shift was about simplification and cost. Plus, with traditional VDI costs climbing and complexity mounting after years of acquisitions, the company needed a cloud-first option that its small IT team could manage more simply.

“Our business is built on customer trust, so every system we use has to protect that,” says Kieran Byrne, Chief Technology Officer at One New Zealand. “We needed a modern desktop environment we could deliver consistently across locations and user types.” Byrne’s strategy points to secure, modern tools as the way to uphold that trust while giving staff the flexibility they need to work effectively. 

This led One NZ to adopt as Windows 365 the centerpiece of its desktop environment, bringing different groups—from retail staff to offshore call centers—into one environment without inherited overhead. 

Persona-based rollout, company-wide impact

One NZ tailored its Windows 365 deployment to different personas companywide. Retail and call center staff use Windows 365 Frontline Cloud PCs, while corporate employees reply on Windows 365 Enterprise Cloud PCs. For developers, Microsoft Intune is used to manage their devices and ensure they have secure access to the tools they need to build and test. Microsoft 365 E5 extends security and collaboration across the corporate environment, but every persona now connects through the same standardized workspace.

Adoption began with user acceptance testing. Employees from all parts of the business piloted Windows 365 to ensure their daily tools ran smoothly, with their input informing the broader rollout. One NZ was already using Microsoft Intune to manage and secure the company’s endpoints, so using the same tooling to manage Cloud PCs was an easy transition for IT. “We rolled our policies into Intune and now manage everything through it—apps, compliance, even local administrative rights,” explains Matt Harkness, Modern Workplace Product Manager at One New Zealand. “That’s been critical in keeping the environment consistent and secure.”

This approach created immediate consistency across geographies. Contact centers in the Philippines and India connect through Windows 365 Frontline and receive the same secure image each session. Because Windows 365 Frontline is optimized for shift-based workers, contact center staff get a full Cloud PC experience, while One NZ gets the benefit of reduced licensing costs. It also gives One NZ the flexibility to scale offshore access quickly during seasonal spikes and project-based demand. Regional tuning continues, but the core experience is unified.

Frontline staff equipped to work smarter

On the shop floor, the difference is clear. “I can just grab my laptop and access Windows 365, put my work email in, and it’s easy access,” says Franz Tipon, Retail Lead at One New Zealand. “Everything is consistent and in one place, so staff spend less time troubleshooting and more time with customers.” He describes being able to move between back office and customer-facing tasks without losing his place in a session, which has made work smoother and more flexible.

Windows Autopatch also helps keep systems current while minimizing disruption. Updates roll out in waves, so frontline operations continue smoothly while new versions are validated. “We’re not putting store operations at risk with an update,” Harkness points out. “Autopatch staggers the rollout so some users stay on the current version while others move forward.” Windows Autopilot provisions corporate endpoints with the same security baselines and policies across physical, virtual, and Cloud PCs. This ensures a consistent setup regardless of device or location.

One NZ is starting to integrate Windows 365 Link to modernize its in-store technology, replacing traditional point-of-sale setups with shared devices that give staff fast, secure access to their own desktops. Staff can walk up, sign in, and immediately pick up where they left off, without needing dedicated hardware. “It’s a game changer for us,” says Matt Harkness. “We can provide secure access in public retail spaces and keep business continuity even during outages.” Early results have been positive, with success helping is lay the groundwork for a wider retail rollout. Tipon believes this approach could reshape store operations, noting, “Windows 365 Link could make our front-of-store even smoother by giving us shared devices that still land on our Windows 365 desktops.”