Kier is a leading infrastructure, developments and housing group driven by a passion to create spaces and places that generate opportunity and prosperity. Its 23,000 staff work in a wide range of desk and field based roles across the UK, Australia and the Middle East.
In a plan known as Vision 2020, Kier undertook a strategic business review to move out of FTSE 250 territory and into FTSE 100 territory. This meant a complete overhaul of its IT systems and processes, resulting in a company-wide move to Microsoft 365.
“We wanted a platform that was secure by design and capable of being used by our teams in the office and out in the field as well” explains Jim Griffiths, Kier Group’s Head of Information Security. “When we came to do the analysis, Microsoft 365 E5 was absolutely the right fit for Kier.”
“We wanted a platform that was secure by design and capable of being used by our teams in the office and out in the field as well. When we came to do the analysis, Microsoft 365 E5 was absolutely the right fit for Kier.”
Jim Griffiths, Head of Information Security, Kier Group
Well-rounded user experience
By adopting Microsoft 365 E5, Kier Group employees benefited from a wide range of familiar tools and apps that its people could use anytime, anywhere and from any device. “Microsoft 365 E5 reduces complexity and it gives us a real good all-round user experience across a multitude of devices,” continues Griffiths. “It strengthens security, removes risk and controls costs.”
Increased visibility
Kier Group immediately benefitted from built-in data loss prevention and Rights Management solutions to better control operating environments and ensure GDPR compliance. Yet perhaps the biggest gain came in the form of increased visibility of cyber threats. Griffiths explains, “Immediately we found compromised credentials that were being used by attempted intrusions from as far as Russia to Brazil to Mexico to China. In the first month alone we stopped in excess of 90,000 intrusion attempts and reduced our response time from weeks, down to hours.”
Better security posture and crucial GDPR compliance
Griffiths concludes that from an IT and business growth perspective, the core advantage of Microsoft 365 E5 is the inbuilt security features that support the Group’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) compliance.
“The real term risk that GDPR presents to Kier is measured in the hundreds of millions of pounds” says Griffiths. “Fundamentally I, and my stakeholders are far more comfortable that we're in a better security posture than we were before, and I'd go so far as to say that we've invested heavily in the best security solutions available today.”
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