The client
Cora is a Melbourne-based logistics company with around 30 staff. Before the project, its core IT ran on a single physical server on its own premises, acting as the domain controller, the file server and the backbone of the office network.
The challenge
On-site servers tie a business to hardware in a single location: they need ongoing maintenance, eventually need replacing, and limit how easily people can work from anywhere. Cora wanted infrastructure that was scalable, reliable and ready for the future, without disrupting the business to get there.
That server had reached end of life, and everything depended on it: sign-in, shared files and core network services such as DHCP and DNS. Security is a major focus for Cora, and an ageing single point of failure in the office was not a foundation it was prepared to keep building on.
What we did
synfo moved the entire company in four weeks, running the project in parallel with Cora's onboarding as a managed client. The emphasis was on careful planning and a scripted cutover, so the business never stopped.
- Planning: an audit and discovery of the existing environment, followed by a detailed migration plan and a pilot group before the wider rollout.
- Migration: around 400GB of files moved from the file server to SharePoint, with email already in Exchange Online. Services the server used to provide, including DHCP and DNS, were offloaded to Azure and the network, so nothing relies on hardware in the office. Every computer was moved from the old on-premises domain to Microsoft Entra ID with a scripted cutover and profile migration, taking about 20 minutes per machine.
- Security: a full Microsoft 365 hardening, including multi-factor authentication, Conditional Access, device management with Intune, Microsoft Defender and cloud backups.
- Training: every member of staff was trained after the cutover, as synfo does after every major project, so people could work confidently on the new platform from day one.
The outcome
Cora now runs on a 100% cloud-first infrastructure that is scalable, reliable and future-proof. The cutover caused zero business downtime: each person was offline only for the roughly 20 minutes it took to move their own machine. The end-of-life server is gone, along with the cost and risk of replacing it, and staff can work securely from anywhere.
For a business that puts security first, the uplift was the biggest win: Cora went from an ageing on-site server to a hardened Microsoft 365 and Azure environment. Cora continues with synfo on a Premium Managed IT plan, which adds the Enhanced Security Suite on top of day-to-day support.