Trustmarque Resource centre

Trustmarque Ultima recognised in Public Sector Partner of the Year and Reseller of the Year categories

Julia Bluckert — Wed, 02 Sep 2026 10:23:59 GMT

York, UK, 2 September 2026 – Trustmarque Ultima has been shortlisted in two categories at the prestigious CRN Channel Awards 2026, earning recognition as a finalist for Public Sector Partner of the Year and Reseller of the Year (£101m+).

Striking a balance: cloud experts weigh in on the rising trend of data repatriation

Julia Bluckert — Fri, 28 Aug 2026 14:40:04 GMT

By Neel Dev (Cloud Expert) and Mark Treweeke (Data Centre Expert)

For years, the message in the market has suggested that on-premises systems were becoming outdated, and that moving to the cloud was the definitive path to modernisation. Today, we’re seeing a more measured and strategic approach, particularly across UK enterprises. Some organisations are beginning to repatriate workloads back to on-premises or private environments. This shift is not a rejection of the cloud, but a sign of greater maturity. It’s about aligning technology with purpose in a hybrid IT strategy.

Why partnership is the foundation for healthcare innovation

Julia Bluckert — Thu, 27 Aug 2026 13:24:25 GMT

Healthcare is under growing pressure to modernise quickly. AI, data, automation and cyber security can improve services, strengthen resilience and create better experiences for patients and staff. The Health Foundation found that 80% of NHS staff surveyed supported AI for patient care, compared with 54% of the public.

Strategic Optimisation: Maximising Value from Your Microsoft Investments

Kathryn Reeves — Tue, 18 Aug 2026 08:10:56 GMT

Technology investments deliver the greatest value when they are understood, adopted and actively managed. For organisations working with Microsoft Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) and Enterprise Agreement (EA) agreements, that can be challenging. Large estates, changing user needs and evolving licensing models can make it difficult to see whether technology is being used effectively.

Strategic optimisation helps organisations move beyond simply owning technology. It provides the insight needed to understand what's being used, where value is being realised and where opportunities exist to improve outcomes. Based on the original article, Trustmarque's approach combines optimisation services with estate visibility through Microsoft Optimisation Services (MOS) and PRISM.

Why optimisation matters

Many organisations invest significantly in Microsoft technologies but don't always have a clear view of adoption, utilisation or licensing efficiency. Optimisation helps address these challenges by providing the information needed to make better decisions.

Effective optimisation can help organisations:

Improve the return on existing technology investments.
Reduce unnecessary licensing and technology costs.
Increase user adoption and productivity.
Strengthen governance and operational visibility.
Align technology decisions with business priorities.

Rather than focusing solely on technology, optimisation focuses on outcomes. The goal is to help organisations get more value from the tools they already own while creating a clearer path for future investment decisions.

Turning visibility into action

A common challenge for large Microsoft estates is understanding how technology is being used across the organisation. Without reliable data, it's difficult to identify inefficiencies, duplication or opportunities for improvement.

PRISM helps address this challenge by providing visibility into technology usage, licensing and resource allocation. By understanding how services are being consumed, organisations can make more informed decisions about where to optimise, invest or simplify.

This visibility supports:

Better licence management.
Identification of underused services.
More informed budgeting and forecasting.
Improved resource allocation.
Stronger governance of the Microsoft estate.

A broader optimisation approach

Microsoft Optimisation Services (MOS) brings together expertise across key areas of the technology estate, including digital workplace, Azure, security, Power Platform and cloud services. This broader perspective helps organisations understand how different parts of their Microsoft environment contribute to business performance and where improvements can have the greatest impact.

Optimisation is not a one-off exercise. As organisations adopt new technologies, expand services and respond to changing business requirements, ongoing review becomes increasingly important. Regular optimisation helps ensure that technology investment continues to support organisational goals over time.

The role of adoption and enablement

Technology only creates value when people use it effectively. That's why education and enablement are an important part of any optimisation strategy.

By helping users understand the capabilities available to them and how those capabilities support their work, organisations can increase adoption, improve productivity and realise greater value from their Microsoft investments. Trustmarque's optimisation approach recognises that successful outcomes depend on both technology and the people using it.

Looking ahead

As Microsoft environments continue to grow in scope and complexity, optimisation is becoming an essential discipline rather than an optional exercise. Organisations that regularly review usage, adoption, licensing and business alignment are better positioned to make informed decisions and maximise the value of their investments.

Through Microsoft Optimisation Services and PRISM, Trustmarque helps organisations gain the visibility, understanding and direction needed to make technology investments work harder, support business priorities and create lasting value.

Case study: Workspace Transformation for Nichols Group

Julia Bluckert — Wed, 12 Aug 2026 15:51:10 GMT

Nichols Group is a consultancy specialising in large-scale, strategic change initiatives, particularly in areas like environment, regeneration, transport, and technology.

Requirement

Nichols Group had begun transforming the business using Cloud technologies. The organisation wanted a partner to define and deliver a Workspace Transformation project to boost productivity, improve the user experience, and increase efficiency through a scalable, accessible and secure SaaS based platform.

Solution

Provision of a Workspace Advisory Service
Autonomous Cloud for Microsoft Azure.
Citrix Virtual Apps & Desktops for enhanced user experience
Microsoft 365 Enterprise Adoption
Delivery of a Complete Transformation Journey
Ensured Automation at its core for optimised Cloud environment

Outcomes

Developed a Comprehensive Strategy for digital transformation.
Enabled Scalable Technology Consumption via a SaaS-based model.
Enhanced User Experience across PC and Mac.
Enhanced Collaboration without security risks.
Ensured a Smooth Transition to new systems.
Increased Efficiency with automation at its core.

Case study: Faster, smarter, Cloud-managed devices for Covéa’s hybrid workforce

Julia Bluckert — Wed, 12 Aug 2026 15:00:21 GMT

Covéa Insurance is the UK subsidiary of Covéa Group, a European leader in insurance and reinsurance. They offer a wide range of home, motor, and commercial insurance backed by great service.

With its head office in Halifax and regional offices across the UK, Covéa operates as a hybrid organisation with a substantial home-based workforce. The organisation prides itself on its progressive culture, promoting diversity and inclusion, and engaging in community initiatives. Covéa’s strategy is ‘Doing what really matters’, depicting their approach to delivering the best service for their customers.

The Challenge

The organisation faced mounting challenges, tackling an ageing device fleet and maintaining devices for its many work-from-home employees. Windows 10 end-of-life was also looming (October 2025), adding to the need for a device refresh.

Covéa recognised the opportunity to address its device management procedures. Traditional on-premise management had become unsustainable for its hybrid workforce; remote employees could experience some downtime when their devices were shipped to and from the office for maintenance and rebuilding. Additionally, Covea’s management tools were still partly reliant on devices being on-premise.

With its service to colleagues and customers being of key importance, Covéa responded by choosing to invest in a modern, Cloud-first approach to device management and support whilst providing new Windows 11 devices to all employees.

The Solution

Covéa partnered with Ultima after a formal procurement process that considered multiple providers. While pricing and compatibility were important, Ultima stood out for its flexibility in delivery and logistics, and its ability to provide pre-provisioning services and support the transition to a fully Cloud-managed environment.

Covéa’s existing relationship with Ultima, through previous Microsoft 365 projects, helped reinforce trust and confidence in their capabilities.

Ultima’s device management solution included:

Device rollout: Procurement and deployment of 1,200 Dell devices, chosen for compatibility with Covéa’s existing peripherals and support capability.
Cloud management transition: Moving from hybrid management (SCCM + Intune) to fully Cloud-managed devices via Microsoft Intune.

Windows Autopilot: Autopilot used to enable out-of-the-box provisioning, allowing employees to self-build devices in an hour or so.

Flexible logistics: Ultima supported both home and office deliveries, adapting to changing employee availability and requirements.

The Results

The engagement delivered the following results:

Project timeline: Procurement began in January 2025 with the main rollout taking place between July to October 2025
Improved agility: Covéa’s devices can now be remotely wiped and rebuilt in an hour, eliminating multi-day downtime
Cloud-first environment: Employees rarely need VPN access as most services are fully Cloud-based.
Enhanced user experience: Windows Autopilot provided a streamlined, efficient setup process that ran smoothly for its employees
Operational efficiency: Reduced logistical complexity through flexible delivery and collection processes.

What Covéa say about Ultima

‘Ultima delivered a complex rollout and supported our transition to a fully Cloud-managed environment. With the changing requirements of our hybrid workforce, Ultima’s ability to adapt its logistics was exactly what we needed to make the project succeed. Regular communication and transparency helped us collaborate and overcome any issues throughout.’ – Paul Ali, Senior Project Manager, Covéa Insurance

Case study: LLP Law Firm - Datacentre Exit and Migration to Azure

Julia Bluckert — Tue, 11 Aug 2026 12:28:14 GMT

Our customer was an award-winning LLP legal firm with over 150 + employees UK-wide. The organisation was utilising an on-premises co-lo datacentre for their IT infrastructure.

Requirements

The customer had explored alternatives for their existing on-premises requirement. They opted for Microsoft Azure to place their IT workloads and partnered with Ultima to enable the migration.

Their requirements included:

Lower TCO long term
Run on latest generation hardware
Time to market – greater capacity could be easily accessible

Key technologies

The previous datacentre utilised VMWare virtualisation and was updated to natively use Microsoft Azure.

Outcomes

The partnership delivered several outcomes:

A reduction in on-premises footprint
Reduced Capex Costs
Latest Hardware
Increased available capacity to burst into at will

Case study: Insurance Company - DR Workload and Migration to Azure

Julia Bluckert — Tue, 11 Aug 2026 12:16:07 GMT

Our customer was an award-winning global insurance company serving private business and individuals.

The customer was unhappy with their current Datacentre disaster recovery (DR) solution and approached Ultima to gain access to our in-house available expertise around Azure, M365, and automation.

Requirements

The organisation’s UK division needed to transform its existing Azure architecture:

Enabling them to achieve Cloud best practice
Enabling them to migrate their DR requirements into Azure for their core applications from an existing datacentre

The existing DR solution was on-premises orientated. The new solution required migrating some workloads to run 24/7, while others would be Azure Site Recovery-enabled for replication from the primary datacentre. The 24/7 workloads also required a much smaller cost footprint.

Outcomes

The partnership delivered several outcomes:

A reduction in on-premises footprint
Dedicated DR datacentre capex
Switch to operational DR costs with the ability to perform anytime test drills

The Ultima Effect

The reset and enablement of a best practice Azure landing zone and newly created DR capabilities means the customer’s Azure environment is now the main area of new and future developments. We took the customer through our CAF-aligned plan, ready and adoption; design through to implementation.

Case study: Connect Health Automates Patient Registrations with IA-Connect

Kathryn Reeves — Thu, 06 Aug 2026 12:23:22 GMT

Connect Health is the largest independent community healthcare provider in the UK, delivering care to over 400,000 NHS patients annually. With a strong focus on innovation and efficiency, Connect Health sought to streamline their internal processes to better serve patients and reduce administrative overhead.

The Challenge

Connect Health needed a robust solution to automate the processing of patient data and files from their web application into a complex internal data system.

This system lacked API capabilities and required manual data entry, which was both time-consuming and prone to error. The goal was to accelerate the patient registration process, reduce administrative burden, and ensure timely data transfer to support faster patient care.

The Solution

Ultima partnered with Connect Health to deliver a tailored automation solution using IA-Connect, Ultima’s AI & Automation platform, which leverages Microsoft Power Automate and Microsoft Azure.

IA-Connect is a one-of-a-kind tool that helps customers automate repeatable business processes regardless of complexity, the age of applications involved, or their location.

Key components of our solution for Connect Health included:

Automating extraction of patient data from the customer’s web application
Leveraging IA-Connect’s advanced automation capabilities for reliable and efficient data handling
Implementing automation for the internal data system, overcoming its lack of APIs using Java-based automation features within IA-Connect
Ability to run within Power Automate flows so that Microsoft Power Automate skills are utilised in conjunction with IA-Connect automation & AI workers running in Connect Health’s Microsoft Azure environment

The Results

Our engagement delivered significant operational improvements for the customer:

85%+ of patient referrals are now fully automated, saving substantial time for internal teams.
Reduced errors in document uploads and data transfers across systems
24/7 processing enabled, accelerating the end-to-end patient cycle and improving service delivery

What Connect Health says about The Ultima Effect

“We have loved having Alessio as part of our team for the project [with IA-Connect]. We would not have made the tight deadline without his dedication and flexibility…We would love to work with both Alessio and Ultima again, and hope for more collaboration in the future!”
— Lise Verlo, Build & Delivery Manager, Connect Health

Case study: Automating joiners, movers, leavers at large scale for THG

Kathryn Reeves — Thu, 06 Aug 2026 12:15:21 GMT

THG is a global, digital-first consumer brand, specialising in health, beauty, and nutrition. Founded in 2004 and headquartered in the UK, THG has grown rapidly by combining proprietary technology with a portfolio of leading direct-to-consumer brands.

With a presence in over 160 countries and a team of more than 10,000 employees worldwide, THG is a benchmark for how technology, data, and vertical integration can drive success in the digital economy.

The Challenge

THG wished to address its processes around staff joiners and leavers. The scale of the organisation and its fast growth meant that on average, around 150 new starters were joining the business every single week. A solution was needed to address this, ensuring THG was able to provide a positive joining experience for new employees and give their technical teams space and time to innovate.

The Solution

THG and Ultima partnered to deliver a tailored automation solution using IA-Connect to simplify and connect THG’s joiners and leavers process. IA-Connect is Ultima’s AI & Automation platform, which leverages Microsoft Power Automate and Microsoft Azure to help customers automate repeatable business processes.

With THG’s significant scale across multiple departments and systems, both legacy and modern, a solution was needed that could work with both cloud or on-premises applications.

Key components of our solution for THG included:

Automating joiner and leaver processes across Entra ID, traditional Active Directory, Exchange, and core business applications in terms of access and permissions, leveraging a mixture of API and non-API automation
Automating communications to new starters and line managers to for a hands-off process
Providing auditable logging for confirmation
The ability to run within Power Automate flows so that Microsoft Power Automate skills are utilised in conjunction with IA-Connect automation & AI workers running in THG’s Microsoft Azure environment

The Results

Our engagement delivered significant operational improvements for the customer:

Saving 2.2 manual days of effort every week
Able to handle high scale 24/7/365
Reduction in errors meaning first impression for new starters is significantly improved
THG technical team can refocus on higher value work

What THG says about The Ultima Effect

“There’s that fast paced, innovative, get-stuff-done type attitude with Ultima. We can build something new that’s not been done before. I think that’s brilliant.”
Jo Drake, CIO, THG

“Ultima understand the joiners, movers, leaver process from not just a tech perspective, but from a business perspective, and it’s been brilliant to have that close relationship with them.”

Richard Dodd, Senior System Administrator, THG

Find out more

To hear direct from THG about how we transformed their organisation through automation, watch the video.