Regal Gaming is among the largest operators of amusement, gaming, and leisure equipment in the UK. With around 400 employees, the firm wanted to improve disaster recovery and cut IT costs by using the cloud to power its email, storage, and collaboration tools for its highly mobile workforce. Unified World Communications (part of the inTEC GROUP) and Vodafone recommended the Microsoft Office 365 productivity suite to replace its existing on-premises messaging technology.
Regal Gaming business needs
Regal Gaming, one of the UK’s largest operators of amusement and gaming machines, serves regional brewers, pub companies, and free-trade customers nationwide. With 200 mobile staff, the company needed an enterprise-grade collaboration solution accessible anytime, anywhere.
Previously, Regal Gaming relied on an aging on premises infrastructure with multiple versions of Microsoft Office and Windows XP, which was nearing end of life. The system struggled with email reliability, storage limitations, and growing IT administration demands.
Managing Director Mark White explains:
“Disaster recovery for email was a principal concern. We also wanted our employees to work flexibly with larger mailboxes, without upfront costs for a new productivity suite.”
To address these challenges, Regal Gaming moved its IT platform to the cloud, improving business continuity, storage capacity, and enabling video conferencing to reduce travel costs all while simplifying IT management and reducing administrative overhead.
Solution
Unified World Communications, in partnership with Vodafone, reviewed Regal Gaming’s requirements and recommended Office 365 with Exchange Online a cloud-based solution managed by Microsoft and Vodafone.
Office 365 provides 25GB inboxes, enterprise level security, mobile access, voicemail, unified messaging, and archiving. Regal Gaming also uses Windows Azure Active Directory and Active Directory Federation Services for single sign-on, alongside Windows Server 2012 to support distributed and mobile workforces.
According to Martin West, Head of IT Services at Unified World Communications:
“This was a complex solution because Regal Gaming has many sites across the UK with engineers working remotely. Rather than invest heavily in on-premises servers, Office 365 offered the flexibility and high-quality service the business needed to stay competitive.”
The upgrade began in June 2013, with 300 mailboxes migrated in just six weeks. Regal Gaming has also trialed Lync Online for video conferencing and plans to roll out SharePoint Online for 400 employees.
Benefits
Regal Gaming has moved its email, storage, and collaboration tools to the cloud with Office 365, reducing risk and improving disaster recovery compared to its previous on-premises system. The shift avoids a six-figure server investment and lowers ongoing IT support costs.
Improved Productivity
Employees now benefit from 25GB mailboxes and the flexibility to work from home, on the move, or directly with customers. Office 365 ensures continuity at no additional cost over the old system.
Lower, Flexible Costs
With a monthly per-user payment model, Regal Gaming avoids major capital expenditure and can scale licenses to meet seasonal demand. Office 365 also guarantees 99.99% uptime with enterprise-level security.
Future-Proofing IT
Microsoft manages all updates, enabling Regal Gaming to access the latest tools without extra costs or added IT overhead. Gaming Equipment Firm Ensures Disaster Recovery with Cloud Productivity Suite.
“We’ve reduced the cost of deploying email and collaboration tools, and, because Microsoft manages all of the upgrades, we’re set to spend less on future in-house IT support.”
Mark White, Managing Director, Regal Gaming
👉 Ready to modernise your business communications? Contact Unified World* today to discover how we can help.
*Unified World – part of the inTEC GROUP.
