Microsoft MSP creates space for innovation with digital workplace offerings

Wortell is a top Microsoft managed service partner (MSP) in The Netherlands, delivering comprehensive solutions across the entire Microsoft Cloud stack. Cloud-based services give organizations access to new functionality on an accelerated release cycle, but putting those new technologies to use requires having specialists across cloud platform, productivity applications, business applications, security, and more. Finding the right in-house experts and ensuring they are continuously learning to keep up with these cloud changes can be challenging and costly for any organization. In addition, IT departments have the demanding task of reining in employees that decide to experiment with tools like Microsoft 365 Copilot or low-code development. “Wortell gives you the mainstream IT across your workplace, incorporating new features and functionality from the cloud so everyone always has the latest, safest version,” said Lourens Siderius, Director of Workplace & Cloud at Wortell. “Having our experts managing your digital workplace frees internal IT staff to focus on innovation that can create direct competitive advantage for your business.”

Wortell’s digital and managed workplace services are foundational, using the cloud to provide secure productivity to any user on any device. These core capabilities can easily be extended with additional security, data, or AI solutions – all of which Wortell standardizes against best practices. “We are a Microsoft powerhouse,” continued Siderius. “When you deliver the workplace technology tools to a customer, things like cloud security or meeting room-as-a-service often follow because the value is obvious. We build a strategic partnership with our clients, helping them determine what works best with their environments to drive both innovation and cost management through our standardized, scalable approach.”

Accounting firm factors in Wortell for secure M&A onboarding

Wortell has seen its workplace client roster expand to include both small and large companies, and today it manages more than 25,000 workspaces for companies across The Netherlands. One of these clients is consultancy and accountancy firm Newtone, which was created through the merger of Koenen en Co, HLB Witlox Van den Boomen, and PKF Wallast and has more than 1,300 employees across 13 branches.

Needing to support an ambitious merger and acquisition (M&A) growth strategy, Newtone’s extremely savvy IT team realized that outsourcing its workplace operations would be the best option to allow the organization to scale quickly. Newtone approached Wortell, who had previously completed successful SharePoint engagements with the accounting firm. Based on its proven innovation and standardization practices, Wortell was chosen to implement Newtone’s workplace digital transformation.

The first objective for Wortell in setting up Newtone’s workplaces was to transition all user devices to Wortell workplace standards. This included ensuring Microsoft Intune was deployed and configured to all devices from acquired organizations in alignment with defined best practices. In parallel, Wortell also had to either carve in or carve out users to the environment as new companies were integrated. Onboarding new hires was facilitated with virtualization through Azure Virtual Desktop, which also provided a centralized way for accountants to access different tools on a client-by-client basis.

After a six-month implementation, all 1,300 users are now fully onboarded and managed by Wortell. With this stage of the transformation complete, the Newtone team is exploring how Microsoft Fabric and Microsoft 365 Copilot can further empower innovation for these users. “The Cloud Endpoints strategy that Newtone is pursuing will future-proof the organization, providing innovation to add customer value while also allowing them to scale and adapt to market changes quickly,” said Siderius.

Building on the foundation with generative AI Copilot

Newtone is just one of many customers looking at how Microsoft Copilot can accelerate productivity. “All of our clients are highly interested in learning what Copilot can do for them. We’re really at a tipping point,” continued Siderius.

To that end, Wortell has created a two-pronged approach to educating customers about the potential of generative AI. First, they are holding “inspiration” sessions with all current clients to let them see what Microsoft 365 Copilot can do and how it aligns to their business needs around workplace productivity. Second, the Wortell engineering team is exploring Copilot Studio to see how custom agents can be built to address business-specific challenges. “This is going to be an unrivaled area for innovation. As an MSP, we are in a great position to help organizations embrace this new technology in a way that is safe, secure, and successful,” concluded Siderius.

The Cloud Endpoints strategy that Newtone is pursuing will future proof the organization, providing innovation to add customer value while also allowing them to scale and adapt to market changes quickly.

— Lourens Siderius, Director of Workplace & Cloud, Wortell

Wortell supports rapid growth at Newtone with Cloud Endpoints services