Client story: Migrating the Town of Canmore to the Cloud With Microsoft Azure

Summary

The Town of Canmore in Southern Alberta embarked on a journey to modernize its IT infrastructure by migrating to Microsoft Azure, with Insight Enterprises as its partner. This move was driven by the need to mitigate risks such as wildfires and flooding, which posed significant threats to their on-premises data center. The transition to the cloud has enhanced their ability to test and deploy resources quickly, with clear understanding of costs, thereby reducing capital and operational expenditures. Insight's collaborative approach and technical expertise ensured a seamless migration, empowering Canmore to achieve its business goals efficiently and securely.

Highlights

• Canmore's unique location in the Bow Valley makes it susceptible to natural threats, necessitating a move to the cloud. 🌄🌧️
• Azure migration allowed Canmore to modernize its IT infrastructure, reducing risks and improving service delivery. 🛠️🌐
• Insight Enterprises provided the technical and business acumen needed for a successful cloud transition. 🔧📈
• The cloud migration significantly lowered costs and enhanced Canmore's ability to manage resources. 💸🔍
• Insight's partner-based approach ensured that Canmore's specific needs and goals were met seamlessly. 👫🎯

Key Takeaways

• Canmore's migration to Azure was driven by the need to reduce risks from wildfires and flooding. 🔥🌊
• The move to the cloud improved resource deployment speed and cost management. 🚀💰
• Insight Enterprises played a crucial role with their technical expertise and client-focused approach. 👩‍💻🤝
• The switch to Azure reduced Canmore's capital and operational expenditures. 📉💡
• Azure provided Canmore with improved security and efficiency for their community services. 🛡️💼

Overview

The town of Canmore, nestled in Southern Alberta, is known for its beautiful landscapes and vibrant community. However, its location also exposed it to significant natural risks such as wildfires and flooding. Faced with these challenges, Canmore made the strategic decision to migrate its IT infrastructure to the cloud, partnering with Insight Enterprises to facilitate this transformation using Microsoft Azure. This move aimed to enhance their operational efficiency and security by retiring their on-premises data center, vulnerable to natural disasters.

Migrating to Azure provided Canmore with new capabilities to manage and deploy IT resources efficiently. By leveraging cloud technology, the town could significantly cut down on capital expenditures and optimize operational costs. A critical component of this transition was Insight Enterprises' profound technical and business expertise, which ensured that the migration process met Canmore's essential needs and objectives. Their collaborative approach helped address any challenges that arose, ensuring a smooth and efficient transition to the cloud.

With their IT infrastructure now in the cloud, Canmore is poised to deliver enhanced services to its citizens, marked by improved speed, efficiency, and cost management. The town is now better equipped to handle the environmental threats posed by its beautiful, yet challenging, location. Through their partnership with Insight and their investment in Azure, Canmore demonstrates a successful model of leveraging cloud technology to overcome geographical and operational challenges while remaining committed to serving their community effectively.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 00:30: Introduction to Canmore The chapter introduces the town of Canmore in Southern Alberta, emphasizing the town's well-known reputation in the region. The narrator expresses excitement over the opportunity to support the community of Canmore as a customer, highlighting their anticipation of the town reflecting its well-known characteristics. The chapter also mentions a partnership with Inside and Microsoft, chosen for their combined deep technical expertise and business acumen.
• 00:30 - 01:00: Understanding Local Government Functions This chapter explains the importance of understanding the functions of a local government. It highlights how such governmental functions can significantly impact businesses. By engaging in technical deep dives into business environments and conducting interviews with application stakeholders, the chapter emphasizes the support available during the adaptation process. The main responsibility outlined is to facilitate communication and address challenges faced during the transformation to ensure smooth business operations.
• 01:00 - 01:30: Geographical Challenges and Data Center Risks The chapter titled 'Geographical Challenges and Data Center Risks' discusses the geographical threats faced by data centers located in Bow Valley of the Canadian Rockies, particularly the risks of wildfires and flooding. It mentions the proactive measures taken to mitigate these risks, highlighting the unique situation of the town of Canmore, which is also aware of these challenges. The discussion extends to on-premises data centers and how they adapt to these geographical challenges.
• 01:30 - 02:00: Transition to Cloud with Azure In the chapter titled 'Transition to Cloud with Azure,' the focus is on the strategic decision to move data center operations from local on-premises conditions to the cloud, specifically leveraging Azure's capabilities. The transition was prompted by risks such as power outages occurring from environmental events, demonstrated when a flood rendered local data centers powerless. By migrating to Azure, they mitigate these risks, ensuring increased reliability and continuity. Additionally, the chapter touches on how cloud technology significantly boosts collaboration and productivity for organizations.
• 02:00 - 02:30: Advantages of Cloud Migration Migrating to the cloud has enabled faster testing and deployment of resources for users. It provides clear insights into the costs associated with deploying resources and delivering services. As a result, the decision to move to the cloud has notably reduced capital and other operating expenses. The team remains committed to maintaining a culture focused on doing what’s best for their clients.
• 02:30 - 03:00: Commitment to Client Support and Team Dynamics The chapter "Commitment to Client Support and Team Dynamics" emphasizes the importance of teamwork in an account support role. It suggests that the ability to support clients effectively is largely dependent on the strength and capability of the entire team rather than just individual skills. The focus is on delivering exceptional service to meet clients' needs and helping them achieve their business goals. The narrative highlights the progress made by the team in these areas.
• 03:00 - 03:30: Becoming a Multi-Cloud PowerHouse The chapter 'Becoming a Multi-Cloud PowerHouse' discusses the ability to deliver tailored cloud solutions to clients, emphasizing the importance of being an indispensable partner. It highlights the process of assessing client needs and objectives to determine the most suitable cloud service, using the example of Kenmore where Azure was identified as the optimal choice to efficiently and securely serve its community.

Client story: Migrating the Town of Canmore to the Cloud With Microsoft Azure Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 the town of Canmore is well known in Southern Alberta and the people who work here really reflect exactly what you would imagine when I officially got the opportunity to support them as a customer I was really excited because I knew they would be a reflection of everything that I know to be the town of Canmore we chose to partner with inside and Microsoft because we were looking for an organization that brings deep technical expertise but equally business acumen
• 00:30 - 01:00 uh to understand the functioning of a local government we understand the impacts that this sort of transformation can have on a business whether that's doing the technical deep dives into your environment or conducting interviews with application stakeholders will be there um throughout the process sort of help communicate uh help address those challenges our duty here is to ensure we
• 01:00 - 01:30 provide a reliable and efficient service to our interest holders given our location here in the Bow Valley of the Canadian Rockies we are constantly faced by threats of wildfire and flooding which kind of led us to mitigate these risks obviously the the town of Canmore is a unique situation where they're often um aware of the potential for flooding and forest fires as well and so when it comes to their on Prem data
• 01:30 - 02:00 center that was here local um in the town of ganmore that was something that they were highly aware of and that needed to be uh remediated and part of their long-term goal to move um their data center from on premises to the [Music] cloud when they had their flood um that meant that power wasn't available to their data centers so the move to Azure um put them out of that risk area CL technology has revolutionized our collaboration and productivity we're
• 02:00 - 02:30 now able to test and deploy resources faster to be used by our users but at the same time we're also able to know the exact cost of deploying resources and what it costs to provide the service migrating to the cloud has significantly reduced our capital expenditure and on other operating expenditures such as link our team and our culture of always doing what's right for our clients is something that I
• 02:30 - 03:00 really value and in order to support my customers as a person who is in an account support role it's really comes back to the team that I can put forth not necessarily our strength of capability but um our our capability to deliver and to support our clients and and meet them where they're at and help them achieve their business goals we have made great strikes to be the
• 03:00 - 03:30 multicloud PowerHouse delivering the right solution for our clients and being the partner that they can't live without it's that ability to tailor the right Cloud right solution and having all the capabilities with a different hyperscalers so with Kenmore we had our Consultants go in and assess current state and look at their objectives and Azure was the right choice for them that delivers to their citizens and the community the effic icy and the security
• 03:30 - 04:00 that is required