A rapid digital transformation at Rathbones – which provides individual investment and wealth management services for private clients, nonprofits, trustees and professional partners – established new, flexible ways of working for employees. New digital capabilities improve the client experience, support employees’ decision making and help to attract tech-savvy clients. The firm also replaced paper-based processes in favor of digital outputs, resulting in 80% less printing and 30% less power consumption during the pandemic to meet its sustainability targets.
“We were looking at ways of working and how technology could better support staff in a digital era. We just expedited that.”
Business Situation
Like many well-established financial services firms, Rathbones employees engaged clients using traditional means, including high-quality printed reports and face-to-face meetings. When the global pandemic put everyone in lockdown, Rathbones’ team found itself needing to adapt quickly. Rethinking the company’s workplace and business strategy, which included a move to the cloud, became necessary to continue operations during the pandemic and to support hybrid working in the future.
Solution
Avanade Advisory helped Rathbones prioritize key transformation initiatives and map out a digital workplace strategy. We then worked with the company’s IT team to update its technology infrastructure, including:
- A network upgrade to put cloud at the center of technology services
- Transition to zero-trust networking so employees can work securely anywhere using Microsoft 365 workplace tools
- Modernization of IT service management tools and processes to better serve employees and support hybrid working
- Digital enhancements for printing
- Microsoft Teams setup for workplace collaboration and Microsoft cloud telephony so client calls can be handled seamlessly