Building Communities at Scale with Managed Services
Business situation
The NRP Group is a prominent developer, builder, and manager of affordable and market-rate communities. Their work has consistently aimed to improve the lives of their residents. Despite industry challenges, NRP has maintained growth and leadership in creating high-quality communities.
But with growth comes new digital challenges. Limited IT resources and recent cybersecurity vulnerabilities made it clear: it was time to strengthen their technology foundation. NRP looked to NRI to act as an extension of their team, enhance their security posture, and maximize returns on existing Microsoft 365 and Azure investments.
Considerations
Redesigning Based on Infrastructure Assessment
NRP Group needed a full overhaul of their IT systems to improve performance and security. NRI began by conducting a comprehensive assessment of their infrastructure, identifying single points of failure and areas for improvement. The result was a redesigned core network that prioritized resilience, ensuring stronger performance and reducing risk across the organization.
To significantly strengthen security, NRI rolled out an extensive suite of Microsoft security tools. This included Azure AD Identity Protection, Azure AD Multi-Factor Authentication, Microsoft Defender for Identity, and Microsoft Cloud App Security. These tools worked together to fortify the network and reduce NRP’s attack surface by nearly 95%, providing a much-needed layer of protection against threats.
Next, NRI focused on automating and standardizing IT processes with tools like Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager (MECM) and Microsoft Identity Manager (MIM). These systems streamlined operations, increased productivity, and eliminated much of the manual work, allowing IT to focus on more strategic initiatives.
As a proactive measure, NRI restructured NRP’s backup and recovery solutions by integrating Azure. This upgrade improved disaster recovery capabilities, ensuring rapid and efficient recovery in case of a system failure or data loss.
With the infrastructure optimized and security measures in place, NRI transitioned NRP to ongoing Azure Managed Services. This included 24/7 support, licensing management, and advisory services to ensure the continued health of their IT environment. The shift to an agile, cloud-based operating model increased both ROI and operational efficiency, empowering NRP to stay focused on its business growth..