Legal
800 Employees
Founded in 1875, Macfarlanes is a distinctive law firm with a straightforward, independently-minded approach. The driving force behind the firm is an absolute commitment to delivering the right advice in the right way to their clients.
Purpose of implementation
Planned replacement of old devices, with a new fleet of iPhone XRs.
key benefits
- Device upgrades ensures Macfarlanes are running the latest iOS to remain secure
- Smooth deployment during UK lockdown
Case Study
With a headcount of around 800 people, mobile devices for a firm of Macfarlanes’ size can end up being extremely disparate. Growth of the device fleet in recent years meant there were several versions of iPhone in use, including 6s, 7 and SE.
Device upgrades were planned to complete in advance of an Apple iOS update that was incompatible with some older iPhone models, including the iPhone 6. The firm has a strict information security regime and did not want to operate devices that would not receive iOS updates. With that in mind, Macfarlanes decided to upgrade the devices as planned, despite the lockdown and all staff operating from home.
iPhone XRs were selected as the device of choice, enabling Macfarlanes to keep the handsets for at least two years, whilst also providing a device with a larger screen size and improved battery life. The devices would then be distributed to replace every older model of phone, to ensure consistency of platform and allow the IT team to support a single device type.
“We Just Had To Use Mobliciti”
Members of Macfarlanes’ IT team had previously worked with Mobliciti, assisting with the rollout of iPhones at another firm. This positive experience meant that Mobliciti instantly sprung to mind when the decision was made to replace their mobile fleet.
“The minute we found out we needed to replace our devices, there was no question, we just had to use Mobliciti”.
– Kerry Angel, Service Delivery Manager
Choosing Mobliciti also felt like a natural choice due to their consultative approach and specialisation in mobility. Using Mobliciti’s Virtual Mobile Manager (VMM) managed service, Macfarlanes were able to work with Mobliciti to create a full device refresh plan that included all elements of the project, from sourcing the phones and accessories, preparation of devices ready for use, user training documents and videos, as well as supporting end user communications and delivery logistics.
Adapting to Remote Working
Macfarlanes’ original plan was for Mobliciti to attend Macfarlanes’ offices and provide drop-in device workshops for users. Macfarlanes’ employees would be scheduled a time slot to attend, where they would be issued their new phone, be guided through the device set up and restoration processes, before handing back their old phones for wiping and recycling.
“We came up with a battleplan so that it was a very slick process.”
However, on 23rd March, the national lockdown in the UK began. Despite employees now working from home en masse, the need to distribute new devices was still very much present. Prior to lockdown, the majority of Macfarlanes’ employees were entirely office-based. Whilst the firm had all the systems in place to enable remote working, the scale and duration of home working due to lockdown was unprecedented.
With hundreds of iPhone XRs waiting to be deployed, Macfarlanes and Mobliciti worked closely together to ensure that the refresh project was able to continue, with minimal impact on Macfarlanes’ IT team.
A Gradual Deployment
With 650 devices to deploy, entirely remotely, this was a large project. Mobliciti prepared the iPhone XRs, setting them up to make the devices as simple to use as possible. Everything from creating the user roll-out plan and communications, through to applying screen protectors and packaging accessories was carried out, creating a seamless experience for Macfarlanes’ people. The devices were initially dispatched in small batches of 50 per week to guarantee a smooth initial rollout and enabling Macfarlanes’ IT team to handle any application-specific and user account requests in a timely manner. However, with few issues and queries to manage, this number was gradually increased as deployment continued successfully, culminating in up to 200 devices being distributed in each batch. End-users receiving the devices had to follow a few instructions upon receiving their new iPhone XRs – with the devices already setup, apps that were required automatically downloaded onto the devices when switched on by employees for the first time.
Macfarlanes reported back a 97% satisfaction rate from employees, with the straightforward process ensuring that their IT team didn’t suffer any headaches.
“Mobliciti were absolutely amazing with the way that they organised it.”
Six months down the line and Macfarlanes are extremely happy with their device deployment experience. Crucially, all of the phones in use by the organisation are now running the latest iOS, ensuring that they are compliant with Cyber Essentials and other internal infosec controls. If devices are lost or stolen, it’s now much easier for the law firm to remotely wipe all information from them – protecting corporate and personal data.
About us
Mobliciti’s Virtual Mobile Manager is designed for businesses that require hands-on and experienced support to ensure that mobile services, devices, costs, and usage are optimised and proactively managed on an ongoing basis.
The VMM service combines experienced mobile administration resources, advanced management tools, usage monitoring, data analysis and commercial market intelligence to provide businesses with an all-in-one virtual ‘mobile manager’ function.
Mobliciti delivers end-to-end Mobile IT solutions, empowering innovation, increasing user productivity and controlling costs, without exposing corporate data to increasingly frequent cyber-attacks. Our expertise, focus and services have helped shape many Enterprise Mobility and Cloud strategies minimising the risk of change and impact on internal resources.
We are proud that our combined efforts at Mobliciti won us the LexisNexis Legal Supplier Innovation Award 2019 and the inaugural Managed Services Provider of the Year Award at the Mobile Industry Awards 2018 and for the second year running the Best Managed Service Provider at the Mobile Industry Awards 2019.
