Cases

Problem

Backups ran every night, but nobody had tried a full restore. A failed server would have meant guesswork under pressure.

Action

• Mapped what was backed up, where, and for how long
• Closed gaps for systems that were missing
• Ran a test restore of a critical server in isolation
• Wrote a short, step-by-step recovery runbook

Result

Backups that are known to restore, and a runbook the team can follow.

Problem

A tenant that had grown over years: old accounts, inconsistent sign-in rules and unclear admin rights.

Action

• Reviewed accounts, licences and admin roles
• Introduced multi-factor authentication and consistent sign-in policies
• Separated everyday and administrative accounts
• Documented the setup for the internal team

Result

A tidier tenant with fewer standing admin rights and clear rules for new users.

Problem

Ageing hosts and an older hypervisor that was becoming hard to support.

Action

• Inventoried virtual machines and their dependencies
• Built and tested the new platform before any move
• Migrated workloads in planned windows with a rollback path
• Updated backup and monitoring for the new platform

Result

Workloads running on the new platform, with backups and monitoring in place from day one.

Problem

A management decision to pursue ISO 27001, with policies drafted but technical controls not yet in place.

Action

• Gap analysis of technical controls against Annex A
• Implemented access, logging, backup and hardening measures
• Collected evidence in a form an auditor can follow
• Walked the internal owner through each control

Result

Controls working in practice and evidence ready for the external audit. Certification itself is done by an accredited body.

Problem

Problems were noticed when users called, not when systems started to fail.

Action

• Agreed which systems and signals actually matter
• Set up monitoring and alerts with sensible thresholds
• Automated routine checks and reports
• Tuned alerts to keep noise low

Result

Issues surfaced earlier, with fewer surprises and less noise.