Hemisphere Freight Case Study

Hemisphere Freight Replaces Aging Legacy Email with Microsoft 365

Project Type:

Sector: Transport

Our Customer

Hemisphere Freight is a leading logistics provider with over 30 years of experience in international freight, customs clearance, warehousing, fulfilment, and distribution.

With operations across the UK, China, and New Zealand, the business delivers end-to-end logistics services across a wide range of sectors.

Known for its comprehensive service offering and industry expertise, Hemisphere Freight continues to grow, most recently through a series of acquisitions that expanded its national footprint and internal operations.

Their Challenges

As the business grew, Hemisphere Freight’s existing IT infrastructure was beginning to show its age.

Their on-premise Exchange Server had become a serious point of concern, posing security risks, performance limitations, and management overhead.

The system was vulnerable to known security threats, such as the hafnium vulnerability, and was frequently throttled or under attack, which impacted the reliability of email services, especially during remote working.

On top of this, the existing Exchange Server supported numerous business applications and third-party integrations, adding complexity to any planned migration.

Hemisphere Freight needed a future-proof solution that would improve performance, security, and manageability, without disrupting business continuity.

Challenges

  • Ageing IT infrastructure
  • On-premise Exchange Server posed security risks
  • Performance issues and frequent throttling or attacks
  • High management overhead
  • Complex web of business apps and third-party integrations
  • Urgent need for a future-proof solution

Our Solution

Valto began the project by delivering a Microsoft 365 Strategy Workshop to assess the full IT environment and uncover long-term objectives.

It quickly became clear that email migration was the first step in a wider digital transformation journey.

We designed a detailed migration plan, setting up hybrid infrastructure and identity services to allow for a smooth transition from on-premise to cloud-based email.

The project included the migration of all user and shared mailboxes, and the setup of password synchronisation to maintain a consistent experience for users post-migration.

Crucially, we also managed the complex integrations with other on-premise applications and systems that relied on the Exchange Server, ensuring everything continued to function without interruption.

To support the transition, we provided expert technical support, project governance, and training for internal IT staff, ensuring the organisation was not only ready for the migration, but equipped to manage and evolve their Microsoft 365 environment moving forward.

Results, Return on Investment and Future Plans

The migration to Exchange Online was completed successfully, delivering a range of benefits.

Email services are now more secure, stable, and faster, with enhanced protection against cyber threats and downtime.

By moving away from on-premise infrastructure, Hemisphere Freight has reduced the costs associated with hardware, energy, maintenance, and backup software.

The IT team now has more time to focus on strategic work, rather than troubleshooting and maintaining legacy systems.

End users have seen noticeable improvements in email reliability, which has helped drive confidence in the wider adoption of Microsoft 365.

Looking ahead, Hemisphere Freight is planning to build on this success by adopting more Microsoft 365 tools, including SharePoint, Teams, and advanced security solutions.

One of the long-term goals is to create a unified intranet that will act as the central hub for the business, a single place for all departments to access documents, collaborate, and standardise the way they work.

Benefits:

  • Improved email security, stability, and speed
  • Lower operational costs
  • Freed up IT resources
  • Boosted email reliability for end users

Contact us if you are interested in a similar solution