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Case study · Brands Optimal

Email, files, backup and a full IT department for a marketing agency

We have looked after the agency’s email since 2020. We moved it from old web hosting to Microsoft in 2022 and to Zoho in 2024, moved its files to the cloud and set up backup. In 2025 we ran its IT on site, put the basics in place and then recruited the in-house IT manager who took over.

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  • Brands OptimalA marketing and brand agency
  • 2020 to 2026When
  • Run, AdvisoryServices

33mailboxes moved off old hosting in one weekend

  1. Old web hostingUntil 2022
  2. Microsoft 365Sep 2022, one weekend
  3. Zoho MailSep 2024, all checked

The situation

Staff email ran on the agency’s web hosting, which was running out of space. Files lived on each person’s laptop or in personal cloud folders, and each member of staff did their own backups.

When we started on-site support in March 2025 there was no list of the company’s equipment, no process for buying it and no process for handling IT problems. The only IT supplier was the company that sold the laptops.

What we did

Run

Move email twice, without losing it

Email is the agency’s link to every client. Each move had to happen out of hours, with every message carried across and staff told exactly what would change.

  • Moved 33 staff mailboxes from the old web hosting to Microsoft 365 over one weekend in September 2022.
  • Managed the Microsoft licences for two years as the team grew.
  • Recommended Zoho Mail to lower the yearly cost, showed it working at a sister company and answered every concern before the move.
  • Moved all staff email from Microsoft to Zoho Mail overnight in September 2024. We then checked each mailbox by hand and re-ran six that came across incomplete.
  • Turned on two-step sign-in for staff email and set up one company email signature.
  • Review every mailbox before each renewal. The agency pays only for the storage it uses.

Run

Put files in one place and back them up

Files kept on one laptop are lost when that laptop is stolen, broken or handed back. Shared folders in the cloud, with automatic backup, keep the work when a device fails or someone leaves.

  • Moved each person’s OneDrive files to Zoho WorkDrive in the same move as the email.
  • Set up WorkDrive folders for each department, with a personal folder for each member of staff and access granted by role.
  • Set up automatic backup to WorkDrive on 29 staff laptops. The first backup was confirmed on 24 of them in July 2025.
  • Turned on offline sync. Staff keep working when the internet drops.
  • Checked backups every week, audited them, and reported to management where staff were still saving outside the backed-up folders.
  • Wrote the agency’s Data Backup and Recovery Policy in September 2025.

Run

Run IT day to day

An office runs on its equipment. Knowing what you own, who has it and when it was last serviced stops small faults from turning into lost working days.

  • Placed on-site IT support and supervised it.
  • Built the equipment register and a maintenance log. By handover it covered 120 laptops, 10 printers and scanners, 14 routers and wireless access points, and 7 backup power units.
  • Put antivirus on the laptops and ran phishing awareness sessions for staff.
  • Got the office reliable internet and set up a simple way for staff to request IT help.

Advisory

Put rules and buying in order

Written rules mean equipment, software licences and data are handled the same way every time, whoever is in the office.

  • Wrote six IT policies, including asset management, buying and software licences, and backup and recovery. All were finalised in September 2025.
  • Set up a supplier list and a clearer buying process for equipment.
  • Wrote an annual IT report for management.
  • Recruited an in-house IT manager through a two-stage assessment and handed over in June 2026.

Results

  • 33 mailboxes moved off old hosting in one weekend in September 2022.
  • All staff email and OneDrive files moved to Zoho in one night in September 2024.
  • 62 mailboxes, holding about 728 GB of email, run on Zoho with two-step sign-in.
  • Automatic backup set up on 29 laptops, with 24 confirmed working in the first round of checks.
  • An equipment register, maintenance records and six IT policies the agency did not have before.
  • A smooth handover to its own IT manager in June 2026. We still look after email and oversight.

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