The Client

Eclipse Digital Solutions is a national, award-winning provider of sophisticated and bespoke integrated security solutions.

From its headquarters in Warrington, the company serves a prestigious private and public sector client base. This includes highly security sensitive organisations such as HM Prison Service, the Ministry of Justice, UK Border Agency and other bodies responsible for protecting the UK’s critical national infrastructure.

Eclipse’s clients benefit from a broad range of specialist products and professional services. These embrace the design, installation, maintenance and technical support of perimeter intrusion, drone detection, CCTV, control room, ANPR and under vehicle scanning systems.

Business Needs

Eclipse wanted to address a range of issues, some of which were driven by its ongoing business needs, others by the need to adapt its operational model in response to the Covid pandemic.

The company’s Microsoft Small Business Server (SBS) was reaching end-of-life and would therefore no longer pass the stringent security requirements laid down by its governmental clients.

Allied to this Eclipse was also working towards certification under the ISO 27001 cyber security standard and the National Cyber Security Centre’s Cyber Essentials scheme.

“We needed enhanced cyber security credentials for the government projects we handle,“ explained Eclipse’s tech director, Dr Mark Almond. “Increasingly, having ISO 27001 is a big advantage in the marketplace, especially when handling data from more sensitive customers.”

The Government’s pandemic restrictions also meant the company needed to swiftly and securely transition from being an office-based business to one which could support work from home.

The Solution

Eclipse liaised with Avoira, with whom the company has worked since its founding in 2004, calling on technical solutions architect Chris Lishman to advise.

“Chris did our very first IT system,” recalls Dr Almond. “If he looks after projects for us, they go very smoothly.”

Chris recommended replacing the SBS with Microsoft’s latest Windows Server 2019. This was implemented by technicians from Yellowbus Solutions, the managed IT support and cloud services specialist which joined the Avoira family in 2020.

“This gave us the opportunity to get cyber secure” notes Dr Almond.

The Yellowbus team also transitioned Eclipse from its on-premise Exchange server to Microsoft’s cloud-hosted Office 365. This involved creating a new domain and transferring both users and files to deliver secure anytime, anywhere access, not just to Outlook, but the full suite of Office communication, collaboration and storage apps.

Mail Marshall email filtering was replaced by Mimecast, a more secure, cloud-based gateway which actively defends against spam, spear-phishing, malware and other malicious attacks.

Together with a new firewall and enhanced wi-fi security, these upgrades enabled Eclipse to secure Cyber Essentials and then Cyber Essential Plus accreditation.

The Benefits

The successful transition to new, more flexible and secure technologies and subsequent securing of vital cyber security qualifications was down to the trust Eclipse has in Avoira.

“I’m impressed with the quality of advice and expertise on offer from Avoira,” confirms Dr Almond, pointing to the quality and speed of service which Avoira provide.

”We don’t want to be calling some faceless computer centre where any one of 100 people might pick up the phone. We certainly don’t get that with Avoira.”

He adds: “Chris is great at finding the best solutions for our needs and the sales support side is always good. Avoira’s responsiveness is excellent.”