FastTrack at Miller Insurance Services
Solidify (now Eficode) conducted an Azure DevOps Fastrack at Miller Insurance Services in London. The Azure DevOps Fastrack is a program for selected Microsoft customers to get help moving their Azure DevOps/TFS platform or a selected application to the Cloud. The customer gets two weeks on-site help from selected Microsoft partners or from Microsoft to work with their own staff.
Miller is one of the world’s leading specialist insurance and reinsurance brokers operating in Lloyd’s, the London market and international markets..
I, Magnus Timner, and my colleague Per Sundqvist, had the pleasure of working with Ashley Camidge, Technical Lead at Miller, working with the existing TFS/Azure DevOps platform. Because of the Corona outbreak we had to do the entire engagement remote and that worked well. During the two weeks we upgraded their existing TFS to the latest Azure DevOps version and moved them to Azure DevOps services, in addition to some training in these areas:
- Azure Boards
- Azure Test plans
- Azure Pipelines
- Azure Repos
Ashley at Miller Insurance Services
At the end of the Fastrack I asked Ashley a couple of questions about the engagement:
What effect have you got from the work the last two weeks?
Having Magnus on-hand to direct the TFS upgrade to Azure DevOps Server and its subsequent migration to the Azure DevOps Service was invaluable. The knowledge that both Magnus and Per have around this process and Azure DevOps is second-to-none. The way that the Azure DevOps Fastrack program from Microsoft works allowed me to be involved at every step of the process (which, due to the current Coronavirus was essential) and really understand the steps that we were taking and why. This migration work was essential for Miller and our reliance on the on-premise infrastructure which we had in place. In our rapidly approaching future, we envisage a higher usage of Azure and this migration work was a vital first step in allowing us to modernize our applications and processes for the cloud.
Was there anything special that really has helped you?
As Miller had been using TFS 2017 for quite some time, many of our less-technical people had never seen Azure DevOps and much of the Azure DevOps Service was new to them. With the training sessions that Per ran on Boards, Test Plans, Pipelines and Repos, everyone who now uses Azure DevOps at Miller has a good understanding of how each of these main product areas work. This has given many people a better understanding of how others may use the service in different ways to help them fulfil their roles.
Would you recommended others getting help from Solidify?
Working closely with Magnus and Per to deliver the Azure DevOps migration and training for Miller has been a real pleasure. Solidify were recommended to us by Microsoft as one of their Gold Partners who specialize in Azure DevOps and the Microsoft Cloud Platform and it is clear to me why they are held in such high regard. I would without a doubt recommend Solidify to anyone who needs expert guidance and assistance in their cloud journey.
Do you have a good idea how you are going to continue after these weeks?
By the time that Solidify had completed their engagement with Miller we were left with a fully migrated Azure DevOps Organization and an entire department who had been trained in how to effectively use the service. I am confident that everyone using Azure DevOps at Miller will now be even more effective in their roles than they were when using TFS.
If you're interested in learning more about the FastTrack program or need help with anything related to Azure DevOps and migrations, feel free to contact us any time.
