Company at a glance:
Crisis is a national charity for people experiencing homelessness. Their mission is to ensure everyone has a decent home to be healthy and thrive. Unfortunately, this basic human need is unmet for many across the United Kingdom. Crisis work side by side with thousands of people each year, providing practical support to help them access benefits, healthcare services, employment opportunities, and more. They also address the root causes of homelessness through political advocacy and research.
The challenge:
In the years leading up to the Covid‑19 pandemic, Crisis experienced rapid growth due to increased public support. However, Crisis’s technology, infrastructure and practices did not keep pace. The pandemic necessitated a swift transition to a hybrid working model, highlighting critical areas needing attention such as cloud adoption, access management, as well their security posture needing drastic improvement.
Crisis’s teams were spending more time fire‑fighting their IT infrastructure than focusing on proactive change and solution design, creating a gap in their ability to meet organisational demand for their core services.
Results:“Ultimately, our partnership with Storm has enabled us to keep core operations running while identifying and implementing fundamental solutions that improve our technology environment.”
— Daniel Gray, Director of Data, Digital and Technology
02 SOLUTIONS AND BENEFITS PROVIDED BY STORM TECHNOLOGIES
Data back-up solutions:
Storm scoped Crisis’s data back‑up needs and selected Veeam as the optimal solution. They managed the onboarding process, ensuring data integrity and availability. This reduced the risk of data loss and ensured critical information is always protected and recoverable.
Database management services:
Storm conducted a thorough scoping of Crisis’s database requirements and selected DSP as their provider. Storm handled the negotiation and onboarding processes, resulting in improved database performance and reliability. This ensured smooth operations and reduced downtime, allowing Crisis to focus on their core mission.
Cybersecurity solutions:
Recognising the importance of protecting sensitive information, Storm scoped their cybersecurity needs and selected Sophos as the best solution. Storm managed the onboarding process, enhancing security posture and reducing vulnerabilities. This safeguarded Crisis’s data and provided peace of mind.
Hybrid Enablement:
Storm facilitated the transition to a hybrid working model, enabling staff to work flexibly and securely from various locations. This increased staff mobility and flexibility, ensuring continuity of services during the pandemic and beyond.
First-line resource for hardware management:
Storm provided reliable hardware support, ensuring minimal downtime and efficient issue resolution. This kept day‑to‑day operations running smoothly and allowed Crisis staff to focus on their work without technical interruptions.
These solutions collectively enabled Crisis to maintain core operations, reduce operational risks, and improve service delivery — ultimately supporting Crisis’s mission to end homelessness.
“Crisis staff highly value their interactions with Storm. We consistently receive great feedback from our colleagues after working with 1st/3rd line engineers, who excel in customer service, patience, and communication. Our colleagues are often surprised to learn that some Storm staff aren’t actually Crisis staff due to their expertise and embodiment of Crisis’ values.”
— Daniel Gray, Director of Data, Digital and Technology
03 RESULTS
Through Storm’s consultation, recommendations, and implementation of solutions, Crisis have reduced critical operational risks and improved the services they provide to colleagues across Crisis.
Storm have simplified and consolidated areas of their technology stack, bringing better understandability and predictability to their running costs. Crisis have also been able to respond to the organisation's shift to a hybrid working model, bringing more mobility for staff in a safe and secure manner with minimal downtime and interruptions to day‑to‑day operations.
Additionally, Crisis have been able to better scope, plan, and implement infrastructural improvements.