MEET THE CLOUD TEAM

WARREN WARD

Warren Ward
Microsoft Product Manager

Before joining Redcentric, I’ve held a variety of roles and I’ve got experience from the ground up with Microsoft, originally as help desk technician to a mobile IT engineer, and eventually I transitioned to becoming a solutions architect and product manager. I’ve worked with various businesses, from small enterprises to larger corporations, gaining extensive experience in both technical solutions and product management. I have worked with C-level execs building our Microsoft solutions for the wider businesses as well as designing solutions for multiple businesses.
Currently my role is the Microsoft Product Manager, overseeing the Microsoft practice and driving the products within it, including managed Azure and Modern Workplace 365.

Our plans for the Microsoft portfolio within Redcentric are ambitious yet strategic. Microsoft offers a comprehensive ecosystem encompassing everything from desktop applications to cloud platforms like Azure, making it an integral part of modern business operations. At Redcentric, we recognise the immense value Microsoft brings to our customers, serving as a one-stop solution provider for customers with lots of different requirements.
Microsoft’s ecosystem offers a seamless suite of tools, platforms, and services tailored to businesses’ specific requirements. Whether it’s office applications, desktop operating systems, or cloud infrastructure, Microsoft has established a dominant presence across industries, providing a wide array of solutions through its marketplace.

Our goal at Redcentric is to align closely with Microsoft’s ecosystem to deliver maximum value to our customers. While we already excel in areas like Azure and Modern Workplace solutions, we acknowledge the need to expand our capabilities to cover all facets of the Microsoft portfolio. This includes enhancing our offerings in areas like Dynamics, analytics tools such as Power BI, and emerging technologies like Co-pilot. However, we recognise the constraints posed by the breadth and depth of Microsoft’s ecosystem.
In summary, our plans for the Microsoft portfolio involve strategically expanding our capabilities to meet the evolving needs of our customers. By leveraging Microsoft’s ecosystem to its fullest extent and investing in the necessary resources, we aim to position Redcentric as a leading provider of end-to-end Microsoft solutions, driving value and innovation for our customers.

Our projects range from simple migrations to comprehensive transformations. Whether it’s migrating to M365 or modernising a customer’s infrastructure on Azure, our goal is to help customers achieve their business objectives efficiently. We understand the complexities involved in these transformations, from technical debt to resource constraints. By offering collaborative solutions and becoming an integral part of our customers’ IT teams, we aim to accelerate their modernisation journey and deliver tangible results.

My work with a prominent European low-cost airline, who had challenges with their existing cloud platforms, were having experienced significant downtime which resulted in substantial financial losses due to their high transaction volume. Their critical need to minimise downtime led them to pursue a modernisation programme.

The modernisation program involved several stages spanning over a 12-month engagement period. Initially, we focused on the lift and shift phase, migrating their infrastructure from on-premises to Azure while ensuring high availability to minimise downtime. This phase required a thorough understanding of their existing setup and aligning it with Azure best practices.

Following the successful lift and shift, we moved into stage two, which involved implementing quick-win transformations. This included migrating their SQL servers to Azure SQL PaaS to enhance availability and reduce costs. These quick wins were implemented over a 3-to-4-month period, addressing immediate challenges and laying the groundwork for long-term improvements.

The final stage, which is ongoing, focuses on long-term transformation. This phase involves working closely with their development team to integrate applications with native Azure services, enabling auto-scaling and active-active availability to further minimise downtime. While this stage has yet to commence fully, it aims to achieve near-zero downtime for critical services, a significant improvement from their previous state of days or weeks of downtime.

Are you having any cloud challenges? If anything above sounds familiar, we’d love to help you.

Please reach out to your account manager or sayhello@redcentricplc.com marked for the cloud team’s attention.

We’re here to help and give you our expert advice.

Click into some of our key team members to find out more about their product area and projects they’re working on

Steve O’Brien

MD – Cloud & Cyber Security

Michael Dale

Head of Product – Cloud

Darren Adcock

Senior Cloud Product Manager

Paul McKenna

Cloud Product Manager
redcentric

Redcentric

0800 983 2522 sayhello@redcentricplc.com