ADM became frustrated by the limitations of their technology infrastructure.
For years they stored their data, email and accounting software on two on-site servers. Two IT staff, who are also technical engineers, were responsible for maintaining the servers and handling all IT issues.
ADM’s hardware and operating systems were a mixed bag. The Directors worked on Apple Macs, and the rest of the staff used an assortment of Windows 7, 10 Home and 10 Pro desktops and laptops. The Windows devices were purchased or built at various times, and each ran a different Microsoft Office suite.
Their email solutions were equally disparate. Most of the ADM team were using Mozilla Thunderbird, and only a few running Microsoft Outlook.
The only way that ADM’s off-site employees could connect and access information was through the company’s Virtual Private Network (VPN) run on the on-site servers.
But most importantly, ADM were concerned about the safety of their data should disaster strike. They knew that data should be backed up daily, stored off-site, and security patches diligently applied, but this wasn't always the case.