PIP Electrics and Building Services

The client

Established in 1969, PIP Electrics and Building Services has since grown into a £90m business delivering electrical and mechanical installations. Based across two offices (with headquarters in Essex and an office in Canary Wharf, London), PIP manages all aspects of mechanical and electrical engineering, from design and installation to testing, commissioning and project completion, specialising in commercial fit-outs across a wide range of sectors.

With over 100 members of staff, PIP’s commitment to excellence and innovation has established them as a trusted partner for their clients.

The challenge

Arc have worked with PIP Electrics to help modernise their IT infrastructure and support their continued growth. The organisation’s existing IT was heavily reliant on a legacy Microsoft Exchange server, which posed significant challenges in terms of scalability, collaboration and security. As PIP expanded, there was a pressing need to transition to a more secure and flexible platform that could support their multi-site operations and enable better work across teams.

However, the scale of the migration presented several complexities. The migration needed to address several key challenges: 

1. A large significant portion of data that required careful migration, restructuring, to enhance and optimise for a SharePoint environment.
2. Ensuring that employees, particularly those less familiar with cloud technologies, could adopt new tools without significant resistance.
3. Providing ongoing support and training to ensure that PIP’s internal IT team was equipped to manage the new system and guide the wider organisation through the transition.

The solution

Rather than impose a one-size-fits-all approach, we worked collaboratively with PIP to develop a tailored and phased migration strategy that would minimise disruption across the business. We began with an assessment of PIP’s existing IT infrastructure and worked closely with users from each department to understand their individual needs and workflows. This collaborative approach ensured that the migration not only supported their internal processes, but also created departmental champions who could advocate for and support the migration alongside Arc.

Phase 1: Exchange migration

We first migrated PIP from their on-premise Exchange solution to Microsoft 365, focusing on transitioning their email and communications platforms to the cloud. During this process, we discovered previously unknown issue preventing the upgrade on one of the remote desktop servers; we replaced the virtual server and added an additional virtual server to improve overall performance and resilience.

Central to this phase was the introduction of Microsoft Teams, which we integrated to facilitate better collaboration between PIP’s multi-site teams. We provided comprehensive training to empower PIP’s IT team with the knowledge and tools to support the migration and guide the wider organisation through the transition.

Post-migration, our team worked on-site for MFA device configuration, ensuring that all staff could be supported in person and any questions could be addressed directly.

Phase 2: SharePoint migration and data optimisation

Following the successful completion of Phase 1, we progressed to Phase 2: a full migration to SharePoint Online for PIP’s document management and data storage. Working in conjunction with Perspicuity, we addressed key challenges with PIP’s legacy file server: limited collaboration capabilities, inconsistent security and access controls across business units, and no safe method for external sharing with partners and subcontractors.

We delivered a comprehensive migration to SharePoint Online, supported by a modern information architecture and robust security model. This included building a central hub site as the core of PIP’s digital workplace, creating departmental SharePoint sites connected to the hub with tailored permissions, implementing a security model based on Microsoft 365 Groups, and enabling modern collaboration features including real-time co-authoring, automatic versioning, and secure external sharing policies. This replaced the unreliable and risky methods previously used on the file server.

The results

The successful migration to Microsoft 365 has provided PIP with a secure, flexible and – crucially – a scalable IT environment. The phased approach ensured minimal disruption whilst delivering tangible benefits: 

• Improved findability – the hub site and well-architected site structure allow users to navigate seamlessly across PIP’s digital estate and easily locate documents that were previously buried or duplicated. 

• Stronger collaboration – teams can now work collectively on documents without overwriting each other’s work, speeding up workflows and reducing administrative burden. 

• Secure external sharing – controlled sharing policies enable PIP to collaborate safely with partners and subcontractors while maintaining full compliance. 

• Robust permissions and governance – security groups and consistent site-level permissions ensure the right people have access to the right content. 

• Modernised, scalable infrastructure – SharePoint Online provides a future-proofed platform that supports PIP’s continued growth and digital maturity. 

• Enhanced security and compliance posture – consistent permissions across business units with sensitive areas properly restricted and managed. 

• Internal IT team empowered – PIP’s team can now manage and support the modern systems independently. 

Tom Hawes, IT Manager at PIP, said “Arc’s support throughout this migration has been invaluable. Their phased approach allowed us to make a seamless transition to the cloud, and the training and ongoing assistance ensured that our team could confidently embrace the change. We now have an IT infrastructure that will support our future growth.” 

Arc continues to work with PIP and Perspicuity on the ongoing optimisation and enhancement of their SharePoint environment, helping to ensure that PIP can continue to innovate and scale with confidence.