Background

Over a two-year period, Culligan – a global leader in sustainable water solutions and services – completed more than 200 M&A transactions. This rapid growth had created a fragmented IT infrastructure across the organisation. Insight unified these  systems into a single, cohesive environment to streamline  operational processes and implement a consistent user experience across the business.

Challenge

Culligan’s expansion through numerous acquisitions had created a highly fragmented technology landscape that served 16,000-plus employees worldwide.

Each acquired business operated independently, maintaining distinct IT infrastructures, security practices, applications and management standards across approximately 56 separate environments. This led  to inefficiencies, heightened security risks and substantial difficulties in managing and supporting diverse systems globally.

Following a major acquisition, the organisation set a 12-month timeline to simplify and consolidate multiple Microsoft tenants and bring all of its new colleagues under a single brand. The scale of the transformation was made more challenging due to language and cultural differences across EMEA and North America.

“Partnering with Insight allowed us to confidently navigate a highly complex and vital IT transformation. Its expertise, structured and collaborative approach enabled us to consolidate systems efficiently, support future acquisitions and deliver a consistent, secure experience for our global workforce across multiple business units.”

 Faranak Abar, Global IT Director

Solution & Outcomes

Insight delivered a comprehensive solution tailored specifically for Culligan’s fragmented IT landscape, starting with the consolidation of multiple tenants, including users, devices, Microsoft Teams, SharePoint, OneDrive and servers, into a unified Microsoft 365 and Azure environment.

To ensure the secure migration of systems and data,  Insight utilised Quest, BinaryTree, BitTitan, Sharegate and Azure Migrate.

The project also improved Culligan’s Microsoft 365 environment, adding stronger management features through Intune and reshaping how SharePoint, Teams, and OneDrive were used, following best practices and tailored to the needs of each business. Azure services were updated to support day-to-day operations while keeping everything secure and scalable.

By deploying a greenfield environment, Insight built a solid foundation for Culligan’s future, enabling global alignment in technology, processes and policies. This approach supported both current operations and future M&A activity, while also meeting the company’s security and compliance requirements.

Approximately 400 servers were rationalised within Azure, reducing complexity and operational overheads. Throughout the process, Insight utilised structured Runbooks and Implementation Plans to maintain technical precision, minimise disruption and ensure alignment with Culligan’s wider IT transformation goals.

Strong relationships were built across all levels of IT and extended into non-IT business unit leadership, supporting collaboration and smooth delivery. 

“Insight brought the right mix of technical skill and strategic thinking. The team’s ability to deliver at scale, while remaining flexible to our business needs, was critical to the success of this project.”

 Faranak Abar, Global IT Director

Why Insight?

Leading Solutions Integrator, Insight, was chosen for its proven expertise in managing complex, large-scale IT transformations and its strong existing relationship with Culligan.

Having successfully delivered smaller integrations and Azure improvements in the past, Insight had demonstrated a deep understanding of Culligan’s infrastructure and strategic goals.

The ability to take a holistic approach, which balanced standardisation with the need for regional flexibility, aligned perfectly with Culligan’s operating model. Insight’s methodology-driven delivery, coupled with technical excellence and a collaborative working style, gave Culligan the confidence to trust it with this major IT transformation project.

Results