Networks
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The Hain Celestial Group
Unifying operations for Hain Celestial through a M365 global tenancy consolidation
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The challenge
The Hain Celestial Group (HCG) faced a major challenge in consolidating its legacy IT infrastructure. With four distinct organisational units - Hain Daniels, Hain Europe, Ella's Kitchen, and the North American division - operating on separate Microsoft 365 tenants, which did not allow for any collaboration across the entities.
Each unit had its own IT practices, leading to unnecessary administrative burdens, inefficient communication, increased licence costs, and a need for modernised and centralised data management. The forthcoming rollout of a global Human Capital Management system meant that time was of the essence.
The primary obstacles were:
- Inefficient communication and limited collaboration due to separate Microsoft 365 tenants
- The need for data residency compliance, particularly stringent GDPR requirements in Europe
- Limited internal resources and expertise to handle a complex global transformation project
The solution
OryxAlign proposed a solution to unify the disparate Microsoft 365 tenants into a single, global tenant. This solution aimed to deliver cross-entity collaboration, streamline IT management, optimise licencing and ensure compliance with data residency laws.
Key elements of the solution included:
- Implementing Microsoft Multi-Geo to meet data residency requirements allows data to meet local regulation laws and reside in the closest Microsoft data centres to the users (e.g., the UK and Germany for European users), improving user experience.
- Conducting a detailed discovery phase to understand the existing configurations and avoid unnecessary device resets, saving significant time and resources.
- Migration of applications, user objects (for over 3000 objects), email, Microsoft SharePoint (including over 2m documents, fixing embedded links), and Microsoft Teams, into a single tenant.
- Coordinating closely with HCG's internal teams and existing managed service providers to ensure smooth cutover and ongoing support.
- Providing extensive documentation and support to facilitate internal communication about the project changes.
Despite expected challenges, the project was delivered on time and on budget with no unplanned disruption to the user community.
The benefits
The project successfully consolidated HCG's Microsoft 365 environment, yielding several significant operational benefits.
Improved Collaboration: With a single global tenant, HCG employees can now easily schedule meetings, share calendars, and collaborate without the need for external contacts, reducing administrative friction and enhancing productivity.
Data Residency Compliance: By leveraging Microsoft Multi-Geo, HCG has ensured that data resides within appropriate data centres, complying with GDPR and other local data protection laws.
Operational Efficiency: The consolidation reduced the complexity of managing multiple IT systems and licenses. The streamlined IT infrastructure leads to lower administrative overhead and more efficient IT operations.
Enhanced User Experience: Users experience lower latency and fewer technical barriers, especially when accessing shared resources, leading to a smoother and more integrated workflow.
Future-Ready IT Infrastructure: The unified tenant provides a robust foundation for future digital initiatives, such as rolling out a global Human Capital Management system, Viva Engage, for enhanced internal communications.
The project was completed ahead of schedule, with significant time savings achieved by avoiding unnecessary device resets. This proactive and well-coordinated approach met and exceeded HCG's expectations, setting a benchmark for future IT projects within the organisation.
"Working with OryxAlign on unifying our Microsoft 365 tenants into a single global entity has been a transformative experience for The Hain Celestial Group. This project addressed our critical need for improved collaboration, operational efficiency, and compliance with stringent data residency laws across our diverse geographic regions.”
The Hain Celestial Group - David Rahbany, Sr. Director, IT Infrastructure and Operations