Video Case Study: Watson & Hillhouse

An Introduction to Watson & Hillhouse

For more than two decades, Watson & Hillhouse has been a trusted name in the construction equipment rental industry, providing reliable plant hire and equipment solutions to businesses across the UK. Throughout that journey, technology has played an increasingly important role in supporting operations, maintaining productivity, and enabling growth.

As part of their ongoing digital transformation strategy, Watson & Hillhouse partnered with Corbel Solutions to modernise their IT infrastructure. Working closely with Finance Director Peter King and the wider team, Corbel designed and delivered a migration from ageing on-premise servers to a Microsoft Azure server solution.

The result is a secure, scalable, and resilient cloud environment that supports business-critical applications, remote working, and long-term growth.

Challenges Transformed into Opportunities

The project addressed several key business and technology challenges:

• Ageing Infrastructure: Existing on-premise servers were approaching end-of-life and required replacement.

• Business Continuity Requirements: The business needed enhanced backup and disaster recovery capabilities to reduce operational risk.

• Application Compatibility: Critical applications including MCS and GFI Archiver required careful assessment and migration planning.

• Future Scalability: Watson & Hillhouse needed an IT platform capable of adapting to changing business demands.

• Remote Working Enablement: Providing secure and efficient access to applications from any location was a growing priority.

A Tailored Cloud Solution for Long-Term Success

Following a comprehensive infrastructure assessment, Corbel Solutions designed a cloud-first architecture tailored to Watson & Hillhouse’s operational needs.

Key server workloads, including SQL, Active Directory, and file storage services, were migrated to Azure Virtual Machines, providing improved performance, flexibility, and reliability. Azure Virtual Desktop was implemented to enable access to the businesses key applications and data securely from any location

To further strengthen resilience, Azure Backup was deployed with Geo-Redundant Storage, ensuring business-critical data remains protected. Azure Site Recovery was also implemented, allowing rapid failover to a secondary Azure UK datacentre in the event of a disaster.

Alongside the cloud migration, Corbel upgraded the company’s on-premise networking infrastructure, including firewalls, switching, and power protection systems, creating a robust and resilient foundation to support day-to-day operations.

Client Testimonial: A Seamless Transition to the Cloud

Peter King, Finance Director at Watson & Hillhouse, reflects on the success of the project, highlighting the smooth migration process, minimal disruption to business operations, and the significant improvements in performance, resilience, and flexibility delivered by the new cloud platform.

The move to Microsoft Azure has provided Watson & Hillhouse with a modern technology foundation designed to support the business for years to come.

A Partnership Built on Trust and Innovation

Having worked together for more than 14 years, Watson & Hillhouse and Corbel Solutions continue to demonstrate the value of a long-term technology partnership. Through careful planning, technical expertise, and a shared commitment to business success, the migration to the Microsoft Cloud Platform, managed and optimised by Corbel, has enabled Watson & Hillhouse to modernise its operations while strengthening security, performance, and resilience.

This project is more than a cloud migration. It is a strategic investment in the future of the business.

Want to know how Corbel can help your business?

Let’s talk. Corbel Solutions provides expert IT Support, Cloud Services and Cyber Security solutions to organisations across Ipswich and Suffolk. Discover how we can help modernise your infrastructure, improve resilience, and support future growth.