Case study

Modernising an agriculture business's IT

From single point of failure to secure, scalable future

  • Client Lister Wilder
  • Industry Agriculture
  • Services delivered Managed IT, cyber security, network infrastructure, fractional CTO

Client overview

Lister Wilder is a family-run agricultural equipment specialist with multiple depots across southern England.

The challenge

As the company scaled, its IT infrastructure hadn't kept pace. They relied on a single in-house engineer - a one-person department responsible for everything from support tickets to server strategy. With an outdated CRM system at the centre of operations and an ageing on-prem server running insecure, end-of-life software, the business was operating on what David called "a single point of failure."

The key risks and issues they faced included:

  • Daily system outages affecting every depot
  • Unencrypted network traffic and shared logins ("LW User")
  • Ageing hardware and no redundancy plan
  • Backups stored on a USB stick carried home nightly - unencrypted
  • Zero audit trails and high risk of ransomware

Downtime was costing the business significant sums, and any breach could have had devastating financial consequences.

Our approach

We didn't start with servers - we started with people. We ran a gap analysis from the ground up: visiting each depot, speaking with staff, listening to frustrations, and mapping both the human and technical pain points.

Step 1: Deep discovery

We met every team, from depot engineers to leadership, to understand the lived reality behind the systems.

Step 2: Infrastructure and security overhaul

  • Replaced all network hardware with Ubiquiti Unifi for full visibility and control
  • Implemented secure Microsoft 365 with Intune, MFA, and BitLocker
  • Removed local admin rights and standardised logins across sites
  • Built a 3-2-1 immutable backup solution (local + cloud redundancy)
  • Deployed VPN with Microsoft authentication for secure remote access

Step 3: Strategic partnership

We negotiated directly with their third-party CRM supplier — reducing server upgrade costs by over £12,000 and forcing security improvements.

The results

Metric
Before A4S
After A4S
Uptime
Frequent daily outages
99.9 % stability across depots
Data Security
Unencrypted, no MFA
Full encryption + MFA + admin control
Backups
Manual USB process
Automated 3-2-1 immutable backups
Support Model
One engineer
Full MSP with Fractional CTO oversight
Cyber Insurance
Uninsurable
Policy approved and active

Key highlights

  • Significant reduction in downtime across all depots
  • Enabled business continuity with redundancy and backup resilience
  • Delivered measurable savings through supplier accountability
  • Supported expansion with scalable, repeatable IT framework

We now provide ongoing managed services and fractional CTO leadership to the business. The partnership is close, personal, and built on trust.

Our values in action

Human-centred

We listened first - not just to leadership, but to the people on the ground.

Curiosity and care

We learned their legacy systems inside out to protect them better than ever.

Trust through action

We showed up at 8 p.m. on Sundays when systems went down - because that's what partners do.

Get in touch today

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