The starting point
Whitcombe & Rye had grown steadily over fifteen years without ever properly revisiting their IT. Case files, document assembly and email all ran off a single physical server, installed when the firm had a third of its current headcount and never replaced. It sat in what used to be a stationery cupboard, and everyone in the practice quietly knew it was living on borrowed time.
Backups ran every night, but nobody had tested a full restore in years. There was no meaningful disaster recovery plan, no remote access worth the name, and a growing conveyancing team who needed to work from home or client sites at least some of the week. The risk wasn't hypothetical — it was a question of when the server would fail, not if.
Understanding before building
We spent time with the partners and the practice manager before proposing anything, mapping how each department actually worked — conveyancing, private client, litigation — which matters needed conflict walls, where documents and precedents lived, and what the firm's regulatory and insurance obligations actually required of a backup and disaster recovery setup.
That conversation shaped the size of the new environment, the access structure by department and fee earner, and — critically — the order in which we could safely retire the old server without anyone losing a single file.
What we built
We deployed a managed Remote Desktop Services (RDS) environment with FSLogix profile containers, so every fee earner's profile, Outlook cache and application settings follow them to any session host instantly. On top of that, we rebuilt the firm's backup and disaster recovery properly — offsite, encrypted, and with restores tested as a matter of routine rather than assumed to work.
Managed RDS platform
One centrally managed environment replacing a single physical server, accessible securely from the office, from home, or from a client site.
FSLogix profiles
Fast, consistent logins with roaming profiles — no more waiting on a single ageing machine to keep up with the whole firm.
Case software, handled
Osprey Approach, InfoTrack and Land Registry Business e-Services installed, configured and data-migrated by us, alongside Microsoft 365.
Backups you can trust
Offsite, encrypted backups with restores tested on a schedule — not assumed to work until the day they're needed.
The migration — a single weekend
There was no room for a phased, weeks-long cutover here: the old server was the risk, so the priority was getting off it cleanly and quickly. We planned the entire migration — data, case files, applications and user profiles — into a single weekend, with the old server decommissioned once the new environment was confirmed and verified.
Discovery & planning
Departments, matter types, fee earners and data locations mapped, alongside the firm's backup and DR obligations.
Build
New RDS environment deployed and configured with FSLogix, sized for the firm today with headroom for the growing conveyancing team.
Data migration & server retirement
Case files, precedents and email migrated across a single weekend; the old office server verified clean and decommissioned.
Cutover & support
Staff logged in on Monday morning to a faster, properly backed-up environment. We stayed close through the first weeks and manage it ongoing.
The result
Whitcombe & Rye no longer have a single ageing machine standing between the firm and a very bad day. Fee earners can work securely from home or a client site, backups are tested rather than assumed, and the conversation about "what happens if that server finally dies" simply doesn't come up anymore — because there isn't one to worry about.