“Once MPS explained the situation about Microsoft ending support for our current system, we felt migrating was a good way to invest in the business. And their support in making it all happen has been invaluable.”


Orbital Fabrications had a mix of computer hardware, running various operating systems and software. There was no consistency, and they found the teams, particularly those who work remotely, had issues accessing information they needed to best serve their customers.

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Since 1988, Orbital Fabrications has been offering specialised orbital welding and high-tech fabrication to a variety of clients within the semiconductor, pharmaceutical, aerospace, chemical and allied industries.

Within their purpose-built, technologically advanced facilities in St. Ives, Cambridgeshire, they house some of the nation’s best-equipped workshops including their cleanroom and machine shop. These premises allow them to offer services including orbital and manual welding, chemical cleaning and helium leak testing plus much more. Their skilled team also provides comprehensive on-site orbital TIG welding plus installation services.

With clients from all over the world, they serve various industries via their 58-strong team, which is occasionally supplemented with contractors.

Business development manager, Graham Scrivener, explains, “We are a very busy operation with a lot of customer and supplier interaction every day. We found that our current IT provision didn’t support the needs of our suppliers, customers or our team.” Orbital Fabrications worked with Microsoft Small Business Server, comprising Windows Server 2008R2, Exchange 2010 and SharePoint 2010. The team had varied desktop and laptop computers, some running Microsoft Windows 7 and various versions of Microsoft Office.

The business had a mix of computer hardware, running various operating systems and software. There was no consistency and they found the teams, particularly those who work remotely, had issues accessing information they needed to best serve their customers.

Graham added, “We knew we needed a more stable platform to underpin our IT and to help our team work more effectively.”

“We’ve worked with MPS for a number of years, first as our telephone systems provider and now as our outsourced IT provider,” Graham said. “When they advised us that Microsoft was stopping support for Windows 7, Server 2008, Exchange 2010 and SharePoint 2010, and how it would affect us, upgrading was a no-brainer. In fact, we saw the migration as an opportunity to standardise our IT provision and make it fit for the growth the business is experiencing and help us to further scale.”

To support Orbital Fabrications’ needs today and into the future, MPS recommended migrating to Microsoft Windows 10, which included a brand-new Windows domain to remove reliance on Small Business Server 2011 Active Directory Services.

The migration also included the upgrading or replacement of all Windows 7 computers with Windows 10. The introduction of Office 365 standardised all software for users. In addition, Microsoft Teams was implemented to improve collaboration.

The migration has eliminated the need for any on-premise solutions, such as Microsoft Exchange services. The upgrade also ensures that Orbital Fabrications has a compliant IT infrastructure – their data is safe and meets GDPR requirements.

The introduction of Microsoft Teams has been particularly beneficial. “From a sales perspective, we can keep in contact with customers and suppliers via video call,” Graham explains. “It has cut down on travel time, meaning we can get more done, but it’s not had an impact on how we serve our clients.”

To ensure continuity and the excellent customer service Orbital Fabrications customers are accustomed to, teams can now easily access key order information via email. This is facilitated by the email archiving feature which enables the team to retain most of their emails without the need for extensive storage.

With many of the team working remotely, on site at customer locations, the migration means Orbital Fabrications no longer needs to use third-party applications and VPNs to access emails and files, making the whole process much easier and efficient.

This ensures all team members are kept up to date and helps them improve efficiency by being able to access what they need via the cloud-based system.

“We feel this move has made everything easier and smoother for us. It’s all scalable and will grow with us,” added Graham. “Our support contract with MPS is fantastic. Anyone who has an issue can contact them directly, so it’s freed up a lot of my time by not having to support team members.”

MPS provided Orbital Fabrications with a detailed project plan. The migration happened over a weekend. “There was minimal disruption. We closed the office on a Friday afternoon. The following Monday, it was all up and running. It all worked like clockwork,” commented Graham. “Once MPS explained the situation about Microsoft ending support for our current system, we felt migrating was a good way to invest in the business. And their support in making it all happen has been invaluable.”

Summing up, Graham added, “I would definitely recommend working with MPS, and I already do! The reason I give them all our business is that they are one port of call. That makes it easy for us to manage our IT and phone systems. Plus, they are good at what they do. They wouldn’t have our business otherwise!”

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