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Mansell Financial Services moves off a hosted cloud desktop to fast, secure local computers — enterprise-grade IT for a five-person Barossa firm, kept affordable

Otaris re-architected a five-person Barossa Valley advice firm's IT around where the practice is today — moving off a lagging hosted remote desktop onto fast managed local computers, bringing every device under Microsoft Intune, replacing old antivirus with ThreatLocker for Essential Eight, and removing a recurring monthly server cost.

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Mansell Financial Services moves off a hosted cloud desktop to fast, secure local computers — enterprise-grade IT for a five-person Barossa firm, kept affordable — Otaris Financial Planning & Advice (Authorised Representative of AMP / Akumin) case study
Industry
Financial Planning & Advice (Authorised Representative of AMP / Akumin)
Team size
5 users
Location
Nuriootpa, SA (Barossa Valley — regional South Australia)
Plan
Fortress
Platform
Microsoft 365 + Intune + ThreatLocker + Microsoft Copilot + Fortinet + 4G failover
Compliance
Essential Eight

Meet the client

Mansell Financial Services is a financial planning firm based in Nuriootpa, in the heart of the Barossa Valley. An Authorised Representative of AMP / Akumin Financial Planning, the practice guides clients through retirement, superannuation, wealth and family financial planning — the kind of long-term, trusted advice that depends on getting the details right. It's a small, focused team of five, serving a regional community where dependable technology and responsive support can't be taken for granted. Mansell wanted IT that performed like a larger firm's — secure, modern and well-supported — without carrying a larger firm's cost.

What they were up against

External

Mansell had been running on a remote desktop server — in effect, each user's Windows desktop hosted in a remote data centre. When it was first set up, that was a genuine step forward: it let the team work anywhere, securely. But technology moves on, and the hosted model had started to show its limits. Because the desktop ran in a remote data centre, performance could lag — particularly noticeable in a regional location where the internet connection isn't always perfect. Everything depended on a live, healthy connection to the data centre, so when the link was slow or patchy, the working day felt it. The practice was also still on traditional antivirus, which no longer meets modern cybersecurity standards like Essential Eight.

Internal

Two things weighed on the practice. First, the day-to-day friction of a system that could feel sluggish — frustrating for a team that just needs to get on with client work. Second, a clear desire to be more efficient with IT spend: paying every month for remote server compute was a cost the business wanted to put to better use. As a small firm, Mansell also faced the same cyber threats as far larger organisations, and wanted the confidence that someone was actively managing that risk.

A small business shouldn't have to choose between enterprise-grade technology and an affordable IT bill. Five users deserve the same calibre of security, modern tools and responsive support that a large company enjoys — delivered in a way that fits a small practice's budget and a regional location.

How we stepped in

Otaris saw an opportunity to give Mansell a genuinely high-end, enterprise-grade solution scaled and priced for a five-person business. The goal was to lift performance, cut unnecessary cost, close the cybersecurity gaps, and put modern tools in the team's hands — all while keeping it affordable and well-supported from a distance. With deep experience modernising Australian businesses, Microsoft Intune and ThreatLocker at the core of how Otaris manages and secures endpoints, and a remote support capability built for exactly this kind of regional client, Otaris was well placed to re-architect Mansell's IT around where the practice is today rather than where it was when the old solution was first built.

What we delivered

  1. Full IT review and a move from hosted desktop to managed local computers

    Review the whole environment and shift the team off the remote desktop server onto local computers running their Windows workloads and applications directly. The result is far faster day-to-day performance, with the heavy lifting done on the machine in front of the user rather than across a connection to a data centre.

  2. Microsoft Intune as the security pillar

    Bring every local computer under Microsoft Intune, so Otaris centrally manages and secures each machine — giving a five-user firm the same standard of device and security management a large enterprise relies on.

  3. File migration to Microsoft Teams and full collaboration

    Migrate files off the remote cloud server into Microsoft Teams. Beyond storage, this unlocks the full collaboration layer: document sharing, group chat, calls and video meetings between staff, and the ability to send meeting invites out to clients.

  4. ThreatLocker — modern, compliant protection

    Replace traditional antivirus with ThreatLocker application whitelisting, moving Mansell onto protection that meets contemporary cybersecurity standards like Essential Eight.

  5. Offline-capable working

    With workloads running locally and Outlook and Microsoft Teams syncing in the background, the team can keep working even when the internet is offline or imperfect. A slow or patchy connection no longer interrupts access to programs — the syncing simply catches up in the background.

  6. Microsoft Copilot — AI in daily work

    Introduce Microsoft Copilot so the team can transcribe meetings and turn discussions into actionable items quickly, putting practical AI into everyday workflows.

  7. Network and connectivity upgrade

    Upgrade the office network with a Fortinet security appliance and 4G backup to keep the practice online if the primary connection drops, and review the internet service to ensure Mansell is on the latest NBN technology available at the office.

  8. Remote support built for a regional client

    Make full use of Otaris's remote support agent so that, with the user's permission, the team can connect and resolve any issue on a computer directly — fast, hands-on help without anyone needing to be on site.

The cost of inaction

Mansell's work is built on trust and on getting things right for clients planning their retirement and their families' futures. Left on the old hosted model, the practice would have kept paying every month for remote compute while living with performance that dipped whenever the regional connection wavered — a steady drag on a small team's productivity. Staying on traditional antivirus would have left a financial-advice firm, which holds exactly the kind of data attackers target, carrying more cyber risk than a small business should. And without a partner actively managing security and support, a single incident could have taken a five-person practice offline at real cost. The gaps were manageable individually; together they were holding a capable small firm below the standard of technology it could otherwise enjoy.

Before and after

Before
After
  • Windows desktops hosted on a remote desktop server in a data centre
    Workloads run on managed local computers — far faster day-to-day performance
  • Performance lagged, especially on imperfect regional internet
    Applications run locally — a slow or patchy connection no longer interrupts work
  • Everything dependent on a live connection to the data centre
    Outlook and Teams sync in the background — staff can keep working offline
  • Paying monthly for remote server compute
    Remote-server compute cost removed — a direct monthly saving
  • Traditional, non-compliant antivirus
    ThreatLocker application whitelisting — aligned to Essential Eight
  • Device security not centrally managed to enterprise standard
    Every endpoint managed and secured through Microsoft Intune
  • Files on the remote cloud server; limited collaboration
    Files in Microsoft Teams — document sharing, group chat, calls, video meetings, client invites
  • No AI tooling
    Microsoft Copilot — meeting transcription and fast, actionable outputs
  • Basic office network, no failover
    Fortinet security appliance with 4G backup; internet reviewed for latest NBN
  • Incidents a recurring distraction
    Careful, particular setup — incidents reduced to almost zero

Where they are now

Since the change, Mansell's team accesses its systems far more quickly, with local compute and background syncing replacing the lag of a remote desktop. They now have the full benefit of Microsoft Teams — files, document sharing, calls, video meetings, group chat and client meeting invites — plus Microsoft Copilot to transcribe meetings and make the outcomes immediately actionable. The practice has shed the recurring monthly cost of a remote compute server, putting that spend to better use. And because the solution was set up with real care and precision, the number of incidents the practice experiences has fallen to almost zero.

This is a clear example of what Otaris does best for smaller businesses: delivering a genuinely high-end, enterprise-grade solution to a five-user practice while keeping it affordable — protecting them against the same cyber threats larger organisations face, and giving them access to the technology and the support that bigger companies enjoy. For a regional firm, that includes responsive remote support that resolves issues on the spot. The IT environment is no longer a cost centre that occasionally slows the day down; it's a fast, secure, modern foundation that lets the team focus on advising their clients.