Case study · Chartered Accountants

Freed from an MSP’s hosting and billed for what actually runs.

Berringers were stuck on their old provider’s overpriced private servers, quoted a small fortune to rebuild the same dated setup. WikiTech moved the practice to auto-scaling Azure Virtual Desktop instead, and the bills tell the story.

IndustryChartered Accountants
Established1933
LocationBromley, Kent
ServicesManaged IT · Azure · Development
2 → autofixed RDS hosts replaced by session hosts that scale on demand
1 reservedinstance runs 24/7; extra hosts spin up pay-as-you-go
Duo → £0third-party MFA licensing eliminated, Microsoft MFA instead
Fasterthe only change users noticed on migration day
The challenge

Locked into hosting that suited the provider, not the practice.

Berringers LLP is a chartered accountancy practice that has served clients since 1933. Like a lot of professional firms, their IT had ended up wherever their provider found it most profitable to put it: a Remote Desktop Services environment on the MSP’s own private hosted servers, billed handsomely every month.

The environment itself was struggling. Two RDS hosts carried the whole practice, seriously short on memory and CPU, and it showed in the daily experience. When Berringers asked about fixing it, the answer was a huge quote for a like-for-like rebuild on a newer version of Windows Server: the same architecture, the same private hosting, the same constraints, at significant expense.

Alternatives like Microsoft Azure never made it into the conversation, because public cloud does not benefit an MSP whose margin lives in its own hosting. Berringers were being steered into what the provider wanted to sell, not what was best for the practice. Even security followed the pattern: Duo licences were mandated to protect RDS logins, another recurring cost for something Microsoft licensing already includes.

And the account management summed it up. When the phone rang, it was to sell something.

Overpaying for private hosted servers

A legacy Remote Desktop Services setup on the old MSP’s private hosting, priced well above what the same workload costs in the public cloud.

Resource-starved infrastructure

Just two RDS hosts with a serious shortage of memory and CPU. Slow at the best of times, worse under load, with no room to grow.

A huge quote to stand still

The proposed fix was a like-for-like RDS rebuild on a newer Windows Server: a big invoice for the same architecture and the same limitations.

Azure was never on the table

The old MSP would not engage with alternatives like Microsoft Azure because it did not benefit their bottom line. Berringers were steered toward what suited the provider, not the practice.

Paying extra just to be secure

Duo licences were mandated to protect the RDS environment: another recurring per-user cost for something modern Microsoft licensing includes.

Account management that only sold

Calls from the old account manager had one purpose: selling something. Nobody was asking how the practice actually worked or where it was going.

The journey

Step by step transformation.

The same pattern as our other cloud rescues: take over cleanly, migrate to infrastructure that fits, then keep improving it.

1

A seamless switch, then a flawless Azure migration

Out of the private hosting, onto Azure Virtual Desktop, without a lost working day

WikiTech took over from the outgoing MSP with the same structured handover we run on every switch: environment audited, documentation captured, and the transition managed directly with the old provider so Berringers did not have to referee it.

The infrastructure fix was the move the old MSP refused to discuss: Microsoft Azure. WikiTech designed and deployed a properly configured Azure Virtual Desktop environment to replace the two starved RDS hosts, and ran the migration so cleanly that users noticed exactly one difference: how much faster the new desktops are, and that they can open a browser and work from anywhere.

  • Structured MSP handover: WikiTech dealt with the outgoing provider directly
  • Migrated from a 2-host private RDS to Azure Virtual Desktop
  • Flawless cutover: no disruption to the working practice
  • Noticeably faster desktops, accessible from any browser, anywhere
2

An Azure design that only bills for what runs

Reserved where it saves money, pay-as-you-go where it doesn’t

A cloud migration done lazily just moves the overspend somewhere new. WikiTech designed the AVD estate around how the practice actually works: one session host runs 24/7 as a reserved instance, bought at reserved-instance pricing precisely because it is always on. The remaining hosts spin up automatically on pay-as-you-go billing when demand needs them, and switch off when it does not.

The result is capacity that grows with the firm automatically. As Berringers expand, more session hosts spin up as needed; nobody has to raise a project, wait for a quote, or buy hardware. And because idle hosts cost nothing, the monthly hosting bills dropped dramatically compared with the old fixed private hosting.

  • One 24/7 session host on cost-saving reserved-instance pricing
  • Additional hosts auto-scale on pay-as-you-go: on when needed, off when not
  • Capacity expands automatically as the practice grows
  • Dramatically lower monthly hosting bills than the private RDS setup
3

Security simplified, licensing bill shrunk

Microsoft MFA replacing a paid third-party bolt-on

The old environment needed Duo, a separately licensed product the previous MSP required to protect RDS logins. The new environment does not: Azure Virtual Desktop is protected by Microsoft’s own multi-factor authentication, part of the Microsoft licensing Berringers already own.

Client financial data now sits behind modern, centrally managed Microsoft security, and one more line item disappeared from the monthly bill.

  • Duo licensing cancelled: no more paying extra for MFA
  • Microsoft MFA protecting every AVD sign-in
  • Security managed centrally alongside the rest of the Microsoft estate
The billing model

From paying 24/7 for starved servers to paying for what runs.

The saving is not a discount. It is a different model: reserved pricing where something genuinely runs around the clock, pay-as-you-go everywhere else.

Before: private hosted RDS

Fixed + extras
billed in full, every month, regardless of use
Private hosted RDS, fixed costBilled 24/7 regardless of use
2 session hostsUnder-resourced, no headroom
GrowthA new quote and a big project
MFADuo, licensed per user, extra
Upgrade pathExpensive like-for-like RDS rebuild

Now: Azure Virtual Desktop

Usage-based
reserved instance + pay-as-you-go burst
1 reserved instance, 24/7Reserved pricing because it is always on
Additional hostsPay-as-you-go, auto-scale on demand
GrowthAutomatic: new hosts spin up as needed
MFAIncluded in Microsoft licensing
Upgrade pathContinuous: it is Azure

Dramatically lower monthly hosting bills, on infrastructure that scales itself.

The practice pays reserved-instance rates for the one host that runs 24/7 and pay-as-you-go for the rest, so quiet periods cost less by design. Growth no longer needs a quote: new session hosts spin up automatically when the firm needs them.

Auto-scale
Beyond the migration

An account manager who talks business, not products.

The clearest difference Berringers describe is not technical. Under the old MSP, account management meant sales calls. WikiTech’s account manager calls to talk about the business: what is in the pipeline, where the practice is heading, and which technology genuinely helps, working as a business partner rather than a supplier.

That conversation is where the next project came from. WikiTech are developing a client portal to give Berringers an edge: improving how the practice interacts with its clients while cutting the routine requests for data and detail updates that currently arrive by email and eat staff time. All of it handled inside the portal instead.

Account management that talks business

Calls from WikiTech are about the practice: what is in the pipeline, where the pressure is, and what technology can do about it. A business partner, not a renewals desk.

Client portal in development

WikiTech are building Berringers a client portal to sharpen how the practice interacts with its clients: document exchange, data requests, and detail updates handled in one place instead of over email back-and-forth.

Productivity as the point

Every request the portal absorbs is time back for the team: fewer chasing emails, fewer manual updates, more fee-earning work.

“
WikiTech look after the systems our practice depends on, from Microsoft 365 to the security around client data. Issues are picked up quickly, and busy periods just run.
Berringers LLPChartered Accountants & Business Advisors, Bromley
Results

What changed, in practice.

Dramaticreduction in monthly hosting bills vs the private RDS setup
Auto-scalingsession hosts replacing two starved, fixed servers
£0spent on third-party MFA licensing since the move
1 thingusers noticed during migration: everything got faster
Managed IT SupportMicrosoft 365 & AzureAzure Virtual DesktopSecurity & MFAClient Portal DevelopmentTechnology Strategy
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