A1 Technologies lands three-year hummgroup Microsoft deal

A1 Technologies has signed a three-year group-wide agreement with hummgroup, becoming the financial services group's Microsoft and Azure partner.

The agreement covers Microsoft 365 licensing, Azure subscriptions, managed IT services and Azure professional services across hummgroup. Selected through a competitive procurement process, A1 Technologies will replace a previous multi-supplier arrangement.

The appointment builds on earlier work for flexicommercial, part of hummgroup. Before securing the wider group role, A1 Technologies had already delivered Azure migration, cost optimisation and managed services for that business unit.

Under the new arrangement, A1 Technologies will manage hummgroup's Microsoft relationship across licensing, cloud infrastructure, support services and engineering. The move brings those areas under one supplier after they were previously split across separate providers.

Results from the earlier flexicommercial project helped support the case for the wider mandate. A1 Technologies said the work delivered a 10% reduction in Azure costs and about $200,000 in Microsoft SQL licensing savings.

Brad Rudduck, General Manager, Technology, flexicommercial hummgroup, said the earlier project helped drive the broader consolidation.

"A1 Technologies delivered our flexicommercial migration to plan and took the time to understand both our environment and how we work day to day. When we looked at bringing our Microsoft licensing, Azure subscriptions and engineering together, it made sense to consolidate them with a partner we already trusted rather than spread the work across several suppliers. It gives us a single view of cost and performance, and one team accountable for the environment as we plan our next stage," Rudduck said.

Earlier work

The relationship began with a narrower brief focused on Azure improvements and cost reviews at flexicommercial. That initial phase also identified changes aligned with Microsoft's Well-Architected Framework, according to A1 Technologies.

A later stage involved moving data centre assets to Azure through Microsoft's Azure Migration and Modernisation programme, now part of Azure Accelerate. A1 Technologies said it used Microsoft's Azure Migrate tools to assess workloads and move them in stages to reduce migration risk.

The company also introduced Bicep infrastructure-as-code during the project to standardise the environment and improve repeatability and governance.

Alongside the infrastructure work, A1 Technologies reviewed hummgroup's licensing position and rightsized Microsoft SQL licensing, producing savings of about $200,000, according to the company.

Clint Shiels, Technical Director, A1 Technologies, said the work grew from a single project into a broader partnership.

"Our partnership with hummgroup and the flexicommercial team has developed into a great working partnership, with each team bringing its own strengths and everyone focused on delivering a secure and optimised Microsoft environment," Shiels said.

Single supplier

The deal reflects a wider pattern among financial services firms seeking to reduce the number of suppliers involved in cloud and software management. Bringing licensing, subscriptions, support and engineering under one contract can simplify commercial oversight and clarify accountability for spending and service delivery.

For hummgroup, the arrangement means one provider will oversee its Microsoft environment for the next three years, including day-to-day managed IT services as well as Azure engineering, optimisation and support.

A1 Technologies also pointed to Microsoft-backed migration funding as an important part of the earlier flexicommercial project. Some businesses delay cloud migration because they assume they must bear the full upfront cost, even when funding support may be available for eligible customers, the company said.

Rob Rattray, Director, A1 Technologies, said the funding can change the economics of a migration project for mid-market organisations.

"A lot of mid-market organisations don't realise Microsoft has funding available to help eligible businesses move to Azure. That can fundamentally change the economics of a migration project. We help customers understand what's available, secure that funding where they're eligible, and deliver an Azure environment that supports them long after the migration is complete," Rattray said.

The flexicommercial migration also contributed to audited customer work used in A1 Technologies' Microsoft Infrastructure and Database Migration to Azure specialisation. According to the company, that specialisation requires independent audit of delivered work across migration, database modernisation, governance and cloud architecture.

A1 Technologies operates as a Microsoft consultancy and managed IT services provider in Australia and New Zealand. Its services include technology strategy, security, governance and risk, Microsoft 365, Azure infrastructure, Power Platform and managed IT services.