Case Study: Limpopo Department of Agriculture achieves reduced IT administration and improved productivity with Office 365

Government Office Reduces Administration, Improves Productivity with Cloud Services

The Limpopo Department of Agriculture (LDA), a South African government agency with about 800 employees distributed across a large province, relied on Microsoft technologies for messaging, collaboration and productivity but struggled with limited IT staff, heavy administration (support, backups, disaster recovery) and the need for better real-time communication and remote access. Email was critical for widely dispersed staff, and LDA wanted to evaluate instant messaging and the next-generation Office without the overhead of an on-premises deployment.

Working with partner Inobits Consulting, LDA piloted Microsoft Office 365 ProPlus and Lync Online for about 450 users, using Click-to-Run streaming to install Office side-by-side with existing versions and avoid disruption. The cloud deployment enabled instant messaging, presence, conferencing and desktop sharing, cut server and admin burden, reduced travel through online meetings, sped up Office upgrades, and delivered a clear roadmap to move Exchange and SharePoint to the cloud while keeping employees up to date with minimal IT overhead.

Limpopo Department of Agriculture

Kgaogelo Mohlala

IT Director