Peel Region enhances productivity, collaboration, and security using Microsoft 365 and Security solutions

Peel Region consists of the cities of Brampton and Mississauga and the town of Caledon in Canada. It is home to more than 1.5 million residents and 175,000 businesses and employs more than 6,700 employees to support the community with public services. Many of its employees spend time outside the office delivering these services, but disconnected information and tools limit communication and productivity. Peel Region saw an opportunity to improve the experience for its employees and residents by modernizing its information technology in the cloud.

Peel Region adopted a suite of Microsoft solutions, including Microsoft 365, to connect its remote and in-person employees, facilitate collaboration, and simplify security management. As a result, this increased productivity and improved service delivery for residents.

Connecting and unifying disparate technology systems

Peel Region provides paramedic services, health programs, long-term care and services for seniors, childcare support, garbage collection and recycling, water and water treatment, road maintenance, financial help, and housing and shelter for its residents. The region is growing steadily and has a diverse population of more than 90 distinct ethnic groups. To continue providing convenient access and reliable service, it wanted to modernize and connect its various tools and systems. “All our technologies and systems need to be communicating with each other,” says Gurpreet Dhaliwal, Enterprise Architect for Peel Region. However, the region’s local intranet was built on a third-party solution, and its disparate tools and services didn’t communicate well.

In 2015, Peel Region created a digital transformation plan to provide engaging and seamless digital experiences for employees. “Our goal was to rationalize our legacy technology and then migrate to a unified system to achieve our vision of anytime, anywhere, any-device access to information and services for all employees,” says Dhaliwal. The existing knowledge-sharing systems all required VPN access to simplify access management. Furthermore, instead of providing the same access to everyone, the IT team wanted to personalize access based on employees’ identities. From 2015 to 2017, the IT team tried many applications but found that most kept information isolated, didn’t work properly on mobile devices, and left teams fragmented. Therefore, it turned to Microsoft for help. “When it comes to the vision of employee productivity, we have been using Microsoft offerings for a long time,” says Dhaliwal. For example, employees were using Microsoft 365 for communication and work applications, and the IT team realized it could achieve many of its goals using this and other Microsoft offerings. 

In 2017, Peel Region began expanding its use of Microsoft technology for data storage, processing, and security. It also began moving from desktops to mobile devices, including Microsoft Surface Pro devices. The IT team recognized the power of these technologies early, so it was prepared when the need for remote collaboration and connectivity rapidly grew. “As we shifted to a remote working environment, we were nicely positioned because we had proactively begun the digital transformation,” says Dhaliwal. Peel Region’s tools were running on Microsoft solutions, which meant employees could connect remotely and access all the information that they needed.

Increasing employee collaboration and productivity

Peel Region makes technology investments with the goal of improving employee efficiency and providing exceptional service to residents. “Agility is the common currency that allows us to impact both our users and the customers that we serve,” says Dhaliwal. The implementation of Microsoft Teams and Microsoft 365 established a highly connected environment in the cloud, which ultimately resulted in an exceptional hybrid work experience for employees. “I’ve seen firsthand the benefits of using Microsoft technology,” says Peter Parsan, Chief Information Officer for Peel Region. “It has increased employee efficiency with a seamless and user-friendly system, which allows our employees to focus on their daily interactions with their colleagues and clients.” 

Peel Region has now consolidated all its productivity tools and standardized mobile device management on Microsoft 365. Employees can now access everything they need to be empowered in their jobs using Microsoft technology. Microsoft Azure and Microsoft Power BI are also used to break down barriers to knowledge sharing and improve employee productivity.

Protecting residents’ privacy and data

Peel Region also continues to prioritize its residents’ privacy and the security of their sensitive data by adopting high standards of security and compliance. The IT team has deployed nearly every capability in the mobile security offerings from Microsoft, using Microsoft Defender for threat prevention and response capabilities. The IT team has also standardized its security for mobile devices using Microsoft technology, such as a Zero Trust strategy and Microsoft Entra ID P2 to manage identities and access across devices. As a result, Peel Region detected 11 unsuccessful system breaches between 2022 and 2023. During the same period, it stopped 4,600 emails with viruses and 5,400 emails with malicious URLs.

Furthermore, the IT team uses the AI-enriched security information and event management capabilities of Microsoft Sentinel for clear visibility into its IT infrastructure. It also migrates all existing records in storage to Microsoft SharePoint, along with new records from its previous records management system. With this digital transformation, Peel Region can use the latest technology without constantly shopping for it. “By using Microsoft technology, we’re on an evergreen technology stack where, two or three times a year, we get all the innovations applied and available to us,” says Dhaliwal. Instead of spending six to nine months adding every new feature, the region has access to them through Microsoft offerings.

Expanding cloud availability to inform decision-making

Peel Region’s transformation has made it more nimble, mobile, and efficient. And it is considering building a data lake to further improve the flow of information from storage to analytical tools. The IT team is also piloting citizen development, where residents have the access they need to develop small tools with the proper guardrails and controls in place.

Through its long-standing relationship with Microsoft and by adopting new technology, Peel Region has made its employees more productive and connected than ever. “The vision that Microsoft has of employee empowerment was very much in line with where we want to be,” says Dhaliwal.