Private School Rebuilds IT Infrastructure in the Cloud After Hurricane Helene

Quick Stats

• Industry: Education (Private K–12)
• Event: Facilities destroyed by Hurricane Helene (September 2024)
• Legacy System: On-premises physical servers and local file storage
• New System: Microsoft Azure Virtual Machines, SharePoint Online, Microsoft Intune
• Timeline: Full restoration within 24–48 hours
• Key Outcomes: Rapid recovery, continuity of education, modernization with cloud-based infrastructure, scalable future resiliency

Client Overview

A large private school in Florida serving hundreds of students and faculty. The school faced a total loss of IT infrastructure after Hurricane Helene destroyed its facilities, threatening to disrupt the academic year.



The Challenge

The hurricane destroyed the school’s physical IT infrastructure, including servers, data storage, and faculty/student devices. The loss left the school without access to files, applications, or communications systems, halting learning just after the start of the academic year.

The Solution

We initiated an emergency incident response plan and shifted the school’s IT environment to the cloud. Key steps included:

• Restoring backups of physical servers into Microsoft Azure as virtual machines
• Migrating file server data to SharePoint Online for anywhere-access and collaboration
• Redeploying and configuring hundreds of iPads and laptops with Microsoft Intune
• Establishing a secure and scalable cloud-based infrastructure to support resiliency

The Outcomes

• Rapid Recovery – Full IT restoration within 24–48 hours of the disaster
• Business Continuity – Students and faculty resumed the school year without prolonged interruption
• Modernization – Transitioned from vulnerable on-premises servers to resilient cloud services
• Scalability & Resiliency – Cloud-based systems now provide flexibility and disaster preparedness for the future

The Results

The school not only recovered from a devastating natural disaster but also transformed its IT strategy. By adopting cloud-based recovery with Microsoft Azure, Intune, and SharePoint Online, the institution gained resiliency, reduced downtime, and ensured continuity of education for its students.