IT & Microsoft cloud for manufacturing
Keep the line running: legacy app modernisation, uptime, security and cost control for manufacturers.
Checked 4 October 2026. Built from the full sector page.
In short: Production and office networks separated properly, machine-attached PCs segmented rather than ripped out, and a recovery position you have actually tested. If a customer or insurer has asked for Cyber Essentials, do that first: it forces the same controls and produces evidence you can hand over.
What changes in this sector
Manufacturers live with a tension IT vendors rarely acknowledge: the operational technology on the shop floor, the PLCs, SCADA systems, machine controllers and their aging Windows front-ends, cannot simply be patched, rebooted or swapped on the same cadence as the office estate. Much of it runs mission-critical line-of-business software that is years past a supported operating system, tied to hardware nobody wants to touch, and validated against a production process you daren't disturb mid-shift.
What we would do
Start with the segmentation and the recovery position, in that order. Production networks and office networks need separating properly, and the question that decides the rest is what you could actually restore, and how quickly, if a line stopped tomorrow.
- If a customer or insurer has asked for Cyber Essentials, do that first: it forces the same controls and produces evidence you can hand over.
- If machine-attached PCs are the blocker, segment them rather than replacing them. Ripping out a working machine because its vendor never certified anything newer is rarely the cheapest route.
When we are not the answer: If your production environment is genuinely air-gapped, already segmented, and you have an internal team who patch and test restores on a schedule, we would be telling you things you know. Book nothing and spend the time on the plant.
What we do for manufacturing
- Modernise and migrate legacy line-of-business and machine-control front-ends onto a supported OS, even where the install media and source code are long gone
- Segment the network so a compromise in the office estate can't traverse into the OT/production environment, and vice versa
- Plan patching and maintenance around shift patterns and planned-downtime windows, not a vendor's convenience
- Layered security (Managed Firewall, EDR, XDR) tuned for a mixed IT and OT-adjacent estate, with 24/7 monitoring available
- Immutable, tested backups and a rehearsed recovery runbook so an incident means hours of lost production, not days
- Cyber Essentials and the technical groundwork for ISO 27001, so you keep the certifications your customers' supply-chain teams now demand
- Centrally managed devices across the shop floor, offices and multiple sites with Intune, one policy set everywhere
- Predictable Microsoft and Azure cost across a multi-site estate, with licences right-sized to who actually needs what
What the last 12 months looked like
Three questions people ask
Can you modernise a legacy manufacturing application without the install media?
Yes. Using EtherApps Forge we capture the application from its running state and repackage it for a modern, supported operating system, so a critical line-of-business app tied to an old server can move forward without the original media or source code.
How do you protect manufacturing systems from ransomware?
We layer Managed Firewall, endpoint detection and response (EDR) and extended detection and response (XDR) with 24/7 monitoring available, plus immutable, tested backups, so IT and OT-adjacent systems are both defended and recoverable.
Do you support manufacturers with multiple sites and shift patterns?
Yes. We manage devices, identity, networking and security centrally across every location, with one accountable team and consistent policy.
Ready to talk about your manufacturing IT?
A short call about how your IT works today and what your sector asks of it. We will tell you plainly where we would start.
ISO 27001 & ISO 9001 certified · 100% UK-based support
Prefer to talk now? Call us on +44 (0)1482 770583.