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IT & Microsoft cloud for manufacturing
Keep the line running: legacy app modernisation, uptime, security and cost control for manufacturers.
Manufacturing
In manufacturing, downtime isn't an IT inconvenience, it's stopped lines, idle staff and missed despatch slots, and the systems most likely to cause it are often the oldest ones on site.
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. Meanwhile ransomware crews have learned that a manufacturer with a stopped line will pay quickly, and increasingly it's the customer's purchasing team, not a regulator, forcing the pace, requiring suppliers to hold ISO 27001 or Cyber Essentials before a contract is renewed. Stretch a small internal IT team across several sites and shift patterns, and keeping IT and OT both running and defensible becomes the real job.
What we do for manufacturing
Questions we hear a lot
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, 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. Maintenance and patching are scheduled around your shifts and planned-downtime windows so work happens when the line is already idle, not in the middle of production.
Our customers are asking for ISO 27001 or Cyber Essentials before they'll renew. Can you help?
Yes. Supply-chain security requirements are one of the most common reasons manufacturers come to us. We get you Cyber Essentials or Cyber Essentials Plus certified and put in place the technical controls, access management, monitoring, backup, asset and patch discipline, that underpin an ISO 27001 information security management system, so you can evidence it when a customer audits you.
Can you secure the shop floor without disturbing our production systems?
That's the point of network segmentation. Rather than forcing changes onto sensitive OT and machine-control systems, we isolate them behind controlled boundaries, monitor the traffic in and out, and keep the office estate patched and defended separately, so a threat can't move freely between the two and the production process is left undisturbed.
Ready to talk about your manufacturing IT?
Every engagement starts with a free assessment. No pressure, no cost, just a clear view of what's possible.