From a full Microsoft 365 lockout to secure operations within hours, our latest case study explores how Bradley Potter delivered long-term security and infrastructure improvements, ensuring SAERI could operate safely and securely.

Overview

When the South Atlantic Environmental Research Institute (SAERI) was locked out of Microsoft 365 for two weeks, Falklands IT restored email access within hours. Beyond resolving the immediate crisis, Falklands IT identified critical hidden risks, strengthened security, and set SAERI on a path to a more resilient, future-proofed IT environment.

The Challenge

SAERI, a Falkland Islands–based research charity with multiple subsidiaries and government partners, relies heavily on secure and reliable IT systems to manage complex data and research projects. Following an IT incident, staff lost access to Microsoft 365, including email, authentication codes, and cloud files. Operations were severely disrupted, forcing the team to rely on personal email accounts and temporary workarounds.

The Solution

Bradley Potter, Senior Technical Consultant at Falklands IT, acted immediately to restore inbound and outbound email services, stabilising communications within two hours. He then worked closely with Microsoft and SAERI to regain full tenant access, identify the breach, and secure the environment.

Once access was restored, Bradley delivered a clear Root Cause Analysis and uncovered wider risks, including outdated systems, unsupported infrastructure, and configuration issues that could have caused future operational or security failures.

Alongside immediate remediation, he designed a long-term Microsoft 365 modernisation strategy to improve security, reliability and compliance, without disrupting staff.

Outcome & Impact

• Critical email services restored within hours
• Security breach identified, closed and documented
• Clear, jargon-free communication throughout the process
• Rollout of modern authentication and stronger security controls
• Ongoing migration from a legacy Exchange server to a fully cloud-based Microsoft 365 environment

Once complete, SAERI will operate on a secure, cloud-native email platform, with improved visibility, reduced risk and no reliance on unsupported systems.

SAERI praised Falklands IT for their technical expertise, stating:

"The support from Falklands IT during our Microsoft 365 lockout was outstanding. Bradley rapidly restored our email, identified hidden risks we weren’t aware of, and guided us toward a far more secure, future-proof setup. His clear communication throughout the process gave us total confidence that we were in safe hands."

Dr Paul Brickle, CEO, SAERI.

About Falklands IT

Falklands IT is your trusted on-island partner for all technology solutions and ongoing support. From IT upgrades and troubleshooting to managed services and complete network overhauls, no task is too big or small. With our team of experts just a call or click away, we ensure fast, reliable, and flexible IT support tailored to the Falkland Islands.