Modernizing a Multi-Location Organization: Coast Claims Services
When Coast Claims Services outgrew their on-premises infrastructure, the gaps became hard to ignore. With staff spread across 16 British Columbia locations and a growing need for remote work, their central on-premises servers in Victoria began creating performance gaps, VPN dependence, and operational risk that disrupted day-to-day operations.
Daxtech was brought in to stabilize the company’s IT environment and simplify day-to-day technology support.
About Coast Claims Insurance
Coast Claims Services Ltd is a Canadian insurance claims adjusting firm operating across 16 locations throughout British Columbia. Their teams depend on secure, reliable access to case files, documentation, and collaboration tools to deliver timely and accurate claims services to insurers and policyholders.
As the organization grew, Coast Claims Services faced increasing challenges managing IT infrastructure that was centrally hosted on servers located in Victoria, BC. The existing server environment was unable to keep pace with the company’s rapid growth and expanding multi-office landscape, introducing operational risk, inconsistent performance for remote offices, and increasing overhead associated with maintaining and supporting a physical server infrastructure.
To support continued growth while improving resiliency, security, and cost efficiency, Coast Claims Services partnered with Daxtech IT Solutions to modernize their IT environment and transition to a cloud-first operating model.
The Challenge
Coast Claims Services required an IT strategy that could support a geographically distributed workforce while reducing infrastructure complexity and cost. Key challenges included:
Dependence on physical servers
User authentication, file access, and workstation workflows relied on in-house servers in Victoria, creating a single point of failure.
File access limitations across locations
Shared file access between offices depended on server connectivity and VPN performance, impacting collaboration and productivity.
Heavy reliance on VPN connectivity
All 16 locations, and remote workers, required site-to-site and client VPN connections to access centralized resources.
High networking equipment costs per site
Firewalls, VPN appliances, and supporting hardware were required at each office to maintain secure access.
Limited scalability
Adding new users, opening offices, or supporting remote staff required additional hardware and manual configuration.
Inconsistent endpoint management
Over 100 workstations were managed inconsistently, increasing support overhead and security risk.
The Solution
Daxtech migrated all 140+ Coast Claims staff to Microsoft Entra ID and Intune, establishing centralized identity management, zero-trust authentication, and standardized endpoint control across all 16 locations.
SharePoint Online replaced on-premises file servers, giving every office and remote worker secure, cloud-based access to the files and collaboration tools they need.
The shift to Microsoft 365 cloud services eliminated persistent VPN reliance, removed dependency on Victoria-based physical infrastructure, and simplified branch office networking in a way that meaningfully reduced both capital and operational costs.
The entire migration was carried out in phases, keeping disruption low and ensuring staff across all locations were supported through the transition.
The Impact on Operations
This engagement represents a shift from a traditional, server and network-centric IT model to a modern, identity and cloud driven environment.
By partnering with Daxtech IT Solutions, Coast Claims Services achieved:
Improved Reliability and Business Continuity
Core services, identity, and file access are no longer dependent on a single on premise server environment.
Modern, Secure File Access Across All Locations
SharePoint Online provides consistent, secure access to files for all offices and remote workers.
Reduced Networking and Infrastructure Costs
With no on premise server requirement and minimal VPN usage, networking equipment costs at each location were significantly reduced. This is expected to save approximately $75,000 over the 5-year network gear lifespan.
Simplified IT Operations
Centralized cloud-based management of identities, devices, and files reduced administrative overhead. Elimination of on-premise servers saving approximately $50,000 in hardware, licensing, and labour costs every 5 years.
Enhanced Security Posture
Identity driven access, managed endpoints, and controlled SharePoint permissions reduced risk and improved compliance. Added remote wipe capability for lost or stolen devices and mandatory multi-factor authentication with password policies.
Scalable Platform for Continued Growth
New users, devices, departments, and locations can be added quickly without additional infrastructure investment.
Reduced IT Management Costs
Simplified network administration, removal of on-premise servers, and Microsoft 365 streamlined and automated user setup result in lower IT support costs and fewer HelpDesk calls.
Conclusion
This modernization initiative delivered an immediate step-change in security, resiliency, and cost efficiency, with value continuing through ongoing management and support. As Coast Claims’ trusted IT partner, Daxtech IT Solutions helped ensure the environment remains secure, stable, and aligned to business needs as the organization grows across locations and supports a mobile workforce.
