Every solicitor. Every device. One secure desktop.

Challenges

When this growing law firm approached Extranet Systems, solicitors needed to work from everywhere. Chambers, court, home, client sites, and on whatever device was available when a matter ran late. But every device that touched the firm’s systems was another endpoint to secure, another machine to patch, and another way for confidential client data to leave the building.

Traditional laptops meant local copies of sensitive documents, complex VPN setups, and a security headache that grew with every new hire. The risks were clear:

• Confidential client data stored locally on every solicitor's device with no central control
• Complex VPN setups delivering slow, unreliable performance over poor connections
• Every new device adding to an endpoint management overhead that scaled with headcount
• Lost or stolen devices representing a direct confidential data breach risk

Our Approach

Our first priority was understanding how solicitors actually worked before designing anything. Before we specified a single component, we mapped every working pattern across the firm, from in-office to remote, from firm devices to personal ones, and every performance and security requirement that a legal practice handling confidential client matters demands.

What became clear was that the solution was not to secure more endpoints. It was to remove the endpoint from the equation entirely. A fully virtualised desktop environment where nothing lives on the device and everything lives in the data centre. Solicitors get the same fast, full Windows experience from any device, anywhere, without any confidential data ever leaving the firm’s environment.

Strategy and Execution

We worked in focused phases with clear deliverables at each stage. Solicitors could see working desktops from the earliest weeks. Nothing was deployed without a mapped security or operational requirement behind it.

Phase 1, Environment assessment and virtualisation architecture design

We mapped every application, every working pattern, and every security requirement across the firm, and designed a fully virtualised desktop environment hosted securely in the data centre with the performance and resilience a legal practice demands.

Phase 2, Virtual desktop deployment and firm-wide rollout

Every solicitor's desktop, applications, documents, and settings were migrated into the virtualised environment. Staff were transitioned with no disruption to active matters. New starters were onboarded with a login rather than a laptop build, productive from day one without any local software installation required.

Phase 3, Device management and ongoing optimisation

The environment was configured for consistent performance whether solicitors connected on fibre in the office or a basic connection at home. Device replacement was reduced to minutes. Endpoint management overhead dropped dramatically across the entire firm.

Outcomes

The impact was felt immediately across the firm. Solicitors who had previously navigated VPNs, slow remote connections, and device management headaches now logged in from anywhere and got the same fast, full desktop experience every time. The security burden that had grown with every new hire stopped growing the day the environment went live.

Key outcomes from the engagement:

• Zero confidential client data stored on any device, ever
• Every solicitor accessing a full Windows desktop from any device, anywhere
• New starters productive on day one with no laptop builds or software installs
• Lost or stolen devices presenting zero data breach risk
• Endpoint management overhead reduced dramatically across the firm