Case Study Cerba-Lancet Africa: Delivering a complex Microsoft 365 migration against an immovable regulatory deadline.
Migrating 1,400 Exchange mailboxes into an existing European tenant to meet EU GDPR compliance on time, on budget and across 500+ laboratories in 50+ countries.
Client Overview
Cerba-Lancet Africa is a joint venture between Cerba Healthcare, a Europe-based leader in clinical pathology, and Lancet Laboratories South Africa. The organisation operates more than 500 laboratories and 50 technical facilities, servicing customers across over 50 countries in Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
The Challenge
Following the appointment of a new Group IT Manager, Cerba-Lancet Africa needed to align its IT systems with those of Cerba Healthcare in Europe. A critical requirement was the migration of approximately 1,400 Exchange mailboxes to Microsoft Office 365 to meet EU regulatory and GDPR compliance.
The deadline for completion was the end of May 2021. Failure to meet this deadline would have resulted in Cerba-Lancet Africa remaining on legacy infrastructure for an additional year, at significant cost. The project was further complicated by legacy access constraints, regulatory requirements and the need to migrate into an existing European tenant rather than a new environment.
The Solution
Cerba-Lancet Africa selected VTG to deliver the migration based on a competitive proposal and proven experience in executing complex, time-critical projects. VTG designed a migration strategy that addressed both technical and compliance requirements, while remaining flexible enough to adapt to real-world constraints.
One of the most significant challenges was migrating endpoints already registered to another tenant. VTG overcame this by leveraging a hybrid migration endpoint and implementing custom DNS mechanisms to enable migration into the European tenant. This approach required deep t
Throughout the engagement, VTG worked closely with Cerba-Lancet Africa’s IT leadership, maintaining momentum and adapting to challenges as they arose. The team remained pragmatic rather than rigid, ensuring that obstacles were resolved quickly without compromising the delivery timeline.
“I’ve worked with Jonathan at every company I’ve worked at over the past 15 years, and he has never let me down. In such a critical situation, I knew there was nobody better-equipped for the job.”
“By using our extensive knowledge and skills and thinking outside the box, we were able to meet this very stringent deadline with no overruns or onerous clean-ups required after the fact.”
Cerba Lancet Africa
VTG successfully migrated all Exchange mailboxes to Microsoft Office 365 before the May 2021 deadline. This enabled Cerba-Lancet Africa to meet its regulatory obligations and avoid significant ongoing infrastructure costs.
The project was delivered on time and on budget, despite widespread expectations that the migration could not be completed within the available timeframe. The outcome reinforced VTG’s ability to deliver complex, high-risk migrations in regulated, mission-critical environments.
Impact Delivered
Mailboxes migrated
Laboratories supported
African Countries
Days past deadline
Need to align with EU or GDPR requirements?
Let's talk about how we can deliver compliant, cross-border Microsoft 365 environments that meet regulatory obligations without disrupting your business.
