Modernizing the public sector: EKOME adopts the cloud for effective and secure work with Microsoft 365

EKOME, The National Centre of Audiovisual Media and Communication, has been a pivotal part of Greece's creative landscape since 2017. Its mission is to protect, support, and promote audiovisual media and communication initiatives. “We work to attract funds to the Greek audiovisual sector and help create jobs,” says Dimitra Koutsou, Head of Communications and International Relations Department at EKOME. “Over the past four years, about 400 different audiovisual content have been produced in Greece thanks to our incentives.”

Spearheading digitalization with the right support

EKOME wanted to be better prepared for threats and disruptions after the COVID-19 outbreak. The institution started looking for ways to facilitate employee mobility and teleworking. “We needed a solution that would accommodate over 80 employees in a space with only 35 workstations. The only way for that to happen was to shift our workspace to the cloud, where all documents and information could be made available remotely, anytime and anywhere so that people could work flexibly," recalls Kyriakos Mamoukaris, Head of the ICT and Technical Operations Directorate at EKOME.

Maintaining security was also a crucial point for EKOME. “Being in the public sector, it’s essential that we comply with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) to protect all personal and company data,” says Mamoukaris. It was at this point that the General Secretariat of Information Systems for Public Administration (GSIS), which is responsible for IT and distribution of cloud services among government bodies, helped EKOME find the optimal solution and provided the licenses needed. With the help of Microsoft partner COSMOTE in supporting system integration, EKOME adopted Microsoft Azure and Microsoft 365 E3 suite to enable secure telework.

Unleashing creative freedom through tools agility

By combining a positive change environment with the technical expertise of COSMOTE, the transition into Microsoft 365 went smoothly, and has since offered greater work flexibility at EKOME, while establishing a robust framework for protecting sensitive information based on regulatory requirements and organizational policies.

“We host different systems on the cloud like human resources, payroll, and auditor evaluation registers,” says Koutsou. “This also includes our recently developed EKOME portal coordinating 15 remote film offices and enabling production companies to look for film locations, staff, and professionals.”

For legacy services and apps that still run outside of the Microsoft cloud, EKOME uses Azure Virtual Desktop to ensure safe access from any location. Meanwhile, Microsoft 365 E3 licenses power office productivity on the site and remotely.

Fully functional, scalable virtual business environment

With simplified maintenance of the cloud platform, EKOME is now saving almost 10 hours a week on administrative tasks. A centralized communication environment and constant, reliable remote access to sensitive files, allow the team to collaborate both internally and with external partners easily. “We have fostered a culture of storing and sharing documents online and relying on digital collaboration tools like Microsoft Teams and SharePoint, which has been a game-changer,” says Mamoukaris.

EKOME has created a fully functional, scalable virtual business environment that can operate undisrupted in any circumstance. Cloud-based, pay-per-use infrastructure leads to optimized expenses, decreasing upfront and operational costs. “Thanks to the licenses provided by the GSIS, We’ve reduced our annual license costs by EUR100,000,” shares Mamoukaris.