UGZ is Embracing the Cloud

The UGZ, known as Umwelt- und Gesundheitsschutz Zürich or Environmental and Health Protection Zurich, is an organization dedicated to safeguarding the health and environmental quality for Zurich's population. Their mission is to protect the environment and preserve life's natural foundations within the city. UGZ is deeply involved in fostering a sustainable urban environment, aligning their initiatives with Zurich's environmental and climate objectives.

Their work spans across four key areas:

• Climate and Environmental Strategies and Policies
• Climate and Environmental Projects and Programs
• Health Protection
• Building Permits

Their overarching goal is to create a harmonious balance between urban development and environmental conservation, ensuring a healthier, greener future for all.

UGZ is a long-time on-premise customer, utilizing our Client Suite product for document management apps. However in a time of mass digitization, they transitioned to a cloud-based solution with Microsoft 365, they faced the challenge of migrating their extensive documentation, including templates and smart templates, into SharePoint. With Livio, the ICT-Project leader for Digitization for UGZ, playing a pivotal role in the migration and implementation of these solutions.

He knew this move was required due to a need for greater IT flexibility, scalability, and the elimination of manual IT interventions which were time-consuming and resource-intensive. The on-premise solution was becoming increasingly untenable due to its rigid maintenance requirements and inability to adapt swiftly to the dynamic needs of UGZ's document management processes.

The migration to the cloud, specifically to Microsoft 365, offered UGZ a wide range of benefits. It simplified IT maintenance, provided cost optimization through resource and server savings, and allowed for workload optimization. The flexibility and scalability of the cloud meant that UGZ only paid for the resources they used, with the ability to adjust these resources as needed. The cloud model ensured an enhancement of security through automatic updating and strictest privacy and data standards in the industry along with all templates and smart templates being housed in their own Microsoft tenant. Moreover, moving to the cloud offered the safety of backup and recovery, along with simplified management and monitoring of all templates from a centralized platform.

The integration of the cloud based officeatwork apps such as the Template Chooser, Smart Template, and Wizard further streamlined UGZ's document creation process. The Smart Template, in particular, enabled document templates to stay on-brand and compliant, with dynamic templates that update automatically based on changes in the base template, ensuring consistency across all documents. This integration allowed for a seamless experience, enhancing productivity and ensuring that documents were available multiple languages and branding requirements met with ease.

The adoption of officeatwork cloud-integrated apps has simplified UGZ's document management system. The Smart Template, with its dynamic and linked templates, has ensured that all documents remain up-to-date and consistent with UGZ's branding guidelines. The ease of access to the latest templates with the template chooser and centralized within SharePoint has significantly improved productivity within UGZ.

The goal of maintaining a sustainable and efficient document management system is now a reality, leading to optimized operational costs and a more focused approach to environmental and health protection initiatives. As a result, UGZ has not only enhanced its internal processes but also reinforced its commitment to creating a sustainable city.