Santa Claus is a busy man. He must manage a huge operation that delivers gifts to millions of children around the world every year. He must keep track of the inventory, the production, the distribution, and the customer satisfaction. He also must protect his data and his secrets from hackers, spies, and naughty kids.
Santas current IT estate is poorly performing, and Santa is concerned that his information is being used to place advertisements to kids without his permission. There have been numerous attempts to compromise the good list and a few to steal the naughty list for non-sanctioned use.
That's why Santa decided to use Microsoft products and services to secure his north pole headquartered enterprise. He chose Microsoft because they offer a comprehensive and reliable solution that covered all his needs. He chose a NZ partner to assist with licensing, migration and implementation because they “are Moden Work specialists with numerous certifications and the support of Australasia’s biggest Microsoft distributor”. He also saw a bit of himself in Zachary, the fearless Dicker sales head elf, and his army of Microsoft specialist elves. By basing my IT operations out of NZ I can take advantage of the new Hyper scale datacentre in Auckland yet connect from anywhere, Paddielf still needs to send me the invite!”
Working with his IT partner and Dicker Data a plan was proposed to implement something called ME5, Mr Claus said “ I see me in that, pardon the dad joke, ho ho ho, but given my global expansion program and having over 300 elves based here at the workshop, ME5 was the happiest solution”.
Dicker Data’s South Island Elf Paul, (bonded with Rudolf, head of logistics, over carrots) introduced him to Timbo, an Australian elf who could assist with moving his data across from the current Advertising driven platform to ME5 using a sleigh called BitTitan. “BitTitan’s lead reindeer at Dicker Data NZ , Himani took the reins and ensure everything was migrated on time.”
Optimising Santa’s Business
With Santa Claus deciding to modernise his operations at the North Pole. He realised that with the growing population of children around the world, his old methods of keeping track of who's naughty or nice were becoming inefficient. So, he turned to Microsoft's suite of data collection and analysis tools. “Being a seasonal business, we need to burst capacity over the silly season and using cloud solutions that can respond to demand”.
First, Santa decided to use Microsoft Forms to collect wish lists from children. This allowed him to easily gather and organise data in a structured format. The forms were designed to be user-friendly and engaging, making the process fun for the children.
Next, Santa used Microsoft Power BI to analyse the data collected. This tool allowed him to visualise the data in various ways, helping him understand trends and patterns. For instance, he could see which toys were most popular in different regions of the world. Elf sure step ambassador, Jonny coached Santa on all things Dynamics, and implemented Dynamics correctly can be so much more than a glorified naughty list.
Santa used Microsoft Teams to coordinate with his elves. This helped improve communication and collaboration, making the whole operation more efficient. “Of course, I couldn’t have set it up with the help of the delightful pixies Lauren and her sidekick Carol”. Said Mr Claus, “She is an angel and so patient with me, get it? Dad joke two, Carol showed me the unmute button”.
To ensure the privacy and security of the children's data, Santa made sure to comply with all relevant data protection regulations. He also used Microsoft security features to protect the data from any potential threats. “One of the Pauls helped with this, was confusing, but seems to be a popular name for elves. That reminds me I must take him off the naughty list”.
Santa uses a variety of Microsoft’s data protection features to ensure the security and privacy of his data:
Microsoft Purview: This tool helps Santa secure and govern data across his entire data estate, reducing risk and meeting compliance requirements1. It provides visibility into all data and manages assets across the environment.
Data Lifecycle Management: This feature allows Santa to classify and govern data at scale to meet legal, business, privacy, and regulatory content obligations.
Data Loss Prevention: This feature automatically protects sensitive information from risky and unauthorised access across apps, services, endpoints, and on-premises files.
Information Protection: This feature helps Santa discover, identify, classify, and protect sensitive data that’s business critical, and then manage and protect it across his environment.
Insider Risk Management: This feature helps Santa detect, investigate, and act on critical risks in his organisation, including data theft, data leaks, and security policy violations. Particularly those naughty elves that are constantly cursing
Unified Data Governance: This feature provides visibility into all data across Santa’s data estate.
In the digital age, even Santa Claus isn't immune to the challenges of data security. With billions of wish lists to process and a global delivery operation to manage, Santa has turned to Microsoft's suite of security tools to keep the North Pole secure. Here's how he does it.
Protecting the Workshop with Microsoft Defender
Santa's workshop is a bustling place, filled with elves crafting toys and managing logistics. To protect this hub of activity, Santa uses Microsoft Defender for Endpoint. This enterprise endpoint security platform helps to prevent, detect, investigate, and respond to advanced threats, ensuring that all devices in the workshop are free from security risks.
Santa realises that the naughty list is highly valued in the wrong hands. To protect this sensitive data, Santa uses Microsoft Information Protection. This tool helps Santa to classify, label, and protect sensitive data, ensuring that naughty lists remain confidential.
Ensuring Compliance with Microsoft Compliance Manager
Santa's operations span the globe, which means he needs to comply with various regional data protection regulations. For this, he uses Microsoft Compliance Manager. This tool helps Santa to assess his compliance risks and makes it easier for him to meet regulatory requirements.
Managing Identities with Entra ID
Santa has a lot of identities to manage, from his own to his elves, reindeer, and even Mrs. Claus. To ensure that only authorised users can access his resources, Santa uses Entra. His Partner manages this for him and ensures ex elves are promptly removed and simultaneous added to a naughty list, which he affectedly calls his J9 list.
Santa uses Azure Backup and Azure Site Recovery to backup and restore his on-premise data in case of disasters. He also used Azure Key Vault to store and manage his encryption keys and many secrets. “Thanks Andrew, Troy, Paul and Simon said” said Santa (quotation marks are in the right place dad joke 3)
Santa needed a complete device refresh and chose to realise the benefits of running Microsoft software on Surface devices, Sarah, elf organised autopilot provisioning and faster than Santa can deliver, all the elves had new surfaces ready to meet the busy Christmas season.
To insure we was correctly licensed Mrs Claus and elf Lisa bonded over a few beverages. “They seemed really happy discussing Microsoft licensing, was a lot of giggling,” said Santa.
What’s the next project? “I am so excited about getting co-pilot it will never replace Rudolf but means I can spend more time thinking of dad jokes and more time with Mrs Claus HO HO HO Happy New Year”
In summary choosing Dicker Data, New Zealand’s most skilled, largest, and local Microsoft distributor and Our Microsoft partner meant the north pole now has a technological advantage. “Everything to ensure a smooth transition and implementation was available from a Dicker, they really cared and got my business. Plus, ongoing support from my IT Partner means better productivity, security, and elf satisfaction”.
With Microsoft and Dicker Data , Santa was able to secure his north pole enterprise and deliver joy to the world. He was very happy with his choice, and he even wrote a thank-you note to sales elf Zachery on Christmas Eve. Unfortunately, Zack thought it was just another insidious phishing email and deleted it.
Happy new year Ho Ho Ho
Stay Safe and Secure
Paul (the naughty elf)
*Any resemblance to facts implicit or implied is unintentional and should not be seen as an endorsement by any of the above named. Abbreviations may have been used to protect the not so innocent. All images are generated using Microsoft Creator.
