The British Museum’s Cloud Transformation: A Journey with Unit4 and Agilyx Group

The British Museum, renowned for its extensive collection and commitment to preserving history, embarked on a transformative journey to modernise its financial and business operations. By partnering with Unit4 and Agilyx Group, the museum transitioned from an older desktop on-premise system to a state-of-the-art cloudbased SaaS platform. This move was driven by the need to mitigate risks associated with ageing technology, leverage modern reporting tools, and reduce maintenance burdens. Here’s a closer look at The British Museum’s cloud journey, insights gained, and the benefits realised.

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Industry

Museums, Historical Sites, and
Zoos

Company Size

500-1,000

Headquarters

London, UK

Why Move the the Cloud?

The British Museum’s decision to move to the cloud was driven by several crucial factors. Operating on an unsupported on-premise platform would have posed significant risks, including security vulnerabilities and potential system failures. Transitioning to a cloud-based system ensured continuous support and updates, effectively mitigating these risks. Additionally, the reliance on a desktop solution was not sustainable for the future. The cloud offers scalability and flexibility, enabling the museum to seamlessly adapt to evolving technological needs.

By adopting a SaaS platform, The British Museum significantly reduced the burden of maintaining hardware and software, allowing the institution to focus on core activities and future-proof its operations. The museum also aimed to harness the advanced reporting capabilities and user-friendly interfaces provided by modern web applications.

The Cloud Journey

Mike Lloyd, Unit4 Systems Manager at The British Museum, shared his experiences and lessons learned during the cloud transition. One of the biggest challenges was managing a large number of users unfamiliar with the new system. “As a high-profile museum with multiple sources of funding, we have complex coding and approval requirements for transactions, which can be confusing for new users,” Mike explained.

Reflecting on the process, Mike emphasised the importance of considering the user’s perspective. “Their experience will entirely depend on how carefully we consider what they need to do and how to make that as straightforward as possible,” he said.

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Advice for Organisations Considering Cloud Migration

Invest time in understanding the system

Prioritise training

Emphasise testing

Consider a ‘soft launch’

Join the Unit4 user group

“I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s really helpful to have an experienced third-party consultant for the more difficult issues and for improving the system. The qualities I look for in a consultant are great problem-solving skills and knowledge-sharing, which results in good value for money.”

– Mike Lloyd, Unit4 Systems Manager, The British Museum

Next Steps in the Cloud Journey

The British Museum is committed to further leveraging cloud capabilities through incremental improvement. The next steps include moving more users from desktop to web to fully utilise the cloud platform.

“Our goal is to leverage the power of the web platform to make it better than desktop, as that would make the transition much easier,” Mike shared.

The museum also aims to improve collaboration across teams by fully utilising workspaces, knowlies, comments, and other web features. “We’ll continue to follow Unit4’s advancements and integrate them into our transformation roadmap to get the most from our system,” Mike explained.

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