Real-world transformation experience, from migration to managed support.
C5 Alliance doesn’t just move clients from on-premises to the cloud - it has been through exactly the same journey itself, pitfalls and all. That lived experience is the difference between a transformation that works and one that hurts.
There is a phrase Mark Mclachlan, IT Services practice lead at C5 Alliance, keeps returning to: “we’ve taken our own medicine.” It is his way of describing something many technology providers cannot honestly claim - that C5 has personally been through the transformations it now delivers for clients.
Two teams, one seamless journey
C5’s capability is, as Mark describes it, twofold. “We do IT services, ‘BAU’ work for clients, but we also do IT transformation using our consultants and professional services teams.” That means C5 can take a client the whole way - “from on-prem infrastructure up to the cloud, delivered in such a way that we can then take on and manage that support.” Strategy, migration and day-to-day running, all under one roof.
Lessons learned the hard way - so you don’t have to
The most compelling proof comes from C5’s own history. The C5 and BDO Jersey businesses once ran on two separate Microsoft tenants - and it was, in Mark’s words, “an absolute nightmare.” “Sharing documents, sharing information - the friction was terrible.” So C5 migrated its business onto a single tenant.
The real value of that experience is in the detail:
“There are a couple of things we weren’t really aware of - silly things, like recurring meeting requests that you’ll lose access to, but you can’t cancel them because they’re now not in your tenant. We make sure that in our project plans with our delivery teams, we’ve captured those things now.” - Mark Mclachlan
Clients benefit directly from the pitfalls C5 has already hit - and already solved.
We practise what we roll out
The same ‘try it ourselves first’ philosophy applies to new technology. Teams Calling is a recent example: “We’re using Teams Calling locally ourselves now as a business. That gave us the opportunity to understand the rollout, the process and how it operates - so we can now go and talk to clients, and talk to them about the live experience we’ve had.”
Trusted with transformation that matters
C5’s transformation credentials are visible right across the Channel Islands.
The firm has been heavily involved in shaping and working with different educational units across the islands, and from August 2025 provides IT support to States of Guernsey staff under a new two-year agreement. Its project portfolio ranges from a digital broker portal for an insurance business to a real-time data platform built on Microsoft Fabric.
Think big, start small, move fast
Underpinning it all is a delivery philosophy - “Think Big, Start Small, Move Fast” - that gives leadership teams the confidence to transform while minimising risk. As the C5 team likes to say, the best kind of transformation project is a boring one: uneventful, on time and delivering exactly what it promised. Transformation is far easier to sell than it is to survive.
Ultimately, C5 offers something rarer than a roadmap - a partner that has walked the same road, knows where the potholes are, and has already filled them in.
Talk to Mark McLachlan about your own IT transformation needs. You can also find out more by listening to Mark’s recent podcast on ‘Future State Exchange’, available on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
