How do you produce a magazine on motorcycling while smart working? Federico Aliverti, Director of Motociclismo magazine, and Francesco Forte, IT Manager at Edisport, explain. A lesson in adaptation and innovation involving paper, asphalt and Microsoft teams.

A long story for a great future

Founded in Milan in 1914, Motociclismo magazine has more than one hundred years of history. It's been a constant companion to Italian motorbike fans, inspiring their dreams, passions and technical curiosity. From the post-war period to the boom years, from the 70s to the present today: browsing through its pages is like taking a journey through the history of society, fashion and, of course, the technological development of that “mechanical jewel”, the motorcycle.

Today Motociclismo is one of the strongest titles of publishing house Edisport, which also boasts publications like Men’s Health, for male fitness and lifestyle aficionados, and Runners, dedicated to lovers of the sport, and many more. Edisport is a modern publishing company that needs to be able to adapt quickly to the tastes of its readers and the trends of society.

Online Office and Teams for collaboration across Edisport

For this very reason, Edisport management recently endorsed the introduction of digital collaboration tools for editorial staff. A first, important step toward improving coordination between journalists, editors, graphic designers, layout artists and the extended editorial team. In addition to good relationships between colleagues, collaboration today is based on the efficient use of software such as Teams.

The development project started with the following objectives, drawn up together with Pipeline:

• Introduce collaboration software at all levels of the company
• Simplify content sharing and processing
• Data security, with constant cloud backups
• Access for all users to applications and data from anywhere and from any device
• Creation of a tenant cloud system for the online management of company-wide resources
• Evaluation of activation times and subscription costs

With Microsoft 365, all software is online and in the cloud

The first step was to choose the Microsoft 365 suite that Pipeline deployed. With the purchase of cloud licenses, it was possible to set up each employee and contributor with a cloud-based account and grant online access to all the software in the suite. This is a non-invasive action, but it has shifted the focus from devices to users with first and last names. Here are the steps and benefits:

• Building the Microsoft 365 tenant cloud system dedicated to Edisport
• Online creation of tenant-based accounts for all employees and collaborators
• Use all Office applications such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook online
• Large, shared cloud storage for each account
• Access cloud space from any device, including smartphones and tablets
• Use all software in online mode (SaaS) from any device
• Share files and folders without the need for attachments
• Simultaneous file edits by multiple users
• Business-class mail management with Microsoft Exchange Online

A silent but substantial revolution, with the addition of Microsoft Teams as a sharing and collaboration hub. Avoiding any downtime whatsoever, all employees are now free from the limitations of their desktop computers and can access data and connect from any available device.

Mobile working and secure collaboration

With this innovation, every Edisport employee can now access their cloud space and work on the go. The account has replaced the computer as the main work hub, partly because Office applications can be accessed using optimized mobile and tablet versions that are virtually identical to those on desktop computers.

For example, you can now open a file with your smartphone while traveling on the train, edit some details, share it with your colleagues immediately and get back to work with the job done. Save energy and dramatically reduce downtime.
Even editing potential is great: you can work on a file with more than one person at a time because Microsoft 365 allows you to view the different active cursors by identifying them with each user’s initials. A new, user-centered approach that becomes a work hub within the business tenant environment, unshackling employees from their desks and PCs.

A success story for future developments

Francesco Forte, IT Manager of the group and active contributor to the project, said the following about Edisport’s migration to the cloud:

“The input from Edisport’s management to the company was clear, and we are very pleased with the rapid delivery of Pipeline’s analytical and support services. The change was implemented with no disruption or impact on user habits, but it allowed us to react quickly to the lockdown situation imposed by COVID19. Thanks to Pipeline, our journalists and other team members have been able to continue their work.

We have only taken the first step toward this revolution, and the results are very promising, including for future developments. We are already thinking of reorganizing the internal folder and document structure in Microsoft Teams, so that we can easily identify who can access and organize working groups in the various editorial teams, guaranteeing further years of success for Motociclismo and the other titles belonging to the group.”