Building a Smarter Content Strategy for Social Housing with Microsoft 365

Introduction: Bield Social Housing

Bield is one of Scotland’s most recognised providers of social housing, with a long-standing reputation for improving the lives of older people through safe, affordable, and high-quality homes. Established in 1971, the organisation’s vision is rooted in the principle of “freeing up time to live your life.” This philosophy shapes not only the homes they provide but also the services designed to empower tenants to live independently for longer.

Alongside providing housing, Bield delivers a wide range of tenant support services that enhance health, social connection, and well-being. Their BR24 service operates around the clock, offering a lifeline to tenants and external customers through emergency alarm response and asset management support, meaning Bield is not only a landlord but also a community enabler and a trusted partner in independent living across Scotland.

Content Management Challenges in Regulated Social Housing

Operating in the social housing sector means that Bield deals with vast amounts of sensitive and regulated content every day. From tenancy agreements and maintenance records to compliance documentation and welfare service reports, the organisation’s content ecosystem is both complex and critical.

The need to manage this information effectively is heightened by the regulatory framework of social housing in Scotland, which requires strict governance, clear audit trails, and robust safeguarding of personal and operational data. Any lapse could lead to inefficiencies, compliance risks, or impact on the quality of service delivered to tenants.

The Impact of Covid-19 on Content Management

The onset of the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted Bield’s traditional ways of working. Staff were forced to work remotely, and Microsoft Teams quickly became the backbone of collaboration. Teams allowed Bield to continue its operations and maintain tenant support during an incredibly challenging period.

However, like many organisations, Bield faced new challenges in the aftermath. Content became scattered and duplicated across multiple Teams channels, legacy systems, and personal storage spaces. This “content sprawl” made it difficult to find the right documents, created version control issues, and introduced unnecessary complexity into permissions and access management.

Managing Fragmented Content Across Systems

Before HappyWired’s engagement, Bield’s content estate was spread across:

• Microsoft Teams, used heavily during remote working.
• A legacy document management system, carrying historical data.
• Iron Mountain physical storage, where paper records were archived.
• File shares and personal drives, where documents were often duplicated.

This fragmented approach created a number of pain points:

• Inability to search effectively across repositories.
• Complex and inconsistent permissions management.
• Limited ability to enforce data governance and compliance rules.
• Risks around content duplication and versioning.

It became clear that Bield needed a consolidated, strategic approach to content management.

HappyWired’s Microsoft 365 Strategy for Bield

Bield engaged HappyWired to address these challenges through a strategic review of its entire content estate, via HappyWired’s Microsoft 365 Content & Collaboration Accelerator service. The mission was to design a future-ready model that would allow Bield to collapse siloed systems, reduce duplication, and implement strong governance across a single managed platform.

HappyWired carried out a detailed audit of content sources, user practices, user roles and archetypes and operational needs, before recommending a strategic model centred on Microsoft 365. The proposed solution combined the power of SharePoint, Teams, and Viva Connections to deliver:

• A single authoritative platform for storing and accessing documents.
• Clear governance and lifecycle management for content.
• Improved collaboration without duplication.
• Easier, role-based access management.

Unlocking New Ways of Working with Microsoft 365

HappyWired’s strategy extended beyond consolidation. By analysing how Bield’s staff worked on a day-to-day basis, the team identified new working practices that could be unlocked through existing Microsoft 365 licensing.

Key recommendations included:

• Using SharePoint as the core repository for structured content.
• Streamlining collaboration through Teams integration, ensuring documents are always linked back to SharePoint rather than duplicated.
• Deploying Viva Connections to create a centralised digital workplace hub tailored to user roles and needs.
• Introducing role-based access controls (RBAC), simplifying permissions management while enhancing security.

To further strengthen governance, HappyWired advised Bield on deploying Microsoft Purview to implement:

• Data loss prevention policies.
• Information governance rules for sensitive content.
• Compliance-ready audit trails and reporting.

Together, these measures would create a secure, centralised, and compliant content management environment.

A Strategic Blueprint and Migration Plan

HappyWired delivered a strategic blueprint that set out a phased approach to migration, ensuring that each step was aligned with Bield’s operational requirements and regulatory obligations. The blueprint included:

• A clear content migration plan, mapping data from legacy systems, file shares, and physical archives.
• Governance policies for ensuring content lifecycle management.
• User adoption strategies to support cultural and behavioural change.
• Integration pathways for existing operational systems.

Maximising Microsoft 365 Investment with Automation and Low-Code Solutions

Beyond migration, HappyWired worked with Bield to maximise the return on its Microsoft 365 investment. By introducing automation and low-code applications, Bield was able to modernise and streamline business processes.

HappyWired developed targeted, low-code apps to address specific operational needs at a local level, ensuring frontline and back-office staff benefited directly from digital transformation.

One key innovation was the creation of a Teams provisioning solution. Through a controlled request-and-build process, new Teams could be created based on approved templates. This ensured governance and consistency while reducing the risk of uncontrolled Teams sprawl.

See our Workspace Automation with Microsoft 365 page for more details on how Microsoft Teams governance via HappyWired Build-a-Space™ can deliver lasting benefits to your organisation

Conclusion: A Strategic Partnership Driving Efficiency

Through its partnership with HappyWired, Bield successfully navigated one of the most complex challenges faced by modern organisations: content sprawl in a regulated environment.

By consolidating content into a Microsoft 365-based platform, Bield gained a strategic blueprint for:

• Centralised and secure content management.
• Stronger governance and compliance, backed by Microsoft Purview.
• Operational efficiencies through process automation and low-code apps.
• Controlled growth and governance of Teams, preventing sprawl.
• A future-ready platform to support ongoing digital transformation.

Through HappyWired’s Microsoft 365 Content & Collaboration Accelerator engagement, - and supporting services such as automation with Microsoft Power Platform and compliance with Microsoft Purview - Bield turned a fragmented, risk-prone content estate into a streamlined, secure, and efficient digital workplace. This strategic engagement not only improved operational performance but also reinforced Bield’s ability to focus on its mission: delivering safe, supportive, and high-quality housing and services to communities across Scotland.