Enova boosts cybersecurity with Microsoft 365 and Azure, lowering costs and enhancing operational efficiency

Established in 2002 as a joint venture between Majid Al Futtaim and Veolia, Enova offers comprehensive and performance-based energy and facilities management solutions to its clients to help achieve their financial, operational, and environmental goals. The company’s mission is to preserve environmental resources in cities for future generations.

Enova manages a wide range of facilities within the Middle East, including several international airports. “We embed ourselves as part of our client’s ecosystems to work as a unified team,” explains Renaud Capris, Chief Executive Officer at Enova. Through Hubgrade, Enova’s digital solution, Enova identifies and implements tailored strategies that enhance its clients’ operational efficiency and support sustainable energy use.

From diverse platforms to unified security

In its early years, Enova adopted multiple security solutions, tailoring its approach to meet emerging technological demands. As the company grew, it recognized the opportunity to enhance efficiency and visibility across systems for its team and clients alike. “While each technology was effective on its own, unifying them would enable us to create a seamless view and approach cybersecurity more cohesively,” shares Wael El Khatib, Director for Digital, Information Technology, and Artificial Intelligence at Enova. “With this vision, we began working toward a single platform that would allow us to monitor, detect, and respond across all fronts.”

Given Enova’s reliance on mobile connectivity—enabling every client and technician to interact with Enova through digital devices—the focus on a unified, robust cybersecurity setup became even more critical. As El Khatib explains, “Strong cybersecurity practices are essential for us; they not only protect our operations but also ensure uninterrupted client services, which is our highest priority.” In 2017, Enova took the proactive step to partner with Microsoft, implementing Azure to enhance both security and operational efficiency.

To maintain peak uptime and secure data, Enova connected over 250,000 IoT and operational endpoints to Microsoft Azure, centralizing Azure Data Lake and Azure Data Warehouse. Power BI, embedded into Enova’s customer portal, now provides user-friendly dashboards and valuable insights. Enova also engaged Microsoft FastTrack to streamline the migration process, ensuring a seamless transition to Azure’s cloud ecosystem. “The guidance from FastTrack was invaluable. It aligned perfectly with our objectives and guaranteed an outcome we’re extremely satisfied with,” adds El Khatib.

Securing endpoints for thousands of users

Enova also adopted Microsoft 365 E5 to enhance the security of its users. "We aimed at protecting their emails, computers, and all shared content," says El Khatib. The company used Microsoft Defender for Endpoint to guard against advanced threats, implemented multi-factor authentication for secure access, and used Intune for device management. Additionally, a company-wide zero-trust policy and privileged access management (PAM) further strengthened security controls.

To centralize its security monitoring, Enova deployed Microsoft Sentinel and Azure Logic Apps, enabling automated creation of security playbooks. For example, if an event is detected on a user's device, the system can swiftly isolate it to mitigate risks.

Enova also onboarded Microsoft Defender Experts for extended detection and response (XDR), who work with the Enova IT team to monitor and address risks. “They provide us with 24/7 support, advising on actions to enhance our security posture,” remarks El Khatib. “In essence, we have collaborated with Microsoft to adopt a comprehensive security framework.”

Today, Enova efficiently safeguards 2,400 internal users, 1,000 client users, and over 2,200 personal devices with Microsoft security solutions, with plans to extend protection to 9,000 vendors.

With these solutions in place, Enova’s IT administrators now manage all security requirements from a single platform, improving their effectiveness. “Azure offers various views that simplify our work. For instance, the compliance dashboard aggregates data from all machines and servers, helping us identify potential compliance issues. Meanwhile, our security information and event management (SIEM) system facilitates the monitoring and categorization of incidents that may require action, ensuring a proactive approach to security,” explains El Khatib.

Thanks to Microsoft's automated security systems, Enova can now detect and respond to threats without manual intervention. "Approximately 63% of cyber-attacks target users, not infrastructure. We’ve successfully intercepted numerous phishing attempts, including CEO fraud and ransomware threats,” El Khatib notes. “Microsoft Defender for Email isolates suspicious emails, scans attachments, and releases them only after validation.”

This centralized approach allows the team to adopt a proactive stance. “Every day, we assess risks and conduct root cause analyses. Enova and Microsoft collaborate continuously to monitor, reduce, and block risks, as well as take actions and validate them. This continuous cycle allows us to stay ahead of potential threats,” shares El Khatib. The Microsoft ecosystem also facilitates employee training and awareness. "With a unified platform on Azure, we streamline standardization, training, and skill development,” El Khatib adds. “Our ability to conduct phishing tests is more efficient, helping ensure our team remains vigilant."

Reaping the rewards of transformation

Since embarking on its digital transformation journey, Enova has significantly enhanced its security posture, establishing a cohesive and robust approach that has replaced the fragmented systems of the past. “With Azure and Microsoft security solutions, we have achieved an impressive average of 99.7% uptime, even when factoring in maintenance,” emphasizes El Khatib. "Our efforts have garnered multiple awards, which serve as a testament to the success of our transformation."

From an operational standpoint, Enova’s transition to Azure has also led to considerable cost savings. "We now operate from a centralized data center in Azure, allowing us to unify our security posture, controls, and skill sets. This consolidation has not only reduced licensing costs, but also optimized our resource allocation,” El Khatib explains. “By moving to Azure, we have avoided the need for extensive capital expenditures typically associated with expanding on-premises infrastructure, which would have required eight data centers, eight infrastructure engineers, two security managers, and additional resources," El Khatib adds. “By adopting Microsoft cloud and security solutions, we’ve also significantly reduced our carbon footprint.”

Beyond cost reductions, Enova has experienced remarkable revenue growth since transitioning to the cloud. “While the cloud isn’t the sole factor contributing to our success, our enhanced security and cloud capabilities have played a pivotal role in winning tenders and retaining clients,” elaborates Capris. “In today’s market, everyone is eager to leverage cutting-edge technology, and our digital transformation empowered us to deliver exactly that ensuring we keep our clients satisfied.”

With this secure infrastructure in place, Enova is poised to achieve its goal: optimizing energy consumption for its clients. “With 250,000 IoT devices transmitting data to Azure, we can easily pinpoint opportunities for energy savings,” shares El Khatib. “This proactive approach has enabled us to reduce CO2 emissions by 500,000 tons.”

Embracing future technologies

Looking to the future, Enova remains committed to exploring advanced technologies to further elevate its operations and security measures. The company is currently exploring Copilot for Security. “Our current approach allows us to react to incidents as they arise, but AI will enable us to anticipate security events by analyzing patterns and indicators,” shares El Khatib. “AI will also enhance our ability to remediate risks more efficiently, providing innovative solutions we may not have considered. With AI, we can stay ahead of potential threats and respond swiftly, which is essential as cyber threats become increasingly sophisticated.”

Reflecting on the journey, Capris attributes Enova’s success to foundational elements. “First and foremost, it’s the visionary mindset of our shareholders. Their commitment to growth and value creation has been crucial,” he concludes. “Enova shares this ambition, driving not only financial success but also a commitment to delivering value to its clients. Our capacity to implement digital transformation, backed by strong security, has allowed us to meet and exceed our clients’ needs. Lastly, being situated in a region renowned for its ambitious projects instills a relentless drive for innovation and technology within us. We continually strive to be at the forefront of adopting and utilizing new technologies, propelling us in the right direction.”