Market-leading international leisure operator Hollywood Bowl streamlines security with Microsoft
Industry :
Leisure and Entertainment
Customer size :
450
At a glance
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Website
https://www.hollywoodbowl.co.uk/
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Solution
Softwerx’s secure365® service combined with a fully unified Microsoft-first security ecosystem
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Challenge
Losing visibility and control over a rapidly expanding, increasingly complex IT environment
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Benefits
Full visibility across the entire environment and stronger security posture
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Client challenges
Since acquiring Canadian entertainment brand Splitsville in 2022, the group has expanded to 80 centres across the UK and 12 in Canada, establishing itself as one of the world’s largest operators and an entertainment giant in the UK. This international expansion has brought organisational challenges. The acquisition of Splitsville introduced a complex mix of legacy systems, siloed IT infrastructure and an increasingly distributed network footprint. This created an IT environment that was larger and more complex than ever. Even more daunting, it needed to be fixed without a corresponding increase in headcount and resources.
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A strategic shift to unified security and 24/7 protection
Hollywood Bowl chose to adopt a Microsoft-first security strategy, which aligned with its broader digital transformation objectives. The company partnered with Softwerx to lead the transformation. The engagement began with a licensing review to ensure full value was being extracted from existing Microsoft investments. From there, the company implemented Softwerx’s secure365® solution, gaining UK-based 24/7 MDR support through a dedicated Security Operations Centre (SOC). The SOC monitors, detects and responds to threats in real time, providing proactive protection and rapid incident containment.
A fully integrated Microsoft ecosystem was deployed, including Defender for Endpoint, Entra ID, Sentinel, Defender for Cloud Apps and Microsoft Purview. This unified platform allows telemetry from identities, devices, data, cloud and infrastructure to flow into Microsoft Defender and Sentinel, ensuring threats are detected, correlated and contained efficiently.
Read the full case study here.
By partnering with Softwerx we’ve been able to make our security tools work more efficiently in an ecosystem that we can control around the clock.
Security is a heartbeat. A continuous evolution. And we fully intend to evolve with Microsoft.
Client benefits
By consolidating security operations into the Microsoft ecosystem, Hollywood Bowl has transformed how it identifies, prioritises and responds to risk. The business now has full alignment across compliance, security and productivity within a single, integrated platform.
This shift has also reframed how the Hollywood Bowl board views security investment. Rather than being seen as a cost, it is now recognised as a strategic move to reduce risk. By maximising existing Microsoft licences, the company has unlocked greater value while streamlining operations and strengthening its threat response.
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