Security, partnership and a platform for the future: ELHA's journey with LIMA
Company background
East Lothian Housing Association (ELHA) is a registered social landlord and charity based in Scotland, managing approximately 1,500 properties and providing quality, affordable housing to its tenants since 1988.
With a strong emphasis on digital innovation, ELHA has been at the forefront of technology in the housing sector. It was the first Scottish housing association to achieve Cyber Essentials and among the first housing associations in Scotland to offer fully digital tenant services through its ‘My Home’ online portal, where tenants can manage everything from rent payments to repairs and complaints – 24/7/365.
Underpinning all of this is IT infrastructure that simply has to be stable, secure and always available. As Caroline Wilson, Corporate Services Manager at ELHA, puts it: “A stable and secure network is key. Security is paramount for us and always has been.”
Caroline joined ELHA in 2010, bringing with her a background in risk and compliance from financial services. Over 15 years, the Corporate Services Team has built the organisation’s IT function from the ground up, instilling a security-first culture that has positioned ELHA as a leader in its sector. Looking to the future, close partnership with LIMA is at the heart of ELHA’s plans.
“Communication, openness and partnership are key for me. LIMA are very open and proactive, seeing what the partnership needs and which actions will best enhance security. We work together as one team for the benefit of the business, our team and our tenants.”
Caroline Wilson | Corporate Services Manager | ELHA
The challenge
Following a period of significant growth and increasing digital ambition, in 2025 ELHA issued an IT tender for managed services. ELHA needed a partner that could drive tenant satisfaction with an improved digital experience, support a complex IT environment, and bolster security.
A ransomware attack in 2017 which exploited a vulnerability in ELHA’s previous housing management system – prior to the appointment of LIMA – was a turning point for the organisation.
“That is where it all changed,” says Caroline. “That’s when we started developing a proper security profile with a cyber security programme in place.”
The result was a sustained investment in security, ultimately making ELHA the first registered social landlord in Scotland to achieve Cyber Essentials certification, followed by achieving Cyber Essentials Plus in 2022.
Gavin Millar, IT Officer at ELHA, explains: “Cyber Essentials Plus means bringing the auditor in and proving that it all works. We’re now into our third year and the work LIMA does with us supports us massively in achieving the standard.”
Following a rigorous tender process, LIMA emerged as the successful end-to-end IT partner, selected not just on technical capability, but on the strength of their customer service, their emphasis on business outcomes, and the quality of the people they brought to the table.
The solution
LIMA now delivers a comprehensive managed service for ELHA, spanning Azure infrastructure, Microsoft 365, proactive monitoring, VDR (Vulnerability Detection and Remediation) and managed SOC.
A migration delivered in weeks
The transition from ELHA’s previous provider had to happen quickly. With just four weeks from first meeting to go-live, the pressure was on. And LIMA’s onboarding team delivered.
“My goodness, your team delivered,” says Caroline. “We had daily touch-base migration meetings and a migration tracking map to ensure we met the milestones if there were any difficulties, which were resolved pretty quickly.”
Gavin adds: “The migration was all very smooth and we managed to turn it around very quickly. The account team and the onboarding managers we dealt with were really responsive and kept us up to date. And it’s the same in BAU service. The communication from the whole account team is fantastic. We couldn’t find any faults in it at all.”
ProActive managed service and infrastructure monitoring
LIMA’s ProActive managed service covers ELHA’s Azure Virtual Desktop environment and Microsoft 365 estate, with infrastructure monitored continuously by LogicMonitor. Issues are detected and tickets generated automatically. They are often resolved by LIMA’s housing association managed services specialists without the IT team needing to get involved at all.
“Things are just dealt with in the background,” says Gavin. “It’s very different from what we’ve experienced before with other MSPs. It’s completely proactive, leaving us to get on with the key projects that impact tenant and colleague experience, while the infrastructure is being looked after.”
Managed SOC with Cysiam
Alongside ProActive infrastructure support, ELHA benefits from a managed Security Operations Centre through LIMA’s security partner, Cysiam, which is integrated within the LIMA service. Windows Defender logs are passed through for analysis, with alerts investigated and resolved as part of the managed service.
“With a team of two on site, we don’t have the resource to take on those services ourselves,” says Gavin. “It’s vital for our peace of mind!”
VDR: time saved, exposure reduced
Perhaps the most significant impact has come from LIMA’s VDR service. Previously, managing and remediating vulnerabilities fell to Gavin and his colleague, adding eight to twelve hours’ work per person, per month.
“That’s been a huge time saver. It’s been great, to be honest,” says Gavin.
Caroline is clear on the broader business impact: “It reduces business costs, but it also allows the guys to work on other key projects internally.”
Combined, the time freed up by VDR amounts to up to three days of IT resource per month.
VDR plays a critical role in ELHA’s Cyber Essentials Plus accreditation. Continuous scanning and remediation keeps the environment clean ahead of audit, and the process has become well-embedded as ELHA heads into its third consecutive year of CE+ certification.
“Having that dedicated team remediating vulnerabilities and rescanning and checking is really significant for our team,” says Gavin. “And outsourcing the accountability gives us peace of mind when it comes to the audit.”
“The service is superior. It’s slick.”
Caroline Wilson | Corporate Services Manager | ELHA
The outcomes
Time freed up to deliver on for tenants
With VDR handling vulnerability remediation, ELHA’s IT team has been able to redirect meaningful resource towards its most important work. Most significantly, it allowed Gavin to be fully seconded to ELHA’s migration from its previous housing management system to Home Master – a complex, business-critical project which had a hugely positive impact on experience for tenants.
“With vulnerabilities taken care of were able to pull Gavin out of the business for a few months to work on the Homemaster migration solely because of this,” says Caroline.
That freed-up focus paid dividends. Gavin was able to thoroughly map processes, identify and resolve issues before go-live.
“It allowed Gavin to be fully hands-on and devote time to build process maps and liaise with the Homemaster team on potential issues, to have them resolved prior to go live. Rather than being overstretched and then it not landing properly, risking tenant satisfaction and our team’s reputation in the organisation.”
A layered security posture
With LIMA’s ProActive monitoring, managed SOC and VDR working in combination, ELHA now operates with a layered, always-on security approach that a two-person IT team could not sustain independently. The environment is monitored continuously, vulnerabilities are remediated as a managed service, and email security is maintained via a third-party backup and security provider.
A roadmap for the future
Since onboarding, LIMA’s account team has completed a full review of ELHA’s environment, delivering a cyber resilience assessment and preparing an Azure optimisation review. Early results have already identified quick wins and cost-saving opportunities.
Looking ahead, ELHA and LIMA are working to a clear joint roadmap: migrating from Azure Virtual Desktop to a modern laptop-based working model, moving file services to SharePoint, and replacing the final legacy applications that currently require remote desktop access.
“It’s been crucial in helping us determine our long-term strategy and where we’d like to go,” says Caroline. “Everything’s following a joint roadmap – between LIMA and ourselves – so that they know exactly where ELHA wants to be and how we want our estate to look. We’ll bring it all together over the next year or two.”
“The best services are the ones running in the background. You know things are going on, but it just leaves you to get on with the day-to-day. The infrastructure is being looked after. It’s very different from what we’ve experienced before.”
Gavin Millar | IT Officer | ELHA