Static HTML
Routine changes depended on editing and maintaining signature content through the existing mail-flow approach.
MICROSOFT 365 / IDENTITY / GOVERNANCE
Modernising email
signature management.
A practical Microsoft 365 project that replaced a difficult mail-flow-rule process with a more consistent, manageable and user-friendly approach to organisation-wide email signatures.
PROJECT STORY
Start with the challenge
01 / THE CHALLENGE
Central control existed.
The experience still needed work.
Fahan School was already managing email signatures centrally through Exchange Online mail flow rules, but the approach relied on static HTML and came with practical limitations.
Signature changes were harder to manage, staff could not preview signatures while composing messages, and behaviour was not consistent across every device and email experience. Supporting individual staff information and campaign content also required more ICT involvement than necessary.
CodeTwo’s published customer story describes the environment as approximately 140 mailboxes processing 2,000+ emails per day across multiple email apps and devices.
No live preview
Staff could not see the final signature while composing an email.
Device consistency
The existing method did not provide the same experience across desktop, mobile and web.
Marketing dependency
Campaign and banner changes relied on ICT rather than sitting with the team responsible for the content.
02 / MY CONTRIBUTION
A better operating model,
not just a new tool.
The project connected Microsoft 365 administration, identity data, user experience and stakeholder ownership.
- 01
Assess the existing process
Worked from the limitations of Exchange Admin Center mail flow rules and the practical experience of maintaining signature content through static HTML.
- 02
Implement a central signature platform
Led the move to CodeTwo Email Signatures 365 and established a standard organisation-wide signature approach.
- 03
Use identity data
Integrated signature information with Azure AD / Microsoft Entra ID so staff details could be maintained from identity data, including additional user information such as working days and hours.
- 04
Improve the user experience
Enabled staff to see their signature while composing messages and established consistent signature behaviour across supported desktop, web and mobile experiences.
- 05
Hand routine content ownership to Marketing
Provided delegated access, documented the workflow for creating, editing, testing, scheduling and publishing changes, and offered follow-up walkthrough support.
03 / HOW THE EXPERIENCE CHANGED
From hidden mail-flow logic
to a visible, testable workflow.
These examples show the user and handover experience at a high level. The signature preview uses the published school contact details shown in the staff signature; the management workflow remains a portfolio-safe reconstruction with internal rule, group and configuration details removed.
CONFIGURATION OUTCOME
Public-safe examples of the standard signature and the campaign-banner variant, shown without real organisation, group or account details.
04 / OUTCOME
Consistency for staff.
Clearer ownership for teams.
The value of the project was in making a routine communication system easier to manage, easier to use and less dependent on manual ICT intervention.
Consistent branding
A standard signature experience across supported desktop, web and mobile email use.
Identity-driven details
Staff information could be maintained from Entra ID rather than repeated manually in signature HTML.
Better staff experience
Live signature previews made the final result visible while composing an email.
Marketing ownership
Routine campaign and banner management could sit closer to the team responsible for the content.
05 / EXTERNAL VALIDATION
The project story is
independently documented.
My own project post records the implementation from my perspective. CodeTwo later published Fahan School as a customer success story and quoted me directly about the implementation and outcomes.
LINKEDIN PROJECT POST
My original implementation story
The challenge, solution and outcome I shared after leading the project at Fahan School.
View LinkedIn postCUSTOMER SUCCESS STORY
CodeTwo + Fahan School
Independent customer story covering the previous limitations, Entra ID integration, cross-device consistency and delegated signature management.
Read CodeTwo story06 / REFLECTION
What this project
demonstrates.
A small infrastructure change can improve governance and user experience at the same time when the operating model is considered alongside the technology.
This project strengthened my practical experience across Microsoft 365 administration, identity-backed data, stakeholder communication, documentation and controlled handover. It also reinforced the value of giving routine ownership to the right team while keeping the technical platform manageable.
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