W&M 2009 – Case Study: Efficient, Effective and Seamless a lesson in mobilising the enterprise

©2008 Grant Thornton UK LLP. All rights reserved.

Case study: Efficient, Effective and Seamless, a lesson in mobilising the enterprise

Greg SwiftIS DirectorGrant Thornton UK LLP


Who are Grant Thornton UK LLP?

• leading business and financial advisor• over 30 locations nationwide• led by nearly 300 partners and employing more

than 4200 people• personalised Assurance, Tax and Special Advisory• bold and positive leader• member of Grant Thornton International Ltd


How it was …….. not that long ago

• dial up to RAS servers • thin client access• fax


How it was …….. not that long ago

• mobile devices only used for speech!

How it was …….. a long time agoHow it was …….. a long time ago


What changed the requirements?

• technology enhancements• client and intermediary higher expectations• continuing desire to provide excellent client service• desire to provide flexibility to staff• drive to reduce travel costs• maximise effective use of property• improved business continuity


Biggest IT security threats to the business

Staff operating outside published policies and those enforced when they are working in a Grant Thornton office on our corporate LAN


Overriding principle

• Need for effective solutions• to extend and enforce security policies and

practices to the mobile estate


Key purchasing criteria

• the Solutions have to work!• various access methods• central policy management• central cost visibility• cost predictability• reduce support requirements• updates "over the air"


Does one solution address ALL requirements?

?


Grant Thornton Approach

• Non Grant Thornton PC – SSL VPN– 2 factor authentication

• Grant Thornton PC– Vodafone Secure Remote Access (VSRA)– VPN

• Grant Thornton Blackberry


Non Grant Thornton PC – SSL VPN

• secure – 2 factor authentication• easy to use• access to Grant Thornton web based applications• use from any PC connected to internet


Vodafone Secure Remote Access (VSRA)

• single client• "one-click" connect• datacards, wiFi, broadband, dial-up• "always on" protection• central policy management• different policies for different groups/individuals• tariff bundles available


Blackberry

• internal representative focus group• key is secure authentication• applications

– "Who's Who" (people directory)– CRM system– weekly internal communications – relationship checks– ad hoc (eg budget summary)


Who's Who


CRM


Corporate Communications


Compliance


Lessons learned

• CIO/IT Director work with FD on financial policies• ensure policies agreed with HR


Finally ……….

positively embrace the challenges of mobility and you can liberate the services you can provide to your clients and customers

W&M 2009 – Case Study: Efficient, Effective and Seamless a lesson in mobilising the enterprise

Technology

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