Our client is a multi-discipline law firm based in Rhode Island that has been recognized by U.S. News & World Report as one of America’s best.
The Challenge
The Results
The Impact
The Challenge
The client engaged ACS to serve as its Managed-IT service provider and we immediately determined that it needed help establishing a much stronger cybersecurity posture on top of its existing technology infrastructure. This conclusion was based on our assessment that the firm had unacceptable exposure to rising challenges like viruses, malware and ransomware. The firm also had concerns about its capacity to meet its evolving legal compliance requirements based on the technology that was in use when it first hired ACS.
The Results
After completing the successful onboarding of the client to our Managed-IT platform, we conducted a comprehensive audit of the client’s cybersecurity protections and did what we call a “red-flag” assessment. This entailed looking at the firm’s entire network environment; inventorying and evaluating its equipment to determine its age, warranty status and anticipated working life; and, its functional capacity to meet the firm’s future needs. We learned that:
- Much of the equipment was dated and out of warranty – with many of the work stations and laptops being more than six-years-old
- The firewalls, switches and access points were antiquated and in dire need of replacement
We also recommended to the firm that it immediately implement four new cybersecurity applications to bolster its existing measures.
Finally, we also brought the client’s operating environment up-to-date by moving its entire workforce on to both Windows 10 (from Windows 7) and Microsoft Office 365 – the goal being to create a safer and more secure environment – and one that would offer the firm’s employees access to a broader array of technology tools to enhance their productivity.
After the initial round of improvements were executed, ACS worked with the client to align its budget with its future IT infrastructure needs – cataloging its equipment and organizing its maintenance and warranty information so that its computers, servers, printers, and peripherals were being updated, repaired and replaced on time. We also helped the firm identify where its IT improvement dollars should be spent in the future. This included recommendations and a schedule for replacing servers, switches, firewalls, and wireless access points at its headquarters.
The Impact
All of this work required a total expenditure of approximately $250,000, but when it was finished, the client had significantly improved its cybersecurity posture, refreshed its critical IT infrastructure, built an IT platform that enhanced productivity, established a game plan for keeping its IT equipment in good working order, and created a budget and plan to ensure it was prepared to make the necessary IT upgrades in the years to come.