This New York-based bank* is a leading provider of financial services carefully fitted to meet the needs of the professional services industry. As it grew and expanded its banking services and products, the bank needed a new IT infrastructure befitting its long-term goals. What began as a single-project contract developed into an ongoing strategic partnership with technical excellence at the core.
They maintain a commercial and retail customer base in the New York metro area, with clients ranging from SMBs to enterprises. Their banking services and product suite favor a high-tech/high-touch approach, with customized offerings to meet client needs. The bank prides itself on recognizing the unique demands and pressures within the law community and providing quality and complementary business solutions.
As their clientele grew, they responded by opening more branches. While this expansion aligned with the bank's long-term growth strategy, they encountered a problem. These disparate locations were struggling to efficiently collaborate and share information. They recognized that their problem would need to be remediated before expansion could continue. Although they had been working with a local Managed Services Provider (MSP), they knew this vendor couldn't facilitate the technical overhaul. It was at this point that they reached out to iCorps for enterprise-level counsel.
When the bank approached iCorps, they presented a brief, single-project contract. iCorps' technicians began implementing a third-party, on-demand file synchronization and content delivery solution. This platform supported high-volume server transactions, enterprise-level backup, data migration, and home directory integration. iCorps was able to ensure efficient, secure collaboration between branch offices. The bank was so pleased with their results that they hired iCorps for full-time technical support.
Following the success of their branch unification project, the bank signed on as an Encompass client. iCorps' Encompass program was the ideal fit, providing proactive day-to-day and strategic support and CIO guidance. Furthermore, Encompass ensured them unlimited help desk support, onsite scheduled maintenance visits, and 24/7 monitoring. After signing on as an Encompass client, they were fitted with a highly available, redundant, and scalable system.
iCorps' experts created a hybrid framework that leveraged on-premise and cloud-based resources. Technicians modernized the bank's hardware infrastructure, hardened their network for improved security, and implemented vulnerability management for continuous monitoring and assessment. Employee email was migrated to Office 365, which increased their Service Level Agreement (SLA), decreased their physical footprint, and optimized on-premise spend. As resources were moved to the cloud, technicians also used applications like Microsoft Insight to view resource use across the network. This allowed for further financial optimization.
As a financial institution, the bank was aware of the regulatory and compliance requirements informing its growth. As such, they needed their IT infrastructure to match these regulations while aggressively protecting against security or disaster events. They chose to leverage Microsoft solutions, reassured by the company's commitment to compliance and transparency. iCorps installed Windows 10 and Advanced Threat Protection, designed to help prevent, detect, investigate, and respond to threats.
Another component of their security strategy was the implementation of Microsoft Entra ID (Formerly Azure Active Directory). Active Directory is the foundation for an identity management service that monitors potential vulnerabilities in a business's identities and reports and responds to suspicious incidents. The bank used Microsoft Entra ID and cloud apps to monitor end-users and identify potential security liabilities. Microsoft Insight also informed this monitoring, providing data on system operation and user behavior.
The final strategic piece was the implementation of desktop multi-factor authentication. This layering has since been critical in maintaining end-user security. The bank's network was also "air-gapped," physically isolated from potentially unsecured networks. With regular system patching, inventory management, and data recovery/back-up, they now have an infrastructure that aligns with industry best-practices and government regulations.
Although the bank approached iCorps as a single-project solution, they recognized the opportunity for strategic partnership. Throughout its digital evolution, iCorps has continued to provide enterprise-grade solutions, helping to shape a vision for the future of its bank.
*Name has been redacted for privacy
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