Utility company tackles security risks with mobile device management

Doing things the traditional way can come back to bite you, especially when it comes to security. Traditionally, access to company data has been controlled by a company’s network, internally or on-site, and IT manages what devices and applications have that access.

But today, with the increasing abundance of mobile applications and enterprise solutions moving to the cloud, companies are losing that control, resulting in an increased risk of a compromised devices or data leak.

For a utility company at which the bring-your-own-device (BYOD) trend was quickly becoming the norm, they face a new, insurmountable task: keeping their data secure.

They needed a solution that would allow them to manage all company-owned and personal devices (both iOS and Android) that access company data, along with the types of information that could be accessed and protection levels. The company wanted to find a way to meet their employees’ needs, stay compliant with industry regulations, and keep their data safe. Uncover the journey this client took to get there.

An Ohio-based utility company already had a mobile device management (MDM) program in place through a third-party vendor, but the additional cost and lacking functionality left them looking for a different way forward. After careful consideration of different mobile device management solutions, they were ready to move forward with Intune, a Microsoft Enterprise Mobility Suite (EMS) product included in their existing subscription.

They turned to our Fusion team’s security experts for solution implementation and to help create a comprehensive MDM program.

This EMS implementation entailed more than rolling out an out-of-the-box solution. In addition to setup and configuration, our team worked with the client to define and create device security and compliance policies.

Additionally, we defined the initial model for data classification and identified requirements for information protection use cases.

They were able to launch their new BYOD management solution to more than 250 people with immediate benefits.

The implementation provided increased security and control by allowing centrally managed identity and access across all devices, the datacenter, and the cloud. In addition to device protection and management, this new solution would also allow them to control access to Office 365 and other applications.