Case Studies
Ajax Network Solutions’ Helps the Bank Enhance Network Security and Compliance
The Situation
The client is a fast-growing private sector bank that extends commercial, retail and mortgage banking, across key cities in India. With the expansion of its operations, the bank’s network footprint also grew significantly. It was finding management and ongoing compliance of the network challenging. Further, substantial amount of time and effort was also channelized towards audits.
According to the bank’s Head of Network Security, “The bank’s continued growth and focus on customer-centricity required us to continuously monitor the network. With over 2500 users across the bank, it was getting increasingly challenging given the limited number of resources available to undertake multiple tasks like looking at logs and checking for anomalies as well as making changes on the network.”
The Solution
The bank looked at outsourcing several core aspects of its network security including compliance, audit and configuration change management. It evaluated a number of vendors before selecting Ajax Networks. By outsourcing, the bank achieved critical separation of duties and enjoyed peace of mind with Ajax Networks’ regulatory compliance guarantee. Moreover, it realized a level of security coverage that would be difficult even with additional staff.
Ajax Network’s provided the bank with one console view of Firewall for Configuration, Management and Security Audit. It helped the bank effectively address compliance requirements relating to network security, data safety, access control, and accountability. Ajax’ compliance report helped the bank configure Firewall rules, which prevented potentially dangerous access to network by allowing only those network hosts that are required.
The bank’s Head of Network Security stated, “We have absolute faith in Ajax’s knowledge and capability. They are an extension of the team within the bank and provide us with 24x7x365 security operations. We have seen them alert and agile – springing into action based on the type of problem, either automatically blocking questionable traffic or alerting the proper personnel at the bank.”
Ajax also ensured the following benefits to the bank:
Reduced IT staff hiring costs – Ajax’s service ensured that most of the previous monitoring and management activities carried out manually were replaced with automated solutions. This ensured the bank did not have to look at new hires.
Improved staff productivity – Having outsourced most of the routine activities to Ajax Networks, the IT staff at the bank was able to focus on other important IT priorities.
Reduced support cost for compliance and audits– Ajax was able to help the bank more effectively monitor security systems in real-time and prepare for compliance audits, resulting in cost savings from reduced internal staff requirements which would have been otherwise warranted.
Licensing and management costs nullified– With Ajax Network’s services, the bank could eliminate several network security point solutions leading to substantial savings.
Key Benefits
With the ability to view and monitor the entire bank’s security and compliance in real time through a single view, the team was able to address threats immediately and complete compliance reporting easily. The network security team was able to see all network access and usage, any attempted breaches of security, and any changes to the firewall’s configurations.
The team at the bank was able to receive monthly reports with an overview of network activity, which could be presented to the senior management and technical personnel and regulators, providing each group with relevant information specific to their requirements and technical understanding.