The case study revolves around a global aerospace and defense company that was grappling with the challenges of managing a dispersed workforce. The company had to ensure that its employees, working from various locations, had secure access to the necessary applications and tools. The IT managers were tasked with securing endpoint systems while also dealing with shrinking budgets and changing priorities. The company also had to ensure compliance with the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS), which contains cybersecurity requirements that US Department of Defense (DoD) suppliers and contractors must follow. The company was seeking scalable DFARS-compliant solutions that could be deployed across its international operations. The company also had a long-standing problem of granting local administrative rights to non-IT users, which posed a security risk.

NHS Wales faced a significant challenge during the COVID-19 pandemic as they were forced to transition to remote work. The challenge was a combination of balancing logistical needs with maintaining quality of care. The NHS Wales Informatics Service, responsible for providing national IT systems and services to the Welsh NHS, had to adapt to this new situation. They provide direct IT service and desktop support to approximately 15,000 staff, with 12,000 of those staff members working in general practices in clinical or administrative staff roles, serving approximately three million citizens across Wales. The traditional approach of providing each user with a laptop and a VPN connection was not feasible due to the skyrocketing global demand for laptops. Therefore, they needed a solution that could provide remote access to the systems needed by the GPs.

In March 2020, all 30,000 employees for the state of Illinois were ordered to work from home in response to the spread of COVID-19. This posed a significant challenge for the state’s Department of Innovation and Technology (DoIT), which had to figure out a way to grant employees access to their workstations from their personal devices at home, while also meeting the state’s stringent compliance standards when granting access to critical state applications, systems and information. The state had previously used a variety of remote access solutions, including VPN, but these initiatives could only support up to 5,000 employees and could not scale to the level needed. The state needed a solution that it could implement quickly and with ease.

Chronopost, a leading national player in the express delivery of parcels from France to companies and individuals worldwide, was looking for a remote support solution that could easily integrate into their environment, provide security for both the customer and Chronopost, and could be used fully on the web with minimal disruption to customers’ workstations. They also needed a solution that was compatible with hybrid environments and could support a diverse range of platforms. Additionally, Chronopost needed to extend privileged access security best practices beyond the perimeter to remote workers and third-party vendors. They needed to granularly control the level of access for each of these groups, gain complete visibility and auditability into what was done with that access, and integrate with other service desk tools.

Zensar Technologies, a leading technology consulting and services company, was facing a challenge with privilege distribution and management. The company often granted local administrator rights to users for day-to-day tasks or to install approved software. However, without the ability to define privilege scope, the support team at Zensar was working with limited control over how administrative rights were distributed. This lack of control could potentially conflict with critical software compliance policies and create a bloated attack surface. The team sought a tool that would enhance their privilege management capabilities without disrupting their existing mandatory compliance policies and processes. They also wanted a flexible system for access controls, allowing the IT team to generate new policies and roles based on unique end-user requirements. Lastly, they needed a way to quickly generate privilege reporting across all endpoint assets and users.

The financial institution was facing challenges in validating virtualization security, controlling access, and securely authenticating users. An internal security audit revealed that its VMware ESX systems, Red Hat Linux VM guests, and Solaris systems were configured with file-based methods of user authentication and access control. The staff responsible for user accounts lacked the expertise to manage and synchronize accounts for every type of operating system. The firm was using Active Directory 2003 R2 for its Windows servers. The administrators attempted to implement Active Directory authentication on their ESX hosts by using VMware’s configuration scripts. Although Active Directory’s Kerberos authentication provided single sign on, it provided only part of the desired solution.

Antek HealthWare, a healthcare software provider, was facing challenges in providing fast and effective support for its medical office software products. The company was using a client server-based solution, but as the company expanded its client base, it became clear that this type of software was not up to the task of supporting Antek’s nearly 2,000 clients. The clients had to install the software before any support sessions could be initiated, adding to the time and expense of end-user software implementation. In addition, the software required manual configuration of firewalls in order to allow for high-speed connections. In most instances, Antek’s support representatives had to connect to remote clients through dial-up, making the connection extremely slow. This resulted in longer call times and increased frustration among support representatives.

BankTEL Systems, a provider of financial accounting and cash management software applications, was facing challenges with its existing remote tech support tool, WebEx. The company’s support representatives found that customer end-users often had difficulty following instructions and performing the tasks necessary on their machine to enable a remote support session. Additionally, the remote support team frequently had difficulty maintaining connections to customer servers. The process of connecting to a user's computer sometimes took five to fifteen minutes, which was not acceptable considering that the issue could be resolved in one or two minutes once connected. The company needed a solution that would make the process easier for its end users.

Beringer Associates, Inc. provides design, implementation, and support of Managed Network Services, VOIP phone systems, and CRM software to small and medium-sized businesses. They service over 300 devices and servers for these companies, alongside thousands of end-users. Their growth over the years has been largely based on their reputation for providing excellent service and support to their clients. However, serving customers with distributed sales and field services requires Beringer support reps to be able to access customer desktops no matter where they are located. In addition, many Beringer customers are in the financial services industry and are very concerned with security and audit capabilities. Unfortunately, none of the solutions they used in the past easily enabled remote access through firewalls or had sufficient auditing to meet these needs.

Blum, an international company specializing in the production of functional furniture fittings, was in need of a new remote support solution that would allow their IT department to smoothly communicate with and support traveling employees. The company required a solution that would ensure external companies and service providers weren’t installing their own remote access tools within their company network. The capability for suppliers to connect to Blum’s production plants to manage and support their systems was essential. However, ensuring both employees and vendors meet these strict requirements was a challenge when different remote access solutions were installed. Configuration changes needed to be monitored and logged whenever they were done, which was difficult for administrators to track with multiple support tools in place.

CACTUS Software, a leading provider of credentialing software design and development, needed a remote support solution that could meet their clients' strict data and network access policies. The solution needed to be in-house to reduce the number of parties involved during remote sessions, enhancing trust and security. It also needed to be easy to implement and highly configurable. The high costs associated with common SaaS-based remote support solutions also prompted CACTUS to seek a solution that could provide a tangible return on investment.

Carestream Dental, a company that develops and supports practice management software and digital radiography equipment for oral health professionals, was facing challenges with its remote support system. The company was using pcAnywhere, but the system was unreliable and difficult to use, causing issues with connection and hindering the provision of remote support to clients. The company needed a more reliable and user-friendly solution that could replace the first-generation remote support tools and enable support representatives to easily diagnose, control, and fix remote attended and unattended computers and mobile devices.

Bishop Verot Catholic High School in Fort Myers, Florida provides students with a number of PCs that they can use to complete home work or conduct research. The trouble is that even in the controlled environments of the library and computer labs, students’ online activities can’t be that closely supervised. There aren’t an unlimited number of teachers to watch over their shoulders, after all. At the beginning of each year, students have to sign an acceptable use agreement, which says that they’ll only use computing resources for school purposes. But teens will be teens, and they’ll do their best to challenge authority. Antivirus and Web filtering software give the school some protection and control, but students are savvy and would prefer to have unfettered access to the Internet. “After we installed Web filtering, students began using proxies,” said Jason Castaldo, Bishop Verot’s systems administrator. “ We needed more sophisticated security just to keep up with their workarounds.” Bishop Verot also had to protect the network from malware. No matter how much security training you offer, every IT person knows that end users are still the weakest link in the security chain.

The Central Florida Educators Federal Credit Union (CFE) was having problems with its endpoint security. Their existing endpoint security from Symantec was causing problems. First, CFE end users noticed that their machines were increasingly slow. A quick check of the Task Manager showed high CPU usage tied to Symantec. Next, when the software was updated, old installations often failed to uninstall and created software conflicts, with many unrelated applications failing to work. Finally, Symantec burdened end users with alerts and false alarms. For a small IT staff, these constant problems took too much time away from other IT projects. For instance, CFE is in the process of rolling out a desktop virtualization effort. At one of CFE’s smaller branches, they have already installed dumb terminals connected back to hosted desktops, but constant security troubleshooting has kept them from being as far along on this project as they would like.

Comprehensive Computer Solutions, Inc. (CCS) provides computing solutions for industrial applications, with a significant customer segment in the energy sector. After the 9/11 attacks, CCS was asked by its customers to evaluate security. Prior to this, most of their customers relied solely on perimeter security and proprietary communications channels, which were deemed insufficient post 9/11. CCS's main offering for the energy sector is software that controls the various systems and equipment that generate and deliver electricity. They needed to find a security solution that they could package with their own offerings. The solution needed to be flexible enough to work with Human-Machine Interfaces (HMIs), cost-effective, easy to use, and have a customizable front-end to match the specific needs of power plant IT personnel.

The Washington Savings Bank (TWSB) was facing challenges with its endpoint security. The bank, with five branches and approximately 130 employees, was using Symantec Enterprise Antivirus. However, the renewal price for the license was steadily increasing, leading the bank to consider other options. Additionally, the bank was required to meet stringent compliance standards, including the use of an intrusion prevention system to guard against malicious internal network activity. The hardware-based IPS systems offered by other companies were beyond the bank's budget. The bank also had multiple layers of security, none of which were integrated. The end-user PCs had separate antivirus and antispyware, while they lacked other features such as endpoint firewalls, intrusion prevention, and policy control. The bank had a perimeter firewall, but more and more employees wanted to work from home or as they travelled.

The Iowa Department for the Blind had its main website defaced several years ago, disrupting its services to the blind and visually impaired citizens. The department realized the need for a security solution that could protect against both known and unknown threats. Additionally, the solution had to ensure high performance of the department's range of web applications without causing intrusive security that could undermine the department's goal of accessibility. The department serves approximately 7,000 blind or visually impaired Iowans, offering a variety of services, including library, vocational rehabilitation, independent living services and public education, as well as adjustment and orientation services for the newly blind. Therefore, any disruption to these services was unacceptable.

The customer purchased the PowerBroker privileged account management solution to reduce the risk from security breaches and meet compliance regulations. The challenges they faced included removing local admin rights from users and elevating privileges only when needed. They also needed to log, audit, and report on privileged activities.

Shaw Industries, a global flooring provider, was facing challenges with its IT support system. The company was using multiple remote support solutions to troubleshoot issues users had with their manufacturing terminals, computers, smartphones, and tablets. This resulted in significant limitations, including a lack of security, difficult navigation, and high costs. The company desired to consolidate the number of software tools and licenses in use to enhance the user experience, reduce costs, and increase security. Additionally, the company wanted a solution that could assist users even if they could not connect to Shaw’s virtual private network.

Know How Srl was facing challenges in managing and cycling privileged passwords, which was a security concern. The company was also struggling with the issue of users having local admin rights, which needed to be elevated only when necessary. The company was looking for a solution that could automate and secure the process of managing privileged passwords, eliminate sharing, and remove local admin rights from users. The solution also needed to address compliance regulations such as Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX).

Sora Technologies, a managed service provider, was seeking a remote support solution that would complement its business model, which was based on the idea of doing 80% of their work remotely and maximizing the number of devices they could support per technician. The remote support tool they chose would have a direct impact on successfully executing this business model. They needed a solution that offered high-level security capabilities, as they serve many clients in the healthcare and financial services industries where security is a top priority. They also needed a solution that was easy to use and would enhance productivity.

The University of North Dakota (UND) launched an initiative called 'Exceptional UND' in 2010, aimed at advancing strategic priorities that included facilitating collaboration and enriching the student and faculty experience throughout the University. At that time, UND had nine colleges, eight of which had their own tech support teams. These teams used a variety of remote support tools, including Bomgar. To further the Exceptional UND initiative, the University’s CIO wanted to consolidate the activities of the various tech support teams to ensure that they delivered a unified experience to users. This led the University to evaluate the remote support tools it was using in the hopes of standardizing on one tool that met the entire University’s needs.

The UNC Health Care system had a diverse set of remote support tools and user support workflows as a result of the acquisition over time of numerous regional hospitals, each with their own IT practices in place. UNC Health Care’s executive management set the goal of standardizing IT support across the healthcare system. In addition, UNC Health Care was planning to implement a new electronic health records and hospital management software system with twenty two different modules, and the IT department knew that implementation command center would need an efficient and effective way to provide training and support for thousands of users who would be learning to use the new software.

The University for the Creative Arts (UCA) was facing challenges around remote support on both the business and technical sides. The biggest challenge was supporting an increasing number of staff working remotely and travelling internationally as part of the University’s recruitment and internationalisation strategies. Together with the growing number of different devices being used by staff connecting to the network, this placed new challenges on the University’s service desk and support teams when it came to dealing with requests. UCA has a diverse IT environment to support, incorporating more than 1,500 Apple desktops and laptops; more than 1,450 Windows-based desktops and laptops; a variety of mobile devices, including iPads and BlackBerry devices; and an increasing number of servers, switches and wireless access points. On top of this, there is demand to support mobile devices as BYOD (bring your own device) becomes more popular at UCA.

The University of York, one of the UK’s leading universities, was facing a challenge in providing IT support to its growing student body and staff. The university was using Microsoft’s Systems Management Server (SMS) to provide remote IT support for its managed PCs across campus. However, this solution did not give York’s IT department the ability to provide remote support for additional users, such as those with non-Windows devices, their own laptop on campus or a desktop at their dorm room or home. In addition, the university was planning to implement Office 2007 on its managed PCs which did not support SMS. These challenges prompted the IT department to look for a better solution for remote assistance.

The IT department at the Viterbi School of Engineering, part of the University of Southern California, was facing challenges in providing support to over 600 full-time and part-time faculty, staff, and student employees spread across 20 buildings on and off campus. The existing remote support capability was limited, necessitating frequent on-site visits. This was not only time-consuming but also added to the costs. With the IT environment continually growing and evolving, the department realized the need to improve its incident handling speed and capacity and reduce the need for on-site support visits.

Northumbrian Water Group, a leading public utility in the UK, was facing challenges with its existing service management tool. The tool was inadequate in tracking the performance of the support team and compliance with service level agreements. The end-user experience was also unsatisfactory. The company was transitioning from terminal devices to Windows-based PCs and tablets, which required a new solution for effective remote support. The company's strict security requirements, due to its status as a public utility, also necessitated a solution that would not introduce vulnerabilities to the network infrastructure.

Stribling Equipment, a leading provider of construction and forestry-related products and services, was facing challenges with its tech support team. The team was having difficulty establishing connections with devices used by employees at its 20 stores, as well as its sales team and technicians in the field. This was causing delays and inefficiencies in their operations. The company needed a more robust remote support solution that could reliably connect to a variety of devices and provide the necessary support to its users.

The IT support function for Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust, a small team, needed to provide assistance in a quick, efficient, and secure way. They faced issues with providing support to remote staff that were connecting to the network from home via VPN, particularly on smart devices such as tablets. There was no mechanism in place to support these users, without having them return on-site to the Trust with their device to have their issue addressed. For many remote workers, some of whom were working long distances from the Trust, this just wasn’t a practical solution. A further problem was having the ability to accommodate third parties or contractors who required access to the Trust’s network. It was essential that Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust maintained absolute control and oversight of third party access, only granting entry to the necessary systems and data.

The bank, a globally recognized multinational banking and financial services company, was faced with the challenge of meeting broad data privacy compliance requirements from over 99 countries. As cyber attacks, security breaches and data loss become more commonplace, lawmakers and regulators are seeking to put strong data security legal frameworks in place. The bank is subject to most of these compliance requirements. An internal audit at the bank developed a series of proposed internal policies to meet all the forthcoming compliance regulations with which the bank needed to comply. These proposed policies had three objectives: enable compliance to these regulations across the world; increase protection for their servers, infrastructure, and the data they contain; and support a corporate objective to improve and sustain consumer confidence. To meet these objectives and implement the proposed internal policies, an aggressive reevaluation and investment in their IT security strategy and privilege management practices was needed.