ECL Group is a leading technical services company specialising in fuel systems and technology solutions.
Operating throughout New Zealand we have more than 250 employees who specialise in looking after the critical technical equipment that is vital in maintaining business operations.
"When we started engaging with them, Layer3 brought this rich capability to the conversation in such an easy and pragmatic way. These guys are great. They’re pragmatic and they’re smart. They work well as a team, and they work well with our team."
Only reliable infrastructure and systems will do
ECL Group specialises in fuel systems and technology solutions, providing the slick systems that help petrol stations manage fuel and point-of-sale systems. The aim is to keep fuel in vehicles, keep things up and running, and enable people to get around and do what they need to do.
ECL Group depends on reliable systems. ‘If a disaster or weather event occurs, like the Hawke’s Bay cyclone, our people have to be able to trust and rely on the technology and systems,’ says Dave Roberts, Chief Executive.
That’s where Layer3 comes in. As company Director Hayden Kirk says, “The work ECL Group does is important. We’ve got to look after all their infrastructure, making sure it’s reliable, robust, and secure, so that they can do their job.”
From Office 365 migration to solid partnership
ECL Group’s relationship with Layer3 developed over time:
- from Layer3 managing a business-wide migration to Office 365
- to taking over management of ECL Group’s infrastructure and improving support
- to helping clean, rationalise, and tighten the security of their infrastructure
- to taking over full management and support of the business, users, hardware, security, and IT strategy.
The Layer3 team worked out what the problems were, prioritised work to get quick wins, and created road maps for the middle- and long-term.
Making continual, proactive improvements
Once they took over, Layer3 proactively implemented a range of improvements. Steve Scott, ECL Group’s IT Manager, says, “Layer3 have more capabilities than other IT providers of their size, but they also bring a better level of human experience than we could find with the enterprise-level providers.”
Boosting transparency with enhanced reporting and real-time dashboards
Layer3 significantly helped to improve ECL Group’s documentation and reporting systems. The organisation is now equipped with real-time dashboards, in-depth reporting, and a custom service board for in-house ticketing. The service board ensures full transparency of the company's ticket history.
Serving staff faster and better, and answering questions round the clock
They implemented fast SLAs on support response and resolution, and deployed a Microsoft Teams application that allows ECL staff to get IT support with a few clicks of a button. To enable staff upskill and find information quickly, Layer3 established a bespoke knowledge base and an on-demand library of useful training courses.
ECL staff are now also monitored for human risk management with cyber security awareness training and regularly phishing attack simulations. To improve the support experience and deal with areas like staff onboarding/offboarding and procurement, Layer3 also provided staff augmentation with a dedicated onsite, inhouse human resource.
To keep track of staff satisfaction, Layer3 tracks user feedback with every service ticket, with results reported transparently to ECL Group management.
Ensuring infrastructure is lean, up to date, and secure
To make sure infrastructure is reliable and efficient, Layer3 updated end-of-life servers and decommissioned unneeded servers. They also replaced the backup and replication process, conducted hardening exercises, and deployed managed security.
Taking a standardised approach to tighter security
Layer3 implemented a number of policy-based security measures across the ECL Group environment, such as conditional access, managed endpoint encryption, and multifactor authentication (MFA).
Application control is another security baseline established by Layer3. Intune mobile device management and mobile application management was deployed, along with remote device management and managed patching. Each month, Layer3 evaluate updates and patches based on security scores (urgency), and deny any that may adversely affect systems.
ECL Group was also introduced to application allowlisting (whitelisting). This powerful solution increases security for desktops and laptops by allowing only pre-approved and secure applications and blocking everything else out of the box. However, users trying to install new apps get a popup box to submit an quick, simple approval request.
Creating consistent strategies and thinking ahead
Several actions aligned ECL Group’s IT strategies. Layer3 introduced virtual CIO services, which give the ECL leadership teams and Board of Directors valuable insights into the organisation’s IT and security position. Layer3 regularly carries out technology and risk assessments, forecasting, and business continuity planning.
“We really value working with Layer3,” adds Steve Scott. “They’ve brought a far greater level of expertise across a broader range of skill sets than we had internally.”
Layer3’s approach is one of continuous improvement, with an infrastructure refresh and security upgrades already being planned for the next phase of progress.
“Layer3 proactively monitor and maintain our critical infrastructure and they’re so responsive too.”