when security matters
As the Manager Operations of the Police Credit Union, Bronwyne Rozier has a big job. She must absolutely ensure the organisation’s IT systems, which house and manage all members’ personal details and sensitive financial histories, are totally secure and impregnable. It was time to update and introduce a new IT system.
After a rigorous and comprehensive review, including meeting all the recommendations in the Government’s Chief Information Office’s Cloud Risk Assessment Tool, a thorough and independent vendor audit by KPMG, and an examination by the Audit and Risk sub-committee of the Credit Union’s Board, Layer3 was chosen as the IT provider to do the job.
no risks taken
“We could not afford to take any risks with our IT provider,” Bronwyne says. “The data we hold on our members means we must have in place IT and data management and protection systems that are as secure as any bank.
“Layer 3 has done an absolutely superb job. The project was very complex, very demanding and very important. But they handled it professionally and pleasantly and we are totally confident the levels of security we demanded have been met.”
a blank canvas
The project started when the Credit Union opted to establish its own IT and data management clouded systems after having used an “in house” system previously. Basically, this involved setting up a whole new system from scratch.
Initially, the plan was to develop a public cloud-based system, but the decision was made to invest in a private cloud system, hosted in New Zealand, to ensure greatly enhanced security.
What Layer3 subsequently developed involves (in technical terms) the use of secure virtual private tunnels that connect to a secure private cloud environment that is protected by an advanced virtual firewall which analyses all traffic traveling through the device. This all amounts to a high level of security.
Interruption of services to members was minimal and Layer3’s no fuss, happy to help attitude on the day went a long way toward making the transition painless for both staff and members.
“This was a major undertaking and I was amazed at how easily and smoothly everything happened on the actual day,” Helen Hatchard, Credit Union Chief Executive Officer says.
As well as designing the systems the Credit Union would use, Layer3 also migrated all data from existing in house servers, including Lotus Notes to Office 365 and replaced all the Credit Union’s IT hardware. All the existing wiring and connectivity was replaced by subcontractors across 2 sites, of whom Layer3 managed very effectively.
Bronwyne Rozier concludes, “I can’t recommend Layer3 highly enough through the phases of design, installation and now ongoing support.”
"once the seven month project was complete and before any data was transferred to the new system, the credit union had kpmg run penetration tests on the layer3 system. as expected layer3’s system passed the tests."