IT Management for financial services companies 6

[Pro50]

Hello IT Professionals,

I support and manage an 18 people financial services firm and wondering what is best practice in terms of infrastructure for the organization. The firm manages 700 millions dollars and have 2 locations, Washington DC and Boston. Almost all of our users are on laptops as they travel very frequently between offices and Europe. Our infrastructure is all cloud based with o365, business dropbox for files, 3rd party Cyber Security monitoring service, and no VPN between offices. I'm wondering what is best practice for this size of organization and am if there are any shortcoming with this setup. Thank you in advance for all your support.

 

[LoPath]

If it works, then that's great. There's no need to add any complexity to what you're doing unless there's something that you CAN'T do because of your setup.

LoPath
Maintain HiPath 4000 V5 & V6, OpenScape Xpert V4 & V6, OpenScape Xpressions V7, OpenScape Contact Center V8, OpenScape Voice V9

 

[Pro50]

Thank you, LoPath. I was wondering whether or not I need to set up a network with AD, Print server, DHCP, DNS, Etc. If not, at what point, I should put in an AD and other services? Thanks again.

 

[SamBones]

I love Tek-Tips, but I don't think this is the correct forum to set technical direction for your company. You've given a very vague and general description of your tech and you're seeking anonymous advice from strangers on the Internet.

My advice to you would be to hire a competent company to do a real evaluation of what your company is using, looking at usability, security, and how well it might grow with your company. They will look at the details of where you are currently, details that this forum won't have access to, and then they'll (hopefully) make real usable suggestions.

You mention AD and DHCP, and this and that an the other. You mention great technologies that do great things, but asking strangers on a web site to "OK" them for your company without knowing the details of your company is a little absurd to me. To me that's the same as if I stopped a stranger on the street and asked for medical advice.

You can ask what specific technologies do, and how they might help, but asking if they are right for your company is absurd. This is dangerous to your company. At least that's my take on it.

 

[Salem]

Is your company registered with the SEC -

https://www.sec.gov/

?

Do you know what their best practice guidelines for IT are?

https://www.sec.gov/spotlight/cybersecurity

Could you pass an audit from them?

> Almost all of our users are on laptops as they travel very frequently between offices and Europe.
What happens if a laptop is lost or stolen?
What happens if the user has a silly guessable password?
What happens if you don't actually need a password? Just boot another OS to look at the disk and jackpot, all the files.

> Our infrastructure is all cloud based with o365, business dropbox for files,
Who has the encryption keys for any data that you have no physical control over?

https://www.wired.com/2016/08/hack-brief-four-year-old-dropbox-hack-exposed-68-million-peoples-data/

> and no VPN between offices.
Please don't tell me your operatives just phone home over any random open WiFi hotspot they can find on their travels.

https://www.google.com/search?q=dangers+of+open+wifi

Just hang up a big neon "hack me" sign if they do.


--
If you dance barefoot on the broken glass of undefined behaviour, you've got to expect the occasional cut.

 

[Pro50]

Thank you, all. Great suggestions. Will definitely look into the many area you guys have highlighted. Thank you again for your honest inputs.

 

[SamBones]

Great post Salem. A star for you.