WA Government Performs Modernisation and Security Uplift With Azure and M365

Spearheading their biggest ICT modernisation project yet, Satalyst, part of Canon Business Services Australia, helped the agency migrate their outdated on-prem servers, Exchange and Office to Azure and Microsoft 365 and swapped out their Citrix remote access to Azure Virtual Desktop. To protect from threats, ensure business continuity and empower their employees to work safely from anywhere, Satalyst rolled out full-featured Microsoft 365 E5 Security and deployed Azure Sentinel.

The challenge:

A restricted overview of a dated operating environment

Before Satalyst’s engagement, the agency had a restricted overview of their dated operating environment. They were running Exchange 2010, on-prem infrastructure, and Citrix for remote access. Their only cloud instance was Dynamics 365, which was not synched to the on-prem AD environment. They had problems with controlling access and out-of-compliance devices. Employees were unable to work securely from home, and of most concern, the agency was unclear on how secure their network was and lacked in preparedness to respond to cybersecurity incidences.

Goals driving modernisation and security uplift:

• Modernise infrastructure
• Uplift security and protect the whole operating environment
• Improved and secure experience for remote working
• Control access of non-compliant / out of compliance devices
• Gain visibility of cybersecurity incidents and events across the environment
• Effectively respond to cybersecurity incidents and events
• Engaging a Gold Microsoft Partner for Cloud and Security

The Solution:

Satalyst conducted a comprehensive security assessment of the agency’s operating environment to identify cybersecurity gaps and provided actionable next steps and recommendations to enable the agency to reach their business goals. Satalyst worked with the agency to help them understand all the benefits they could derive from not only an infrastructure migration to Azure, but from a comprehensive Microsoft 365 implementation and advanced threat detection with Azure Sentinel. Satalyst maximised all the tools and features available from E5 Security licence aligning with the agency’s business objectives and risk profile. Ensuring a successful rollout with minimal disruption to business as usual, Satalyst used its own IP for removal of old software and rapid deployment of new tools and features of O365. Satalyst also used IP for scripts, playbooks, automation rules, etc. for deploying Azure Sentinel rapidly and efficiently.

The Results:

A modern and secure operating environment delivered

End state is a modern and secure operating environment allowing ultimate control and protection of data, users, applications, and devices across all of their seven worksites. The M365 cloud solutions have greatly improved employee experience to work collaboratively online and remotely without compromising security. The agency can now remotely manage devices, protect employee identities, and limit access to assets and cloud services to multi-factor authenticated users and just-in-time privileged access. The agency is now confident in the robustness of its security posture with Azure Sentinel providing visibility of cybersecurity incidents and events across the entire environment with a robust set of tools to detect and respond to threats before they do harm.

Ongoing enhancing of security posture with Managed Security Services

With migrations and change management complete, Satalyst continues to help the agency optimise their new operating environment and keep it as secure as possible. Satalyst manages the cloud and infrastructure for the agency and provides managed services for Azure Sentinel security monitoring and response.