Case Study
FTI Technology Establishes Robust Information Governance and Data Protection for German Investment Firm
After a high-value, high-profile investment firm in Germany experienced an incident of information theft, the organisation’s leaders realised the company was facing significant risk due to weaknesses in its approach to data protection and information governance. FTI Technology partnered with the organisation’s law firm to quickly assess existing practices and implement a new framework to reduce overall risk.
Situation
Many organisations are lacking the IT, information governance and security measures they need to adequately protect sensitive information. That was the case with this firm, which was at an elevated risk due to the sensitive financial information it stored on behalf of its investment clients. Despite its high-risk profile and high volume of confidential documents, the firm was storing its documents and conducting business in multiple cloud environments with minimal protections.
Once the firm’s leaders recognised the severity of the situation, they sought to remedy the issue quickly, adding an element of urgency for FTI Technology and the law firm to complete the assessment and implement new measures. However, the firm did not have a dedicated IT department, leaving the team to evaluate and map the organisation’s IT and data infrastructure without any internal guidance.
Our Role
With deep expertise in Microsoft 365 and information governance best practices, FTI Technology developed a robust plan to quickly bring the firm’s environment into a risk-resilient position.
The project team provided the following solutions:
- Investigated and identified all potential data risks across the organisation’s systems to establish a comprehensive scope of governance and security needs. This included evaluating email storage, information security controls, device management processes and incident response practices.
- Developed sensitivity labels for classification, insider risk management and other data protection needs.
- Created, implemented, configured and tested policies to address data privacy, data access, device use and more.
- Established automations within SharePoint to help the firm streamline processes and digitize their work for greater efficiency and compliance.
- Provided training and change management to help the firm effectively transition to the new system and policies.
Our Impact
Over a short time-period, FTI Technology transitioned the firm from a high-risk position to a state of strong information governance and data protection with more than 40 data-related policies and processes implemented to uphold stronger privacy, security and governance. This significantly reduced legal, regulatory and financial risks for the high-profile investment firm.
FTI Technology quickly became a trusted advisor to the firm for all types of data risks and challenges. The team provides ongoing support for Microsoft 365 to flag potential issues and adjust processes as needed.
The project also spurred momentum for the firm’s digital transformation providing new efficiencies, automation and faster processes.