Secure M365 E5 Implementation

A MDS MICROSOFT SUCCESS STORY 

MDS revamped a leading insurance company of almost 3,000 users to be more collaborative and secure.

The Challenge

The client had a need for easier collaboration within the organization, but their security posture was in need of substantial development. The customer was hoping to consolidate the number of vendors they used, to help them be more cost-effective.

The Solution

After conducting an assessment of their environment, MDS was able to not only develop a technology implementation plan, but also secured them $148K in funding from Microsoft. MDS implemented the following: 

  • Microsoft Teams migration and rollout.
  • E5 Security & Compliance tools that met the compliance standards through Microsoft guided tasks. Technologies include:
    • Identity & Access Management (AAD P2, AAD Protection & risky users, AAD conditional access)
    • Cloud Security (MCAS protection SaaS, O365, SharePoint, OneDrive)
    • Data security & governance (Azure AIP for data classification & labeling)
    • Endpoint security (Windows ATP Defender, endpoint security consolidation)
    • Threat Hunting (Windows ATP Defender Threat Hunting, Azure Sentinel)
    • Network & AD Security (Azure ATP)
    • Device security & management (Intune for Windows device management, Intune for MDM & MAM, Endpoint encryption & security management, conditional access)
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The Result

MDS was able to do a complete overhaul of the client’s security posture, while also empowering their employees to be collaborative. These changes proved to be beneficial when COVID-19 forced their entire workforce to be remote. As a whole, the results were: 

  • The number of vendors was cut in half, from roughly 40 to 20. Vendor consolidation enabled the customer through:
    • Cost-saving and budget allocation to modern security
    • Increased operational efficiency and reduced duplication security tools
    • Unified and integrated security controls that enable the customer for advance conditional access and threat response
    • Improvement adopting the new Microsoft Windows and application update lifecycle
    • Enabled the client for future integration in Azure security, data governance, on-premises applications, and collaboration tools
  • The client is now collaborating more effectively and securing through Microsoft Teams.
  • Another big takeaway for them is their ability to work in a more unified manner and with more visibility with Microsoft Intune.
  • Intune is also being utilized for any patching and Windows updates which were previously a big challenge for their organization.