Profile:
First, their geographical location has made it difficult to hire and retain qualified technical talent. Secondly, government regulatory compliance and competition for customers require that they remain diligent in the pursuit of cutting edge IT implementation.

Executive Summary:
The FDIC has indicated that banks must consider, among many other aspects:

• Business Continuity Planning,
• Internal and External Threats,
• Risk Assessment, Risk Management,
• Risk Monitoring,
• & Testing.

According to the FDIC reference Handbook, there are many reasons that outsourcing IT could benefit banks including:

• Gain operational or financial efficiencies,
• Increase management focus on core business functions,
• Refocus limited internal resources on core functions,
• Obtain specialized expertise, Increase availability of services,
• Accelerate delivery of products or services through new delivery channels,
• Increase ability to acquire and support current technology and avoid obsolescence,
• & Conserve capital for other business ventures.

The Regional bank wants to begin operating as quickly as possible and is prepared to rely on 85under for critical services. Required aspects of the service will include:

• 24/7 Network Monitoring,
• Data Backups Monitored including test data restores,
• Network Security and Content filtering by Cisco ASA 5500 series & Cisco IPS AIP series appliances,
• & Server redundancy by MS Data Protection Manager.

To reduce the headache of managing email, Microsoft Hosted Exchange will be implemented. Because of the hiring difficulties, all IT at the bank facility as well as bank data housed at the 85under data center will be managed completely under a Pulse 85 managed IT Contract.

Solution:
Phase 1: Planning

• Consult with CEO.
• Design and approve recommended solution.
• Consult with line of business software vendors and core processor to ensure compatibility of new solution.
• Recommend telecom vendor to order voice and data communication services.

Phase 2: Infrastructure

• Procure, build and implement two servers for application and file/print functions.
• Provision Leased Space for dedicated use at the 85under Data Center.
• Provision Software as a Service (SaaS) solution: Microsoft Hosted Exchange.
• Setup Spam/Antivirus Filtering and/or Content Filtering with Software as a Service (SaaS).
• Setup Managed Intrusion Prevention System (Managed IPS) with Cisco ASA 5500 series & Cisco IPS AIP series security appliances.
• Provision Pulse IPS Management to monitor, log and alert on critical security events.
• Provision Pulse 85 to monitor, log, alert and respond to issues.

Phase 3: Application Deployment

• Remotely deploy client side software to workstations and configure automated access to operational software.
• Deploy Microsoft Outlook on Client workstations.
• Deploy content filtering to ensure optimal staff utilization of the network.

Phase 4: Data Security

• Procure and deploy MS Data Protection Manager Redundancy Software on Server located in secondary data center.
• Test server failover capability to satisfy Business Continuity Plan.
• Implement separate SAN (Storage Area Network) for critical data backups and archiving.
• Deploy Barracuda Web Security Appliance to protect users from malicious and inappropriate content.

Summary:

During the FDIC audit, the regional bank was reassured that outsourcing their critical IT needs was the right approach. The auditors reviewed the Pulse85 contract and service level agreement (SLA), which satisfied compliance for many audit items. The ability to review all of the service tickets and maintenance logs also provided clarity in compliance. Staff members from 85under were available to meet with the auditors and answer questions as well as present performance, security and reliability reports. The systems engineer acted as a ‘Virtual Chief Technical Officer' for the bank throughout the process. In addition to the success of the audit, the bank's well managed network is now able to serve the staff and customers alike using the fastest, most secure and stable processes possible.