Afford, one of Australia’s most established disability service providers, has supercharged its IT infrastructure with Enablis, a leading Australian Managed Security Service Provider, marking a transformative leap in security, efficiency, and future readiness.
“We now have a state-of-the-art network to work effectively in a secure environment from any location,” said, Paul Berryman, Director IT.
Future-driven innovation
As one of the Australia’s largest disability Service Providers Afford has more than 70 years of experience working with clients, their families, and carers to achieve their goals and dreams in life and work.
Afford is a registered National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) provider, a Not-for-Profit organisation and a registered charity with the Australian Charities and Not-for-Profits Commission (ACNC). The Afford team works with clients across Australia in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia.
Their mission is to provide innovative, flexible and high-quality support to enhance lifestyle, learning and vocational opportunities for people with a disability and their families and carers.
“It was a chief priority for the organisation to lift and futureproof its data, digital and IT systems and security,” said Berryman.
Afford’s ‘strategic’ business objectives
The leading disability service provider outlined key business objectives to enhance its operational efficiency and security. These objectives include:
- meeting increased regulatory requirements for Right Fit for Risk Certifications (RFFR) and future ISO27001 frameworks
- building a scalable and high-performance network infrastructure to support future growth and transformation initiatives
- ensuring a consistent and high level of security with continuous inspection and simplified policy control across the whole users estate to mitigate cyber risks.
Additionally, Afford aims to provide an excellent user experience and enable clients in the best way; to improve network capacity for future digitisation initiatives, and manage remote equipment (including workstations and printers) effectively in a geographically dispersed organisation. These goals are set within the constraints of the existing budget while maintaining visibility of security and application performance.
“Our systems, information technology and digital infrastructure are vitally important to Afford as we build towards our future. These systems underpin the services we deliver to clients, as they are a key business priority. Much like our practice in “Disability Supports,” our digital infrastructure and data management must ensure safeguarding, respect, privacy and integrity are paramount because they are promises we make to our clients and employees.” said Paul Berryman, Director IT.
Comprehensive IT solution
Enablis worked closely with Afford’s IT Director to understand all the organisation’s requirements and future objectives.
“The Enablis team went through an iterative process designing the best architecture options based on the new SASE framework designs utilising Palo Alto Networks Prisma Access and Prisma SD-WAN services,” said Berryman.
Enablis also reviewed bandwidth needs at each site type and provided a total solution to offer managed services across network carriage, Prisma Access and SD-WAN that addressed all compliance and technical needs.
GlobalProtect, for its part, enables protection to mobile workforces by extending the protections of Palo Alto Networks Prisma Access.
“GlobalProtect allows myself and the entire team to connect securely no matter where we are. I don’t have to do anything. It’s always on,” added Berryman.
Meanwhile, Prisma Access uses a common cloud-based infrastructure to deliver all the network security services Afford needs, including Advanced Threat Prevention, URL Filtering, sandboxing, DNS security, credential theft prevention, data loss prevention, and Next-Generation Firewalls (NGFWs).
Tangible Security Benefits
Following strategic enhancements in its IT infrastructure, Afford has achieved a significant milestone: “Afford has now been able to deploy consistent security to all locations. We are able to extend a unified and robust security policy from the head office to the branch to the home or anywhere,” added Berryman.
Additionally, here are some key highlights:
- Implemented a unified managed SASE solution organisation-wide;
- Ensured robust and consolidated security;
- Maintained a secure environment for all staff;
- Enhanced capabilities to secure new business and tenders; and
- Improved performance, enhancing end-user experience and satisfaction for all employees.
“With Enablis and Palo Alto Networks we know we have a highly secure and future proofed infrastructure that will allow our organisation to transform to the needs of our clients without needing to rearchitect or change the foundational services,” Berryman said.
Afford also now has true flexibility to drive digital initiatives securely with increased user experience, he added.
“Our IT teams are now on the front foot and can be so much more proactive with support ticket resolution – the number of tickets has reduced significantly. They are also freed up to be much more proactive around our security compliance needs.”
Empowering Secure Growth
Berryman explained that the network and SASE framework have provided the confidence to build systems and processes to effectively run the organisation. In fact, Enablis and the SASE framework have provided a solid foundation for secure growth.
“SASE provides a comprehensive framework that integrates networking and security services. A SASE architecture strengthens our security posture and optimises our network infrastructure for the future,” added Berryman.
“Prisma SASE has provided Afford with robust security coverage and great end user experience with easy application access from any location in line with our organisational objectives. It has been easy to manage as the network and cloud security are integrated.”
Additionally, the Prisma SASE solution has app-defined policies, which simplify network and security operations using machine learning and automation. It uses a common cloud-based infrastructure to deliver all the network security services Afford needs, including Advanced Threat Prevention, URL Filtering, sandboxing, DNS security, credential theft prevention, data loss prevention, and NGFW.
“Enablis are outcome-focused and deliver on their promise. Following the implementation by Enablis’ expert security and networking team, Prisma SASE is easy to manage as a result of the SD-WAN and cloud security being integrated,” Berryman added.
To explore your security posture, please contact Enablis HERE. You can also register your interest in taking a Palo Alto Networks’ SASE test drive HERE.