{"id":42901,"date":"2018-05-24T20:45:00","date_gmt":"2018-05-25T00:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jumpcloud.com\/?post_type=resource&p=42901"},"modified":"2022-09-22T13:18:15","modified_gmt":"2022-09-22T17:18:15","slug":"doublestruck-case-study","status":"publish","type":"resource","link":"https:\/\/jumpcloud.com\/resources\/doublestruck-case-study","title":{"rendered":"Doublestruck Case Study: Centralizing Passwords and Securing the Network While Achieving GDPR Compliance"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Doublestruck<\/a> is an innovator in educational technology. They are part of the larger AQA non-profit organization<\/a>, which is one of the five recognized awarding bodies of the public exams system in the UK. DoubleStruck specializes in assessment and reporting tools, called Testbase<\/a> and Exampro<\/a>, that aid primary and secondary school teachers throughout the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When Iain Argent started with Doublestruck as a Software Development Manager, he also took on responsibility for the organization\u2019s IT infrastructure. Argent saw an opportunity to automate manual admin processes, optimize user workflows, and also fortify security. He set out looking for a solution that made it easier for end users to access their tools, and required fewer passwords to remember. In addition, he knew they needed something that could support all three major operating systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s easy for smaller organizations to go without automating IT operations. Many IT tasks are easier to handle manually, as long as the scale is small. This was the type of environment that Argent came into.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhen I arrived at Doublestruck, our IT operations were ad hoc. There was no standard operating procedure for onboarding people. This was one of many processes that my boss wanted me to streamline,\u201d said Argent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI remember that initially we had to draw up a list of all of the resources that people might want to access. Then, when new employees came on board we had to encourage our managers to fill out the list so I knew what resource access to give them. There were typically around seven different resources that we had to create accounts for and get set up prior to each employee starting. We use Gmail\u2122, G Suite\u2122, Google Drive\u2122, Office 365\u2122 for Excel\u00ae, an on-prem file server, and more. Not to mention the presence of Windows\u00ae, Mac\u00ae, and Linux\u00ae systems. Setting up profiles for all of that manually was far from ideal,\u201d Argent said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Even with a small amount of end users, manual tasks like password changes, user creation, and provisioning, can quickly become a huge time sink.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe were really feeling the pain of having a bunch of systems all set up different ways for different users. Our end users were feeling that pain too.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe setup required our users to remember a lot of different passwords,\u201d Argent explained. \u201cThey would have one password for their computer, one for Gmail, one for O365, one for the CRM system, another for the database, and more for any other resource they used.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThen, if an end user couldn\u2019t remember their password it would sometimes lead to them account sharing with a co-worker when they really shouldn\u2019t. So it was not only a hassle for the admins and the end users, it was a security concern as well \u2013 one that would make it very difficult to achieve GDPR compliance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Doublestruck was running into a similar challenge with their network.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe used to have a single, shared WiFi password that we would give to the staff to access the network. Then, we had a separate network that we would provide for guests. We had it set up so that it would be difficult to access resources if you weren\u2019t supposed to. But, if anyone left the company, we had to change the password or else they would be taking the network credentials with them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nCompany:<\/td> Doublestruck<\/td><\/tr> Size:<\/td> \u2248 50 Employees over three sites<\/td><\/tr> Location:<\/td> London, UK<\/td><\/tr> Problem:<\/td> Credential overload, network security<\/td><\/tr> Goal:<\/td> Easier workflow for users, centralize passwords, GDPR compliance<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n Background<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The Challenge<\/h2>\n\n\n\n