Case Study: Audit of the IT infrastructure of a charity

XYZ Charity* supports victims of XXX. Around 15 staff work from its London office. Over the years their IT infrastructure had mushroomed. And with no dedicated in-house IT staff to consult with, the Managing Director decided to seek external expert help to assess whether their organically grown set of systems was indeed the right equipment for them.

After an audit of their existing systems I concluded that, broadly, their infrastructure was indeed fit for purpose. However, I found a number of areas where some improvements could be achieved:

• Keep the existing IP-based telephone system: A few years ago, XYZ Charity replaced their analogue phone switch and deskphones with a Cisco VoIP solution. While the dependency on Cisco to administer the switch (at significant consultancy rates) caused XYZ charity some unease, on balance I recommended they keep the system. Not only would a change back to an analogue system be very expensive, it would also represent a step back in terms of technology. The future of telephony is IP.
• Network security: I detected a network vulnerability. I counselled against the options of either using the existing Cisco switch as a firewall or of installing a dedicated firewall product such as Checkpoint on the grounds that this would further increase XYZ Charity's dependency on proprietary systems that they cannot manage themselves. Instead I proposed the use of the firewall functionality embedded in their ADSL router.
• Back-up: XYZ Charity had already implemented an automated and well thought-through back-up routine of their office servers. My suggestion was to add an element of off-site storage, particularily after a break-in into the office building brought home just how easy it could have been to steal server and the back-up media. I recommended the use of BT's Digital Vault, an inexpensive service which backs up data automatically over the Internet to a virtual storage space held by BT.
• Internet connectivity: A review of XYZ Charity's Internet usage revealed that a more appropriate broadband tariff from their ISP would yield some savings.

XYZ Charity chose to implement my recommendations themselves, with the exception of the configuration of their new firewall, which I carried out. I also took a member of staff through the firewall operation to put them into a position where they can make small changes when necessary.

Though this project did not result in any major change to XYZ Charity's IT infrastructure, the Managing Director valued the validation of their approach by an external IT professional: "I thank you for your support and advice, Patrick." The main immediate benefit of my involvement is increased network security, without introducing additional costs nor complexities.

* Name of the charity changed due to the sensitive nature of their work.