Protect Your Profits and Your Reputation

Kevin Herring, Pet Valu

Scott Penfound, President & CEO

A retail financial services company with 17 branches in Ontario aimed to rebrand and expand its services across Canada. The company transitioned from solely providing foreign currency exchange services to include range of services such as account management, debit cards, and ATM transactions across Canada and internationally.

These new services required a more robust network infrastructure with significant security enhancements, strict compliance requirements, and ongoing support for the extensive information technology needs demanded by a Canadian bank. As a result, the company’s outdated systems and network needed more modern software and hardware. The client had zero tolerance for downtime during this crucial period in its business growth.

In addition to the technology requirements of its retail outlets, the client was also building a new head office from scratch, which required a complete overhaul of its network infrastructure. Since the physical expansion and the client’s retail offering expanded simultaneously, the network development and employee changeover needed a well-managed and seamless approach.

Infrastructure

• Upgraded workstations across all branches, coordinating purchase of 56 new Windows 7 devices with XP VMs, and PREPARED using Horn’s in-house imaging lab prior to deploying devices on site.
 Virtualized a legacy, DOS-based application that previously could run only on XP machines to allow it to run on upgraded, Windows 7 machines and enabled the client to transition to new software while retaining the ability to work on the old system.
• Deployed our custom cloud environment to create hosting business infrastructure that allowed all of the company’s employees to access email, file server and domain services
• Built out new head office infrastructure to expand from 4 workstations to more than 30. Worked with contractors and cabling company to design proper networking setup for local servers and active directory, essentially creating the network from the ground up.

Security

• Worked with a major telecommunications company to set up an MPLS network (private internet) circuit at all 17 branches as well as head office. This allows secure routing of all traffic through The Client’s domain controller and means that all geographically diverse locations can be controlled and treated as if they are all on one, single corporate network.
• Provided security consulting services related to the preparation and management of ISO compliant Business Continuity Planning and Disaster Recovery preparation.
• Provided access to Recovery Planner tool for the development, maintenance and execution of BCP documentation, as well as ongoing training related to the tool.

Support

• Horn established an IT Help Desk available to all of The Client’s branches and employees with formal ticketing and issue tracking services, and technical resources allocated for 24x support by phone, email and in-person.

“In the early days of our application process with OSFI, our management team quickly realized that our organization would require the services of an organization that specialized in some of the key core areas related to IT; Infrastructure, Security, Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery, IT Governance, monitoring and incident support.

We found the staff and team at Horn IT to be extremely professional and responsive to our needs. Perhaps their greatest contributions came in the other key areas of IT; Business Continuity and Planning and Data Security.

Their expertise and breadth of knowledge allowed us to deliver and implement quickly and cost effectively. There was never the need to go outside to seek additional vendor services.

I can say with great confidence if not for the partnership and relationship forged with Horn IT, our company would not have achieved the milestones and objectives in the efficient manner executed.”

VINCE CARERE, CIO