Brooks Macdonald migrates to private cloud for seamless acquisition growth

Enhancing security and compliance

Security and compliance are critically important to Brooks Macdonald. The company manages a wealth of sensitive client data, and many of its clients are high-net-worth individuals and powerful financial institutions. Taking security protocols to the next level was another aspect of the transformation program.

“Our existing security model was so fragmented,” said Abbondanza. “We basically threw everything out and started again, with an aim of simplifying and improving its effectiveness.”

Brooks Macdonald engaged Rackspace Managed Security Services, incorporating the latest version of its Proactive Detection and Response service for 24x7x365 protection against advanced persistent threats (APTs). This new security offering dovetailed with the new cloud architecture, offering a single-pane view and creating a more holistic approach to monitoring activity and assessing threats.

“For us, it all comes down to protecting the crown jewels: our clients’ data,” explained Abbondanza. “It is one of our key business drivers, and why we remain a trusted operator in this space. We’ve been able to make it a point of difference from our competitors, being able to demonstrate the measures we have in place to our clients and partners. The investments made today also help us safeguard ourselves against future threats as best as we can.”

Abbondanza revealed, “We’ve already seen how quickly the threat landscape can change. Right now, for instance, we’ve seen an increase in the use of imitation sites and impersonation attacks, as well as a lot of phishing attempts. Having a partner like Rackspace Technology to work with gives us the assurance that we will be prepared for anything.”

The levels of security now in place helped support negotiations for cyber insurance. “Often there are restrictions and caveats attached to any cyber insurance agreement,” said Abbondanza. “We were able to obtain a competitive premium with no restrictions, entirely because of the comfortable levels of security we were now able to demonstrate, and the clarity and transparency of our systems.”

Prepared for multicloud

With a streamlined and secure private cloud infrastructure in place, Brooks Macdonald can now explore additional services to enhance its technology offering.

“What Rackspace Technology has given us now is a strong foundation,” said Clow. “We know we can draw on excellent working relationships with their team and that gives us the confidence to consider new approaches. From our work to date, we know we can go to Rackspace Technology and get the best possible counsel on what we are thinking of doing and what the right approach for us would be.”

Clow added, “If we think about CRM, for example, we no longer have to look elsewhere and have multiple conversations — it all falls under the Rackspace Technology umbrella. It is like going to a department store, with every possible option available to us — it’s just a case of deciding which services or combinations will add the most value to our operation.”

One likely development for the future will be the addition of a public cloud offering to enable Brooks Macdonald to operate in a multicloud environment. “Multicloud feels like a logical step for us,” said Abbondanza. “We are already considering the benefits of public cloud from Azure, in continuation of our existing partnership with Microsoft and in consultation with Rackspace Technology, a recognized leader in multicloud.”