CRN Impact Awards 2023: Ericom helps charity comply with strict data privacy guidelines

Sydney-based managed services provider Ericom enhanced the cybersecurity of St John Ambulance Victoria to the ensure the data of patients across the state are kept private.

The project was recognised as the best in the Trusted Systems category at the 2023 CRN Impact Awards last month.

Ericom was tapped to help St John meet the strict data privacy guidelines of the federal government's Essential 8 cybersecurity regime.

St John exists to help those who are in sickness, distress, suffering or danger.

The charity has over 1,800 volunteers who support hospitals and ambulance services across the Victoria.

The goal of the project was to uplift the protection of patient and staff privacy to the highest level within two years, requiring a complete transformation of St John’s security capability across seven sites.

It took Ericom just 26 weeks to achieve this goal by delivering top-tier security functionality from a base of nearly zero.

A nine-person team delivered on Ericom's promise to deliver the project on time and within budget, with minimal disruption to St John's 24/7 working environment.

The project enhanced St John's cybersecurity posture to significantly reduce the risk of cyberattack and reputational damage, providing the tools to effectively detect potential exploits.

It also paved the way to achieving ISO 27001 certification - the gold standard of information security management.

Ericom also helped the charity reduce the costs associated with its private internet network by 40 per cent over three years.

This was achieved by upgrading from multiprotocol label switching to new network edge technology that uses software defined WAN.

Cybersecurity is now ensured not only for St John's office-based staff, but also those using remote access.

St John's CFO at the time of the project Michael Spencer commended Ericom for the exceptional support it has provided for over five years.

“We have worked closely with Ericom (M2K prior to acquisition) over the years as not just another IT vendor but a critical partner that understands our needs and our mission.

Their support of not only our day-to-day operations but support of our relentless pursuit of countless digital solutions has always been of the highest quality," Spencer said.

"There has never once been consideration about utilising another vendor as they have never given us a reason to doubt their advice and support over five plus years."

"For me, this speaks volumes about the value of a partner like Ericom in an environment where rapid change is the norm and the differences in quality between IT vendors are vast," he added.