Accountancy firm helped by OGL

The Brierley Hill-based business has over 25 years’ experience in providing accounting, tax and business advice to small and medium-sized businesses. With financial firms targeted by cyber criminals more and more, Bache Brown decided to take a proactive stance against any potential security risks by asking OGL Computer, its Kidderminster-based technology partner since 2016, to recommend and implement technology to ensure workers felt as secure as possible whether working from home or in the office.

OGL Computer introduced Bache Brown to its CyberGuard Technologies division to recommend effective technology tools and services for security and compliance with GDPR requirements for data and information processing. CyberGuard recommended Carbon Black Defense to proactively protect and defend the company’s data. This next-generation anti-virus solution protects the endpoints by detecting cyber threats early and identifying potential threats by analysing previous user behaviour, thus giving Bache Brown an opportunity to shore up their defences.

OGL Computer also provides Bache Brown with IT support and Office 365, so staff can easily work remotely or from a client’s premises. By incorporating a host of workplace tools, Office 365 and OGL Computer’s IT support services provide Bache Brown’s teams with total flexibility. Not only can Bache Brown employees securely access emails from wherever they may be working at that time, they can also do so without any potential security risks.

Bache Brown also implemented OGL Computer’s patch management solution to ensure all company servers, workstations and routers are also secure. The solution is a fully-managed service where devices are updated remotely to help maintain efficiency, capability and ensure the best security practices are applied regularly, so as to avoid bugs, flaws and vulnerabilities.

Bache Brown director, Steve Dunn, explained: “As with any business, IT is crucial to our success, and if our business is at risk of a cyber-attack, it can cause severe losses, from reputational damage to downtime disruption. However, as an accountancy practice, our security is heightened due to the nature and volume of personal data we hold. To ensure we meet the requirements of GDPR and protect the information we process, cyber security is paramount to us and is the main reason why we invested in CyberGuard.

“All the main tools we use to provide our accounting taxation and payroll services rely heavily upon IT, so all of our systems need to be working efficiently and securely otherwise we would not be able to operate as a business. This led us to invest in OGL’s Patch Management solution. The service is fully managed and tends to operate behind the scenes. It ensures that our software is up-to-date so that we never have any problems; offering us peace of mind. We also have a daily report from OGL identifying any issues, which constantly keeps us informed of any potential problems.”

CyberGuard and OGL Computer work closely with customers, like Bache Brown, to ensure their solutions improve efficiency and contribute to customers’ business growth. IT support services are also key to providing that added layer of confidence that there is a team of experts on hand in the event of a problem or a cyber breach.

As accountancy software and practices continue to evolve, these firms will need to be more aware of any potential issues around security and the reliability of the IT infrastructure on which they depend.

Colin Dennis, Technical Operations Manager at CyberGuard Technologies, concluded: “The financial sector is a top target for cyber criminals, so we provide solutions to give businesses in that field complete peace of mind. Combining our security tools to prevent downtime and resolve hidden threats with IT support, clients like Bache Brown can enjoy a more modern and flexible way of working, without any security risk or client data being unprotected.”