CUSTOMER CASE STUDY LONDON SOUTH BANK UNIVERSITY

London South Bank
University prioritises
student experience with
Sophos MDR
Originally the Borough Polytechnic Institute, London South Bank University
was established in South London in 1892 and has been improving the lives ofstudents, businesses and the local community ever since. The University has
around 20,000 students, 2,500 employees and tens of thousands of endpoints
UK and internationally.

CUSTOMER-AT-A-GLANCE
London South Bank University
Industry
Higher Education
Sophos Customer
Since 2013

Sophos Solutions
Sophos Solutions
Managed Services - Managed
Detection and Response

CUSTOMER CASE STUDY LONDON SOUTH BANK UNIVERSITY“With Sophos Managed Detection and Response
we have around the clock surveillance,
support and IT expertise. This assures ourboard of directors and students that weare always safe, secure and compliant.”
Alex Denley, Director of IT Innovation and Transformation, London South Bank University

With a complex and vast IT estate across multiple
sites, London South Bank University’s IT teamneeded specialist help to stay ahead of constant andgrowing security threats. They turned to Sophos for a24 hour, 365 days a year service.
Alex Denley is Director of IT Innovation andTransformation at London South Bank University.
When he joined the University in 2017 he realisedthat it took significant operational overhead toprotect such a large and varied technology stackacross many sites that presented big challenges.
These challenges mainly centred around complianceand the safe storage of student data while
maintaining a proactive approach to IT security.
This is where the Managed Detection and Response
service from Sophos has been able to help.

Business challenges

The solution

Alex turned to his Sophos Account Manager for advice
on the best ways to secure the University’s network,endpoints and data without expanding the IT team.
He wanted the IT team to focus their time and energy
on improving the student and learning experience
without cybersecurity distractions.

In 2020, the University’s on-premisecybersecurity solution from Sophos was soon
to go end-of-life and the Sophos team advised
they should upgrade to Sophos Central with
Intercept X. This would provide cloud-basedand centralised security ensuring that all
endpoints were protected and easily managed
from a central point. This immediately reduced
the administrative burden of such a large andcomplex IT estate.

The team at Sophos quickly identified a need toconsolidate the University’s cybersecurity provision
to reduce the burden of managing thousands ofendpoints and resolving issues.
“We had to optimise our IT team to deliver themaximum amount of value,” says Alex. “The longer
they spent managing cybersecurity, the less time they
had to dedicate to innovative education solutions forour students.”

More recently Alex approached Sophos to reducecyber risks even further by discussing thebenefits of a 24/7 managed IT security service
to continually ensure compliance and protect
data. Alex realised that an outsourced teamof information security experts could provide

CUSTOMER CASE STUDY LONDON SOUTH BANK UNIVERSITY

around-the-clock surveillance and expertise toensure the University was always safe, secureand compliant. The cost and time it would take tomanage the same level of service in-house wasprohibitive.

A strategic approach to security
The IT team at the University are now able toget involved in security from a more strategic
perspective, rather than being involved in thedetail of individual incidents.

The Sophos team therefore recommended Sophos
Managed Detection and Response (MDR) as anunparalleled service in the IT security sector. Alexalready knew that Sophos understood the needs ofHigher Education and could deliver a personable,
immediate service at a competitive price to protect
the University’s systems, data and technology.

Proactive and responsive
The University is no longer fire-fighting security
issues due to the proactive and constantsurveillance from the Sophos MDR experts.
This gives Alex and the leadership team at theUniversity peace of mind.

Business benefits
The University now benefits from a highly proactive
approach to information security, managed bya team of Sophos experts who are available tocombat threats 24/7. Further benefits include:
Access to industry experts
Alex and his team have 24/7 reassurance that their
network, systems and data are secure, protected
and compliant. They know they can contact theMDR team any time of night or day.

Excellent service
The Sophos account management team andthe industry experts on the MDR team deliver
excellence every day. They are trusted strategic
partners to the University that ultimately add value
to the student experience.
Alex concludes: “Being able to pass on all cybersecurity management to Sophos has taken thepain out of the security element of IT provision.
This means we can truly focus on student-focused
development that will really make a big difference
to our team and our students.”

Increased capacity
Alex and his team have been able to refocus theirattention onto projects that have a direct impact
on the student experience. This is crucial for theUniversity for student satisfaction and to provide
impressive ways to attract new students.

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Registered in England and Wales No. 2096520, The Pentagon, Abingdon Science Park, Abingdon, OX14 3YP, UKSophos is a registered trademark of Sophos Ltd. All other product and company names mentioned are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

“The use of theMDR service has
allowed us to freeup significant
underlying
operational hours
that have enabled
our teams to focus
on real-time student
initiatives andincrease student
satisfaction.”
Alex Denley, Director of IT Innovation andTransformation, London South Bank University

Learn more aboutSophos today.
www.sophos.com
2022-05-09 CCS-EN (NP)