CUSTOMER CASE STUDY ROYAL COLLEGE OF MUSIC

Sophos Managed Detection
and Response hits the note for
the Royal College of Music
Founded in 1882, The Royal College of Music (RCM) is a world leading music
conservatoire with a prestigious history and contemporary outlook. Its
excellence was recognised by the 2022 QS World University Rankings, in which
it was ranked as the global top institution for performing arts by subject.
With more than 900 students from over 50 countries, the RCM is a vibrantcommunity of talented and open-minded musicians. RCM professors aremusicians with worldwide reputations, accustomed to working with the mosttalented students of each generation to unlock their artistic potential. The RCM
is situated in South Kensington, London.

CUSTOMER-AT-A-GLANCERoyal College of Music
Industry
Educational/charitable institution
Number of users
Cumulative 1,300 students
and 800 staff

Sophos Customer
Since 2021
Sophos Solutions
Managed Services - Sophos Managed
Detection and Response

CUSTOMER CASE STUDY ROYAL COLLEGE OF MUSIC“With the challenges posed by shifting some ofour operations across two locations, the needto enable remote working due to Covid-19,
and ever-increasing cyber-security risks, weknew a new approach was necessary.“Birju Patel, Technology Manager, Royal College of MusicIn 2020, The Royal College of Music (RCM), basedin London, embarked on an extensive three-year
digital transformation project, having secured
funding to do so. It had also recently acquired anadditional site, with staff and students working
across two locations.
Additionally, the RCM continued to operate ona hybrid learning basis further to the Covid-19
pandemic and fulfil its partnerships with othereducational institutions around the world.
Read on to find out more about the IT security
challenges the RCM faced and how Sophos andSophos partner Planet IT have been able to helpthem.

Business Challenges
The RCM needed a cloud-based IT security
solution that would provide protection for around
400 endpoints, 1,300 students and 800 staff.
As an educational and charitable institution, theRCM works within stringent budget parametersand has an IT team of six members of staff,
supporting the entire college across two sites.
In addition, the team enables remote access forstudents and partnerships internationally as well
as a combination of college owned and BringYour Own Device (BYOD) devices including Appletechnologies.
Birju Patel, Technology Manager at the RCM sought
out solutions that would enhance the college’s
digital capabilities, empower remote and hybrid
working, support BYOD, and safeguard teaching andlearning, while protecting the college from cyberthreats.

The college was previously using McAfee to provide
cyber security protection, but this solution didn’t
support devices at home or on the move, and it
wasn’t compatible with Windows 10, so the college
began looking at alternative solutions. In addition,the college had purchased 200 new laptops tosupport hybrid and remote working during thepandemic and needed an overarching solution toprotect these.

CUSTOMER CASE STUDY ROYAL COLLEGE OF MUSIC“Sophos MDR was exactly what we needed tofill the gap in our team and give us peace ofmind that cybersecurity is taken care of 24/7.“Birju Patel, Technology Manager, Royal College of MusicThe Technical Solution
RCM has had a long-standing 12-year
relationship with Sophos partner, Planet IT, so
they reached out to them to seek out the bestsolution for the college. Together they went on
to identify Sophos as the preferred IT securityprovider.
Birju had worked with Sophos solutions in aprevious role and had been impressed with howwell they performed, so integrating Sophos aspart of the digital transformation project was
already on his radar. Birju looked at Sophos
solutions and other options with Planet IT. He
also attended seminars and meetings withSophos to help him establish whether theirsolutions were the right for the college.

After considering the options available, RCM
adopted Sophos Intercept X and XDR solutions inJuly 2021, to support the college’s transition to thecloud and provide cybersecurity across all devices.
This also included supporting the IOS devices in theStudio Department, with the additional benefit ofproviding antivirus software for staff and students
at home.
The team at RCM was pleased with these solutions
but soon after, a further challenge arose when amember of the IT team left the college suddenly,
leaving the team over-burdened and challenged to
manage cybersecurity. Birju, conscious of the needto monitor security around the clock and the risks
the college would face if this wasn’t done properly,
took the decision to upgrade to Sophos Managed
Detection and Response (MDR).

Sophos MDR is a cybersecurity as a service, which
provides 24/7/365 ransomware and breachprevention services. It is managed by a team ofexperts, who detect and prevent cyberattacks.
With Sophos MDR, the RCM now has cybersecurity
covered, which not only relieves the burden fromthe IT team, it also gives them peace of mind thatthreats and attacks will be effectively managed andresponded to. Birju finds this out of hours support
particularly useful and reassuring.

CUSTOMER CASE STUDY ROYAL COLLEGE OF MUSICBusiness Benefits
Birju reports that Sophos was able to provide RCM
with a good price as a charitable and educational
institution, and their functionality far outweighed
what was on offer from other providers.
The whole process went well from the outset, frominitial discussions with their Planet IT AccountManager, to implementation of the solutions,through to the upgrade to Sophos MDR. Birju’s teamhave found Sophos intuitive and easy to use, andthe 24/7 cybersecurity reporting, monitoring andsupport from Sophos has proved invaluable.

Time savings – and an improved user experience
for the IT team allowing them to spend more timeon strategic projects instead of firefighting.
Global reach – security solutions that support
hybrid teaching and learning globally.
Birju is delighted with the security solutions thecollege has in place alongside the guidance theyreceive from Planet IT and the round the clocksupport from Sophos experts.

Other benefits Birju highlighted were:
Confidence – around cybersecurity andransomware protection including security for IOS
and remote devices, and free antivirus software forstaff and students at home.
Excellent support – highly effective interaction
between RCM, Planet IT and Sophos.

“Sophos MDR is abrilliant solution
that’s worth checkingout. It’s reliable
and intuitive at acompetitive price.
The support provided
has also beengame-changing
for our team.”Birju Patel, Technology Manager, Royal College of Music

Simple management – an easy, secure, andcompetitively priced migration to the cloud together
with the integration of 200 new devices. A smaller
footprint on systems that’s easy for the team tomanage.
Easy reporting – facilitated cybersecurity
governance with automated reporting.

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solutions, call (0)8447 671131
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23-01-27 CCS-EN (NP)