CUSTOMER CASE STUDY HARWOODS GROUP

Sophos Managed Detection andResponse drives cybersecurity
performance for Harwoods
GroupHarwoods is a leading automotive retailer group with dealerships locatedin the south-east of England, as well as an international digital presence,
representing a wide range of premium manufacturers including Aston Martin,Audi, Bentley, Jaguar Land Rover, McLaren and Volvo. Family-owned for over 90years, the expanding group currently operates over 25 sites, with dealerships
alongside accident repair centres and service centres also providing authorisedmanufacturer servicing for BMW, MINI and MAN Truck commercial vehicles. Thegroup has invested significantly in digitally expanding its renowned customer
service: a core group value to be protected.

CUSTOMER-AT-A-GLANCE
Harwoods Group
Industry
Automotive Retail
Number of Users
800 endpoints
1,060 employees

Sophos Solutions
Managed Services- Sophos Managed Detection and Response
Network Product- Sophos Firewall
Sophos Customer
Since 2010

CUSTOMER CASE STUDY HARWOODS GROUP“Sophos have more than proved their worth
over the years. Faced with the constantthreat of cyber-attack, turning to them toprovide 24/7/365 proactive monitoring,detection and resolution was a no-brainer.“Paul Smith, Business Support Director, Harwoods Group

Harwoods Group has recently embarked on adigital transformation project, with Paul Smith,Harwoods Business Support Director, playing akey role.
The two main components have been theimplementation of a new Customer RelationshipManagement (CRM) system across all sites,delivered in tandem with a bespoke eCommerce
website providing a leading online customer
experience.
This investment meant it has been criticalfor Harwoods to secure its expanding IT
infrastructure effectively. As part of the digitaltransformation project, two years ago Harwoods
insourced its IT support function, which included
taking responsibility for their own cybersecurity.

Business challenges
It soon became clear that the way Harwoods
managed its IT security needed to change. The
in-house IT support function, in conjunction with
its IT security partner, was only able to provide
vulnerability assessments and monitoring duringbusiness hours. This created clear vulnerabilities forthe group, as cyberthreats are a 24/7/365 concern.
Harwoods first started using Sophos products
around 10 years ago to provide antivirus protection
for its endpoint estate. Having briefly worked withanother provider during this period, they soon
returned to Sophos for, according to Paul: “theirbest-of-breed product, ease of use and excellent
customer service.”

The endpoint protection from Sophos was thenbolstered with firewall protection, firstly with Sophos
SG firewalls, and then recently upgraded to Sophos
XG firewalls. Subsequently, buying into the ManagedDetection and Response (MDR) service from Sophos
had clear IT security advantages, from a vendor thecompany already knew and trusted.

The solution
By investing in Sophos MDR, Harwoods Group has
been able to secure its networks almost overnight.
Paul was impressed from the get-go, saying:“I was amazed at how simple the Sophos MDR
implementation process was. Everything worked rightout of the box as such, and within 24 hours the team
were already working on the first identified threat.
We had expected to customise the solution, but inCUSTOMER CASE STUDY HARWOODS GROUP“The entire process and immediate impact
reassured us that we had chosen the rightsolution for our dynamic business.”
Paul Smith, Business Support Director, Harwoods Groupthe end this wasn’t necessary. The entire process
and immediate impact reassured us that we hadchosen the right solution for our dynamic business.”
Sophos MDR services combine machine learningtechnology and expert analysis for improved
threat hunting and detection, deeper investigationof alerts, and targeted actions to eliminate
sophisticated and complex threats. The service
provides incredibly fast assistance, identifying andneutralising active threats against an organisation,delivered by an expert team of incident responders.

Business benefitsHarwoods is confident in its decision to implement
the Sophos MDR service, listing the benefits as
being:
Peace of mind
One of the crucial benefits of Sophos MDR is total
peace of mind. According to Paul: “As soon as
Sophos started managing our IT security, I started
sleeping much better. I know that we are protectedby the best in the industry.”
Minimising vulnerabilities
One of the biggest limitations from Harwoods’
existing security provision was 24/7/365
cybersecurity coverage. Security monitoring
restricted to business hours left the entire groupvulnerable to attack outside of these times.
Sophos MDR has eradicated this weakness with
continual monitoring, night and day, all yearround. Additionally, the proactive nature of Sophos
MDR means that it finds a swift resolution to any
vulnerabilities.
Preserving customer care excellenceHarwoods’ renowned reputation for excellent
customer service has driven brand loyalty andbusiness success for over 90 years. Therefore, asignificant concern and business focus is to ensure
the protection of customer data, as any breach
would negatively impact the brand. With Sophos
MDR, the Group is secure in the knowledge that
it is doing everything it can to protect customer
information.
Threat visibility
Another crucial benefit for Harwoods is thevisibility it now has over network security. RegularSophos MDR reporting delivers immediate clarity
for the Board by illustrating activity that provides

CUSTOMER CASE STUDY HARWOODS GROUP

assurance that they are taking their responsibilities
to IT security seriously; doing everything they canto protect the business and its customers. Sophos
MDR also provides stakeholders with information tosupport any cybersecurity decisions they need tomake. Data breeds confidence, and Sophos MDR isinvaluable for delivering data and security insightsfrom a trusted team of experts.
Protecting digital investment
With so much time, money and effort spent on thedigital transformation project, it was important that
this investment was not undermined by low-level
IT security. Sophos MDR is a key component in thesuccess of Harwoods’ digital transformation projectand protection of business ROI.
Cost savings
Paul initially explored how the Group could manage
its own 24/7/365 IT security. He believed it
would have entailed recruiting at least two highly
specialised cybersecurity experts, who would be
difficult to find and expensive to take on. In fact, theSophos estimations to manage your own IT security
in a similar way to MDR are an investment of circa£1.4 million.
Paul 100% believes Harwoods made the rightdecision selecting Sophos MDR as the chosencybersecurity solution. He concludes: “Workingwith Sophos hasn’t just met my expectations; it
has exceeded them. I would have no hesitation inrecommending them to others.”© Copyright 2023 Sophos Ltd. All rights reserved.
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.

“Working withSophos hasn’t
just met myexpectations; it
has exceeded
them. I would haveno hesitation inrecommending
them to others.”
Paul Smith, Business Support
Director, Harwoods Group

Learn More about Sophos
Managed Detection andResponse today.
www.sophos.com/mdr
2023-02-27 CCS-EN (PC)