This client, one of the world’s largest banks, needed to clamp down on security as confidential information was being inadvertently emailed to outside addresses, such as an employee’s personal email account, resulting in many consequences including breaches of security and forced firings. Often, the offending employees did not know they had confidential information buried in an Excel attachment that was sent out. They merely thought they were taking an ordinary task home to work for the evening!
We were brought in to analyze the current setup for one department, and come up with a better way of doing things. The first thing we noticed was how much manual effort went into preparing documents. Employees working overtime would almost certainly need to work late at night, and security restrictions prevented them from checking work accounts while at home. Add children and dogs to the mix, and this was the cause of emails sent to home addresses.
We suggested a change in operating procedures that would automate much of the redundant work and greatly reduce exposure of confidential information. We revamped the IT security setup, making it easier to manage. Finally, we created a reporting application that had specific permissions granted to specific people. This automated report-creation reduced required labor hours of the workforce, eliminated much of the guess-work about what was and was not private information, and prevented people from (accidentally or not) accessing information they were not supposed to see.
By the time these changes were implemented, word spread around and five other departments signed on board. When all was said and done, the total cost savings was conservatively estimated to be $250,000 per year, in terms of reduced labor requirements.
The $250,000 annual cost savings figure does not include intangible costs including reduced breaches of security, reduced employee dismissals or increases in morale from better job security and also having so much “dirty work” eliminated.
Contact Wisdom Consulting at 1-212-706-3071 or sales@jasonwisdom.com to start your own success story.