Description

The Victorian Institute of Teaching (VIT) is an independent statutory authority for the teaching profession, whose primary function is to regulate members of the teaching profession to ensure quality teaching and provide for the safety and wellbeing of children. 

The Problem

In an environment of increasing cyber threat, VIT sought assurance on the resilience and security of its Salesforce solution.  Its system had been adapted over time since its launch in 2020, across the normal system upgrade cycle and changes to VIT’s operating environment. Its regulatory requirements and the data points required to support registration processes have evolved, over time.

In the normal course of business, VIT undertakes annual internal assurance checks to report into the Risk Assurance Committee. For its Salesforce solution, VIT wanted independent verification of its security and system resilience. Brooke was engaged to conduct a Salesforce Cyber Security and Optimisation Assessment.

Thinking Differently

Brooke took an outcomes-driven approach to reviewing VIT’s Salesforce solution to maximise return on investment and confirm the solution’s resilience.

In collaboration with VIT, Brooke took time to understand the outcomes the Salesforce solution needed to deliver, which then enabled measurement of system performance against a business baseline. A holistic review was then conducted, including a detailed Salesforce security assessment ‘inside out’ to diagnose any systemic issues, identify security risks and determine ways to optimise the performance of the platform. Insights and learnings, along with business and technical recommendations, were provided to VIT, with an action plan collaboratively developed.

By using Brooke’s process and approach, VIT could be assured a systematic and thorough analysis was carried out on its Salesforce solution.

Meaningful Results

Brooke translated the technical aspects of the Health Check recommendations to ensure VIT’s understanding of them.  This led to the generation of deeper insights and drove deeper value from the process. Recommendations were collaboratively prioritized to build the response plan in line with its business strategy and tolerance for risk.

The VIT has built the recommendations identified through the Health Check into its business system action plan spread out over a 12-month period. The level of insights received from the process allowed VIT to ‘open its eyes’ to maximise the full capability of its Salesforce solution while maintaining security in line with its organizational risk appetite.  System enhancements have also been included as partof a futureroadmap which will build continuous improvement into its information security management processes.

According to VIT, there is tangible value generated by its business partnership with Brooke, and our business supports it to make better business decisions.

According to VIT: “This was an extremely valuable exercise that has uncovered real security risks/opportunities and has given clear and tangible instructions to address these. We have gotten so much value out of this that we are looking to change our overall audit model to use technical specialist reviews, where possible in the future, to augment our traditional audit practices.”