Miller Systems -- Case Studies -- Steffian Bradley Architects

Background

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"We could not be happier with Miller Systems' performance on this complex project. Miller Systems' not only has strong technical experience with all the technologies involved, but also an approachable, helpful, and co- operative way of working with our in-house team. They not only made us look good, they gave us valuable information and education to help us manage our network in the future" Spencer Warncke SBA Principal		Steffian Bradley Associates, a 100-person Boston- based architecture firm, first came to us when they needed to make some major network changes and called on Miller Systems to complete a three-pronged project. While SBA has a highly skilled in-house IT team, they recognized the value of not "reinventing the wheel" on mission-critical projects involving technology they hadn't previously deployed. Their search for a vendor that would work cooperatively with their internal resources led to an initial VPN/Internet access project, and more recent collaboration on Windows 2000 Active Directory Migration.

The initial task facing SBA was a complete Internet connectivity overhaul. Miller systems was involved in the project from day 1, working to understand the business needs for the services being upgraded, recommending hardware and software solutions, and finally implementing the proposed plan -- with no downtime. Critical needs included:

•   Upgrading a three year old Check Point Firewall installation to a current version, on new hardware, with updated security policies.

•   Migrating to a new ISP's T1 connection with no downtime.

•   Configuring a new corporate Virtual Private Network to allow secure remote access.

Miller Systems worked closely with Steffian Bradley Associates' in-house IT team to complete the project and train their team on key ongoing support issues.

Some highlights of this project included:

•	Configuring and testing the Check Point firewall with a complex, multiple subnet configuration.
•	Migrating the original Check Point Fire Wall-1 4.0 Security policy to Check Point VPN-1.
•	Working with SBA interactively to review existing policies and suggest modifications for greater security and flexibility.
•	Modifying Cisco routing equipment configurations to support the routing needed for the Check Point implementation.
•	Loaning SBA a Cisco router, Miller Systems configured it to validate and use SBA's new ISP connection without any interruption in current services.
•	Re-configuring SBA's additional router after testing phase to allow for a quick, after hours, no downtime switch to new ISP.
•	Assisting SBA in questions related to DNS migration as they moved DNS hosting from their old provider to new ISP.
•	Using equipment to simulate the telecommuting scenarios of SBA staff, allowing configuration and testing of a complex VPN solution in real-world conditions.
•	Delivering concise, personal training to SBA systems administrators on how to configure client systems and accounts for VPN access.

SBA made the complex switch from one Internet provider to another and to new firewall hardware with no impact on business operations. At the same time, they gained the benefits of secure remote access to their network, and a comprehensive review of their security policy. Because this project was handled in a collaborative manner from planning to inception, the IT staff at SBA were left with a solid understanding of the work performed and their new network structure — a comfort level that was key when they decided to work with Miller Systems again on their Windows 2000 migration.

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