Optimizing Remote Access with Netop on AWS: The Sigma Financial Group Story – A Secure and Scalable Solution
The Sigma Financial Group, a leading provider of diverse customer contact services to the UK’s top businesses, faced the challenge of securing and streamlining remote access for both vendors and internal users. Senior Systems Administrator Ben Bowen outlines how Sigma Financial Group chose Netop, leveraging the robust and scalable Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud infrastructure, as their comprehensive remote access solution.
Secure Vendor Access via AWS-Powered Netop: Fortifying External Connections
“Our software vendors require frequent remote access to our network to support their products, often on a weekly or even daily basis,” explains Ben Bowen. “Guaranteeing secure access, enforced by two-factor authentication and facilitated by Netop’s secure AWS environment, is paramount. The ability to log and audit every remote connection is equally crucial, enabling us to meticulously track who connects, when, and for how long. The AWS cloud infrastructure leveraging services like Amazon VPC (Virtual Private Cloud), for network isolation and AWS KMS (Key Management Service) for encryption ensures the reliability and security of these connections, providing a robust foundation for our vendor access strategy. We leverage AWS’s security best practices, including Security Groups for granular network access control, IAM Roles for least privilege access, and TLS encryption via AWS Certificate Manager for secure data transfer, to further enhance the security of these connections.”
PCI Compliance and the AWS Advantage: Meeting Stringent Security Standards
“Previously, we relied on a patchwork of remote connection tools, including TeamViewer and LogMeIn, to manage vendor access,” states Bowen. “However, these tools lacked essential features, and a recent PCI DSS audit highlighted significant security vulnerabilities. As our operations heavily involve managing customer payments, PCI DSS compliance is non-negotiable. This led us to seek a more secure and feature-rich alternative.”
“Netop, hosted on AWS, proved to be the ideal solution. Every remote session is meticulously logged in full, and screen recording capabilities provide a comprehensive audit trail of all vendor activity. Running Netop on Amazon EC2 instances, within a dedicated VPC, provides the added benefit of AWS’s inherent security and compliance features. AWS’s compliance certifications, such as PCI DSS, SOC 2, and ISO 27001, reinforce our PCI DSS stance, and AWS’s robust security services, including AWS Shield for DDoS protection, AWS WAF (Web Application Firewall) for application layer protection, and AWS CloudTrail for API call logging and auditing, provide an additional layer of protection.”
Centralized Management with AWS Scalability: Streamlining Administration and Adapting to Growth
“With Netop, we can direct our vendors to a secure online portal, eliminating the need for software installations or configurations on their end,” explains Bowen. “We centrally manage vendor accounts, granting secure access to our systems based on predefined permissions and timeframes. AWS’s elastic infrastructure, utilizing AWS Auto Scaling Groups and Elastic Load Balancing, ensures the platform can effortlessly scale to accommodate our evolving needs and fluctuating demand. Amazon RDS (Relational Database Service) provides a scalable and managed database backend for Netop, ensuring high availability and performance. We use AWS Systems Manager Parameter Store to securely manage configuration data.”
The Right Features at the Right Price, with AWS Reliability: A Cost-Effective and Dependable Solution
“The combination of Netop’s comprehensive features and competitive pricing made it the most attractive solution,” says Bowen. “Our free trial of Netop, powered by the reliable AWS cloud, was a resounding success, solidifying our decision. We knew we wanted the product, as it perfectly aligns with our requirements. We are currently expanding the implementation to grant select users’ remote access to their workstations. Instead of relying on VPNs, which can be complex and resource-intensive, they will use Netop, hosted on AWS, to remotely control their desktop PCs. AWS’s global infrastructure, with services like Amazon Route 53 for DNS management and AWS Global Accelerator for optimized network routing, ensures low latency and high availability, providing a seamless remote desktop experience.
Outstanding Support, Backed by AWS Infrastructure: Ensuring Seamless Operations
“The quality of support we’ve received from Netop and their UK partner, Maitek Solutions, has been exceptional, even during the free trial process,” states Bowen. “Every time we raise an issue, regardless of its complexity, the response is swift and efficient. Knowing that the platform is backed by the robust infrastructure of AWS, with its multiple Availability Zones for redundancy and AWS Support for expert assistance, provides us with added confidence in its performance and reliability. AWS’s extensive network of data centers and availability zones ensures minimal downtime and maximum uptime, providing a stable and dependable platform for our remote access operations.”
