Financial institution raises the bar on cybersecurity with
co-managed IT services
Summary
A co-managed IT services relationship enables Western AgCredit to consistently raise the bar on cybersecurity and maintain compliance. Western AgCredit has benefited from a multi-year co-managed services engagement, with the internal team looking after line of business applications, while Snap Tech modernizes the IT infrastructure and consistently improves the cybersecurity posture.
Our Role
Co-managed IT services and support
Server, network & cybersecurity upgrades
Proactive maintenance & monitoring
Compliance-driven, cybersecurity services
The Challenge
Western AgCredit is a member-owned cooperative and is part of the nationwide Farm Credit System established in 1916. Western AgCredit is the leader in the agricultural finance industry in the State of Utah, and parts of Wyoming, Nevada, and Arizona. Western AgCredit serves people in the business of agriculture by providing financing and other related services across the full spectrum of agriculture including real estate, livestock, equipment, and operating expenses.
With 75 employees and a big mission to provide the most dependable source of constructive credit and related services to agriculture and the rural community, Western AgCredit leverages IT outsourcing to help keep IT costs under control. Western AgCredit maintains a host of proprietary business applications which require internal expertise, development, and support.
As a financial institution, Western AgCredit knew it must make cybersecurity and data privacy a top priority. Around 2015, Western AgCredit felt that to be competitive in the world of technology additional expertise was needed – either by hiring additional in-house staff or need to look outside its walls for IT expertise.
The Solution
Western AgCredit began partnering with Snap Tech IT in 2015. Snap Tech brings a deep technical bench and expertise to assist as an outsourced partnership. Snap Tech IT delivers co-managed IT services and support to Western AgCredit. Snap Tech helps by maintaining the front-line help desk to track and solve daily issues while providing the expertise to keep the back-office infrastructure up-to-date and secure.
Snap Tech has helped Western AgCredit consistently invest in advanced cybersecurity technologies, such as SIEM and zero trust technology. Western AgCredit must stay one step ahead of threat actors targeting financial institutions, while maintaining compliance with federal regulators such as FCA (Farm Credit Administration).
The team at Snap Tech has consistently managed, secured and upgraded the IT infrastructure at Western AgCredit for the past eight years. Snap Tech’s team of managers, engineers and support specialist have led projects involving server virtualization and consolidation, SAN upgrades, and firewall/wireless hardening. Snap Tech has assisted in migrating select applications to modern SaaS solutions, such as Microsoft 365.
Snap Tech provides quarterly business reviews and makes recommendations to the internal IT team and executive management at Western AgCredit. Snap Tech has a unique insight into the IT industry based on their strategic partnerships with IT industry leading companies.
The Results
Snap Tech IT has helped ensure that Western AgCredit is ready for the good, the bad and the ugly that the IT industry and bad actors might throw their way. This dynamic partnership has enabled Western AgCredit to consistently modernize its infrastructure, while raising the bar on cybersecurity readiness, maturity, and protection.