1. industry:
Public Sector
country:
Australia
business challenge:
Access to a secure, flexible and
reliable IT infrastructure that enabled
the Commission to complete its
classified and time-sensitive work
solution:
A multi-vendor technology
environment that would support the
Commission’s requirements without
increasing complexity or reducing
time to act
services:
End-to-end Suite of Managed
Services providing technical ability
and on-call 24-hour support,
enabling the Commission to function
without concern for the underlying IT
infrastructure
results:
• Provided a single point of access
despite a large number of vendors
and technologies, ensuring peace-
of-mind
• Provided technical expertise and
knowledge on-hand without
reliance on internal IT staff,
meeting the Commission’s
budgetary constraints by providing
a reasonably priced service
• Managed incidents successfully,
including flood damage, with
no disruption to proceedings or
unscheduled downtimes
Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission
Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission
Outsourced Infrastructure and
Management to Dimension Data
case study
Executive Summary
Dimension Data designed and
implemented a complex IT
infrastructure for the 2009
Victorian Bushfires Royal
Commission, which was set up
in response to Black Saturday.
Management of the IT environment
was outsourced to Dimension Data,
who provided a single point of
contact for the Commission.
Client Overview
The 2009 Victorian Bushfires Royal
Commission was established on 16
February 2009 to investigate the causes
of, preparation for, and responses to the
Victorian bushfires which swept through
parts of Victoria in January and February
2009. The Commission also examined the
impact of the fires on infrastructure. The
culmination of the 18-month inquiry was
the Final Report, released on 31 July 2010.
Business Challenge
The Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission
(the Commission) planned to establish its
headquarters at 222
Exhibition Street, Melbourne. Along with
the fit-out of the building, the Commission
required a fully designed and implemented
IT infrastructure to enable it to conduct all
necessary work within stringent deadlines.
As well as technical ability on call, the
Commission needed to operate key services
without worrying about its underlying IT
infrastructure, with few internal IT staff.
The most important feature within this
infrastructure was rapid set-up and robust
security, explains Kaye Fox, Business
Services Manager at the Commission:
“Security was the most critical
requirement because we were
responsible for sensitive and classified
information, and needed to operate
separately from the government. We
also had to be ‘unhackable’, as there
were a lot of people interested in what
we were doing. We also needed to
provide other potentially risky features,
such as remote login, and to transfer
large files to external parties.”
Although the Commission’s approach
was generally in favour of openness,
transparency and accessibility, there were
some occasions when it was necessary
to close hearings or impose limitations
on the publication of information in the
public interest. Data was collected from a
range of sources: the public, represented
parties before the Commission including
governments, private companies, and fire-
affected individuals and communities. As
a consequence, levels of security ranged
from public domain to classified material,
or even protected status level.
Nevertheless, a significant degree of
flexibility was required. The right people
needed the ability to access the right
category of information, either on-site or
remotely. Data had to be moved around
while still maintaining the applicable level
of confidentiality.
2. case study | Victorian Bushfire Royal Commission
Moreover, due to the nature of the work
being undertaken by the Commission
there were a number of extremely tight
timeframes that had to be achieved in both
the implementation and ongoing support
services. Dimension Data was selected from
the Victorian Government eServices Panel
to audit the existing IT infrastructure at the
proposed headquarters in Exhibition Street
and prepare an IT infrastructure proposal
based on the audit and the Commission’s
anticipated needs. Dimension Data
responded within two days of the request,
and was subsequently engaged to design
the IT infrastructure and oversee its
introduction.
“We really got a good product at a good
price, and the service on top of that
provided us with an excellent result.”
Kaye Fox, Business Services Manager,
2009 Victorian Bushfires Royal
Commission
Solution Delivered
The IT infrastructure designed by
Dimension Data was complex and involved
an array of vendors providing sophisticated
technologies. Each was carefully selected
as the best solution for the Commission’s
needs, while bearing in mind budgetary
constraints. In many situations, Dimension
Data was able to present a range of
options, enabling the Commission to select
the best fit for outcome and budget.
The server and workstation infrastructure,
as well as security/anti-virus were provided
by Dimension Data.
Infrastructure services for the Commission’s
users were provided by Microsoft Windows
Server 2003 and 2008, such as file
and print services; user authentication;
enforcement of polices and settings; and
automated workstation deployment. The
Commission’s messaging platform was
Microsoft Exchange, while SharePoint was
employed for collaboration and centralised
document storage. Other vendors included
Cisco for core network and firewall; Check
Point for internet gateway and firewall
services; and Cisco IronPort for mail routing
and hygiene. Secure forward/ reverse
proxying and traffic shaping was provided
by Blue Coat. McAfee solutions were
employed for anti-virus, device encryption
and intrusion protection, while RSA was
utilised for two factor authentication.
EMC handled storage area network (SAN).
Finally, server hardware came from IBM and
HP, and secure file transfer services from
Accellion.
Once the infrastructure was implemented,
the Commission had to determine the best
management model.
“Initially the Commission was unsure
about the best model – managing
internally or externally? However, we
decided to go with fully managed
services. I had experience with this
model before and knew it was the
way to go. Not only does it provide a
one-stop-shop, but one organisation
takes responsibility for upgrades and
other requirements. Taking the managed
services path was better than managing
the environment ourselves,” says Fox.
Dimension Data was contracted to provide
IT infrastructure maintenance and support,
on-site support during business hours and
24-hour call centre desktop support and
business recovery support.
Server virtualisation technology was
extensively deployed at the Commission.
The virtualisation platform chosen was
Hyper-V, a component of Microsoft
Windows Server 2008, which ensured
separation of the server roles, minimised
the server footprint and provided disaster
recovery options. The Hyper-V platform
was also hardened using standardised
security guidance to minimise the risk of
exploitation of the virtualisation platform.
A large range of measures were in place to
meet the Commission’s exacting security
requirements.
“From the very beginning of the
Commission we employed an
independent security consultant to assist
in meeting our security requirements. To
make each element secure, Dimension
Data would take our requirements, and
present us with an option. We would
run this past our consultant, and then
implement the solution,” says Fox.
Each of the Windows servers that were
provisioned for the Commission was put
through rigorous hardening before placing
in production.
All Commission workstations were
configured using a Managed Operating
Environment (MOE), which was locked
down in accordance with the Commission’s
security requirements to reduce the risk of
exploitation and ensure the protection of
sensitive material. In addition, if any issues
were discovered, the workstations could
be quickly rebuilt using the standard image
and redeployed to a user.
“We really got a good product at a good
price, and the service on top of that
provided us with an excellent result.”
Kaye Fox, Business Services Manager, 2009 Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission
