Enhancing Global IT Security and Management: A Case Study of Trade & Investment Queensland and Zscaler

Trade & Investment Queensland (TIQ) is the Australian state government’s global business agency. It assists exporters to break into emerging and established markets around the world while also promoting Queensland as the perfect place for business investment. The agency has a global network of 23 offices and 180 staff. The dispersed nature of TIQ’s operations creates challenges when it comes to the management of its IT infrastructure, particularly in the area of security. The agency was seeking a solution that could provide strong, centralized control over its IT security and enable comprehensive reporting to senior management.

Trade & Investment Queensland (TIQ), the Australian state government’s global business agency, faced significant challenges in managing its IT infrastructure due to its dispersed operations. With 23 offices and 180 staff spread across multiple countries and locations, maintaining strong, centralized control over IT security was a daunting task. The Global IT Manager, Anthony Kennedy, expressed the difficulty in providing comprehensive reporting to senior management due to the existing infrastructure. He sought a solution that could accurately depict the network's performance and the level of security threats the agency was facing.

TIQ decided to adopt Zscaler, a cloud-based security service, to monitor and manage all internet traffic across the organization. This decision was made after reviewing and assessing several potential security solutions. Working with IT partner Ordyss, TIQ replaced individual firewalls in each office with the Zscaler security service. This move significantly reduced complexity and management overheads. With all incoming and outgoing network traffic now routed through Zscaler, TIQ could easily monitor network activities, enabling better reporting for senior management and real-time notifications of detected threats. The Zscaler agent also ensured effective security for staff using their own mobile devices to connect to the TIQ network, allowing only authorized devices to connect, regardless of their physical location. Additionally, Zscaler's sandboxing feature automatically isolated potentially dangerous email attachments, maintaining security while their status was examined.

• The adoption of Zscaler has brought about better protection for the organization’s users from malware and other internet threats, regardless of the device or location they are connecting from. This is particularly crucial given the agency's dispersed operations across 23 different office locations. The streamlined management has freed up IT staff to focus on other activities, with all ongoing management and configuration of Zscaler handled by IT partner Ordyss. The Zscaler agent has also ensured effective security for the increasing number of staff using their own mobile devices to connect to the TIQ network. Furthermore, the sandboxing feature has added an extra layer of security, preventing attacks even if a staff member accidentally opens or downloads an infected file.

• Significant reduction in management overheads due to the removal of individual firewalls in each office
• Real-time notifications of detected threats, improving response time
• Effective security maintained for an increasing number of staff using their own mobile devices to connect to the TIQ network