Founded in 1993, Thoughtworks is a leading global technology consultancy that integrates strategy, design, and engineering to drive digital innovation with clients in the automotive, healthcare, travel and transport, retail and E-commerce, energy and public sector.
In brief
Customer
Thoughtworks China
Product and Services
Organization transformation consultancy, software innovation delivery, user experience design, and product and integrated solutions
Industry
Technology consultancy
Organization Size
2,817 Chinese employees
Country
China
Challenges
Enable secure remote access for all employees during work-from-home (WFH) mandates brought on by the various COVID-19 outbreaks in China.
Requirements
- Secure remote access for all of Thoughtworks China’s 2,817 employees.
- Enable business continuity.
- Facilitate a smooth and secure migration from on-premises to the cloud.
Solution
Thoughtworks China selected Palo Alto Networks Next-Generation Firewalls (NGFWs), GlobalProtect, Panorama and Cloud-Delivered Security Services, including Threat Prevention, URL Filtering, DNS Security, and WildFire.
In early 2022, Thoughtworks China, like many other companies, faced the impact brought on by the new wave of Omicron, which resulted in a series of strict, targeted containment measures being implemented by the government to prevent and control the spread of the virus. This resulted in a series of citywide lockdowns requiring everyone to work from home.
Business continuity became a challenge for organizations that needed to continue business as usual by enabling employees to work from home. There are pros and cons for organizations, and they have to do their “homework” before being able to seamlessly shift to a work-from-home (WFH) model.
Thoughtworks China has a deep understanding of the pros and cons of WFH and had done its homework well in advance of the first wave of the pandemic.
CHALLENGE
According to Nitin Raina, Vice President of Cyber and Information Security at Thoughtworks, “Our security organization is divided into two major groups, one is the country security team and the other is central cyber team. Both teams work in tandem to build, support, and run the organization-wide security program for Thoughtworks.”
Thoughtworks set up its business in China in 2004 and currently has seven offices and 2,817 Chinese employees across Beijing, Hong Kong, Xi’an, Chengdu, Shanghai, Wuhan, and Shenzhen.
Since the outbreak of COVID-19, their main challenge was to provide secure remote access for all 2,817 employees in China. They tackled this challenge in two ways. The first was to make sure all employees could access the network, and the second was to ensure the access was safe and would prevent data theft or computers from being compromised.
“Due to the timing of the lockdown, it meant we weren’t able to ship computers from the office to some employees’ homes ahead of the lockdown which meant that they had to use their personal computers for work, which undoubtedly increased some concerns around security,” said Wei Ma, Head of InfoSec at Thoughtworks China.
In fact, we began our digital transformation very early on. With each new phase of the pandemic, our security was bolstered since our security enhancements were made ahead of schedule.
SOLUTION
Prior to the first coronavirus breakout in Wuhan, Thoughtworks China had already been working with Palo Alto Networks to deploy its GlobalProtect™ solution. This meant that they were able to provide all employees with remote access to the company’s network.
With GlobalProtect layered on top of the Next-Generation Firewalls (NGFWs), they were able to extend protection to any device connected to the network. They were also able to automatically set up IPsec/SSL VPN connectivity with the gateway and NGFW.
GlobalProtect also extends security capabilities from Threat Prevention, URL Filtering, and DNS Security to mobile devices regardless of being on-premises or remote. In addition to GlobalProtect, Palo Alto Networks also urges the industry to move to Zero Trust Network Access 2.0 (ZTNA 2.0), which can help enterprises fight against security challenges brought by modern application, mixed threats, and hybrid work.
PARTNERSHIP
Taking a closer look at how Thoughtworks China performed during the period of the pandemic, they did well because the company had initiated its digital transformation years before. Palo Alto Networks played a role in this journey by safeguarding and securing a smooth migration from on-premises to the cloud.
In fact, five or six years ago, under the leadership of Jin Ma, Head of Network and Infrastructure, Thoughtworks China deployed a Palo Alto Networks NGFW in its own data center, aiming to protect the applications and data in the cloud and virtual environment, and move critical business to the cloud in a very safe and agile manner.
The advanced work and thinking undertaken by the Thoughtworks’ team in China meant they were able to pivot quickly and efficiently and react to the challenges faced during the pandemic. When another wave of the pandemic hit Xi’an at the end of 2021, and all employees moved to the work-from-home model, Jin Ma didn’t feel much pressure and was not worried about the resilience of the network. This was because back in May 2021, Thoughtworks had already moved all its deployments to the cloud, and in September of that same year, a double-node high availability architecture was deployed, which can better enhance network resilience and maintain business continuity.