CTS - Computer Technology Specialists
Managed IT for Melbourne Financial Planning Firm
A Melbourne financial planning firm moved its managed IT to CTS after persistent outages and slow support from its previous provider began affecting client service. As an AFSL-regulated business, the firm also needed proper governance over its Microsoft 365 environment and documented security controls it could stand behind. CTS stabilised the environment under a flat-rate agreement with a 30-minute critical SLA, remediated the Microsoft 365 tenant, and put structured security governance in place.
Melbourne IT support with visible local credentials
CTS - Computer Technology Specialists has supported Melbourne SMBs since 2000. Contact: 1300 790 780, hello@cts.au, L30 - 35 Collins St Melbourne 3000.
Certifications, affiliations and technology partners
Microsoft Partner, ACSC Essential Eight aligned, ISO 27001 practices, NBN Business Accredited Adviser, Cisco Partner, Dell Partner, HPE Partner, Arcserve Partner, Broadcom Partner, Kyocera Partner.
The challenge
The firm's IT was unreliable and undocumented, which is a particular problem for a regulated advice business that has to evidence its controls.
- Frequent outages and slow ticket resolution from the previous provider
- A misconfigured Microsoft 365 tenant with inconsistent security settings
- No documentation of the environment, controls or configuration
- Regulatory pressure as an AFSL holder with no structured IT governance
- No tested disaster recovery for client and advice records
The CTS solution
CTS took over the environment, stabilised it, and rebuilt the firm's Microsoft 365 and security configuration to a documented standard.
- Flat-rate managed IT with a 30-minute critical incident SLA and senior engineers
- Remediated the Microsoft 365 tenant configuration and licensing
- Established identity governance and conditional access through Entra ID
- Applied an Essential Eight-aligned security baseline
- Documented the full environment, controls and configuration
- Implemented immutable backups with tested recovery
Governance and compliance
For an AFSL-regulated firm, documented and reviewable controls matter as much as the technology itself.
- A documented control register the firm can present to auditors and licensees
- Conditional access policies enforcing where and how staff sign in
- Audit-ready records of configuration and security posture
- Quarterly governance reviews to keep controls current
The results
The firm now has reliable IT, a controlled Microsoft 365 environment, and the governance an AFSL business requires.
- Materially improved availability and faster incident resolution
- A correctly configured, documented Microsoft 365 tenant
- Structured, compliance-ready security governance with conditional access
- Senior Melbourne-based engineers on every ticket, with no offshore escalation
- Tested disaster recovery protecting client and advice records
Technologies deployed
Microsoft 365, Microsoft Entra ID (conditional access and MFA), Microsoft Intune, Microsoft Defender, and immutable backup with tested recovery.
Frequently asked questions
Why do financial planning firms need IT governance?
As AFSL-regulated businesses, financial planning firms must be able to demonstrate control over client data and advice records. That means documented configuration, enforced access controls, and a reviewable security posture — not just working technology. CTS provides the documentation, conditional access and quarterly reviews that make those controls evidenced and defensible.
What does the 30-minute critical SLA cover?
It guarantees a 30-minute response to critical (P1) incidents — outages, ransomware events and security breaches — at any hour for managed clients. For a firm whose previous provider was slow to respond, this gives certainty that business-stopping issues are picked up immediately by a senior engineer.
Can you take over and fix an existing Microsoft 365 environment?
Yes. CTS regularly inherits misconfigured tenants. For this firm, that meant auditing and remediating licensing and security settings, establishing identity governance and conditional access, and documenting the environment so it is correctly configured and compliance-ready.