 "How Sharekhan Reinforced Its Data Security Ecosystem")
Established in 2008, Sharekhan started out as an online trading portal. Today, this broking house is a one stop solution for millions of customers who engage in online trading on multiple products and exchanges that include NSE, BSE, MCX etc.
Broking houses run their business on highly sensitive data from their customers. Hence, data privacy and security is a basic imperative.For Sharekhan, ensuring data safety contributes not only to customer satisfaction and retention, but also to building a stronger brand reputation in its field.
The Data Loss Dilemma
Employees at Sharekhan become privy to a large amount of sensitive customer data belonging to various other broking houses. It was realised that this data, which ideally should have been secure, was found floating into the Sharekhan office networks and databasesKetan Parekh, CIO, Sharekhan, explains, “We found a lot of data from other broking houses floating to us. Seeing how easily available this sensitive data was to us, we began to worry about our own data. We did not want to risk the free flow of our customer data into other organisations.”
The company as a whole began to realise the need for not only a data loss protection solution, but also an Information Rights Management solution (IRM), that would help them control the flow of their unstructured data. Sharekhan thus began its search for the right fit.
Finding The Perfect Match
Sharekhan had a clear view of their pain areas and did their best to focus on them. The key requirement boiled down to a cost effective data protection and management of information rights solution, in simple terms a solution that kept its data safe. Additionally, it was required that the solution should be user-friendly and not interfere with the work culture of the organisation, to ensure workforce efficiency was not hampered in any way while deriving maximum benefits.
Parekh says, “It was important for us to make sure that the solution of our choice was part of the budget allocated to us. We also looked for a partner that would help us in the roll out process, someone who would be there even after the solution was implemented.”
As a part of the selection process, Sharekhan formulated a proof of concept and looked at various solutions to identify which one suited their needs the best. After a series of discussions, Sharekhan finally settled on Seclore as their final choice, selecting their IRM – Information Rights Management solution. AsParekh puts it, “Seclore’s IRM solution fit well within our time frame, cost and objectives.”
Gaining Back Lost Control
The next step for Sharekhan was to implement the solution seamlessly across all its departments and to ensure that their workforce was comfortable with the change. Seclore’s IRM solution is architected in a way that it allows data access to a limited number of owners. Hence, the flow of data could be controlled by the owners themselves, giving them the ability to select the end-users and extend to them the rights that were required to view or share scores of their unstructured data.
As a part of the roll out process, Sharekhan ensured that its workforce was made well aware of the new solution in their technical environment. Conducting multiple presentations on how the solution works and talking about it internally, were two methods that the company relied on to project the benefits that the solution could offer.
Parekh says, “Awareness comes only when a problem is identified. For us, it was important that an employee first identified an instance of data loss, before the solution was introduced to him, so that he understood its benefits better. Once awareness was ingrained in a few employees, we encouraged them to speak about it internally, hence spreading the word to almost 80 percent of the organisation.”
A Comfortable Fit
Being an organisation that is very particular about its work culture, Sharekhan was happy with the way Seclore’s IRM solution fit in within its work environment. The solution not only proved to be an answer to their data protection needs, but also opened up to them a partnership that the company could rely on.
Seclore’s IRM solution fit in perfectly with Sharekhan’s initial SWOT analysis that demanded attention in the following areas: budget, usability, flexibility and scalability.
Parekh concludes, “The implementation was not only cost effective, but it also solved my problem by giving flexibility to end-user and the reign of control to me, which worked in our favour. It was a win-win situation. The solution solved my pain areas and fit in with our work culture. Seclore stayed on even after the roll out to help us with our problems. Besides that, they were also open to new developments that needed to be done.”
The safety of their data added to Sharekhan’s business value as they no more faced the fear of information being stolen or leaked. Their work culture was maintained and the flow of their unstructured data was controlled. Sharekhan is now looking to extend their relationship with Seclore and venture into the area of e-mail protection, taking data safety a notch higher.
 "Russian drones over Poland: Trump’s tepid reaction a wake-up call for Nato?")
 "As Russia pushes east, Ukraine faces mounting pressure to defend its heartland")
 "Why Mossad was not on board with Israel’s strike on Hamas in Qatar")
 "Turkey: Erdogan's police arrest opposition mayor Hasan Mutlu, dozens officials in corruption probe")
 "Russian drones over Poland: Trump’s tepid reaction a wake-up call for Nato?")
 "As Russia pushes east, Ukraine faces mounting pressure to defend its heartland")
 "Why Mossad was not on board with Israel’s strike on Hamas in Qatar")
 "Turkey: Erdogan's police arrest opposition mayor Hasan Mutlu, dozens officials in corruption probe")
