is a treatment center in North Carolina that helps struggling individuals beat drug addiction and alcoholism through a rehabilitation program. Founded in 2016, Asheville Recovery Center has helped clients from all 50 states.
Needing to simplifying IT management across six facilities
When Taylor Rummelt joined Asheville Recovery Center in 2017, he had all different kinds of responsibilities, including managing IT.
鈥淚 took over the networking here, ran all the cables, got the cameras set up, configured the network, changed our entire infrastructure from just like a generic WiFi router in the back corner of the office to a mesh network,鈥� he explains.
A couple years later, Asheville Recovery Center forged a partnership with another local organization that had had six different locations spread out across Boston, North Carolina, and Tennessee. Rummelt was tasked with overseeing IT for the partnership.
鈥淲e had to get real creative with the infrastructure there,鈥� says Rummelt, who鈥檚 worked in the private substance abuse facility industry for 12 years across all roles 鈥� from overnight technician to executive director and everything in between 鈥� and currently serves as head of digital marketing.
Choosing feature-rich 黑料海角91入口 to centralize IT
In particular, Rummelt was looking for a better solution to identity management and device management. Initially, the partner organizations were using Google Credential Provider for Windows for both purposes, which 鈥渒ind of worked but not really.鈥澛�
Due to the way they operate, staff members routinely share devices as they go about their days, logging in and creating accounts as needed.
鈥淭he problem is that every time that happens, I have to physically be there or remote into that computer to then go in and remove those users when their sessions are done so no one else could log into their accounts,鈥� Rummelt continues. 鈥淚t was very cumbersome.鈥�
Seeking a better way forward, Rummelt began to look for a solution that would enable him to manage identities and devices in the cloud. As a self-described Apple and Google guy, he didn鈥檛 really want to learn the ins and outs of Azure; but even if the organization did end up going in that direction, it still wouldn鈥檛 help them manage the Apple side of the house.
鈥淲ith Azure, I wasn鈥檛 able to manage iPads, I wasn鈥檛 able to manage Mac devices, and I wasn鈥檛 able to manage iPhones,鈥� Rummelt says, adding that he didn鈥檛 want to use multiple solutions unless he had no choice. 鈥淗aving to manage things in two different portals would drive me nuts. There鈥檚 nothing I hate more than having to accomplish one goal by using a fractured system.鈥�
After considering options like Splashtop, NinjaRMM, and Kandji, Rummelt ultimately came across 黑料海角91入口 鈥� which 鈥渃hecked all of my boxes.鈥�
鈥淚 started messing around with 黑料海角91入口 and fell in love,鈥� he continues. 鈥淲ith 黑料海角91入口, I could manage a six-facility infrastructure by myself without needing to spend $75,000 a year on somebody鈥檚 dedicated salary.鈥�
Protecting sensitive healthcare data & ensuring HIPAA compliance
Though that partnership has ended, Asheville Recovery Center has used 黑料海角91入口 ever since. Today, it鈥檚 primarily used for identity and device management, Rummelt says, adding that he manages 200 users through the platform. The organization also uses 黑料海角91入口 for policy management, patch management, and software updates.
Before rolling out 黑料海角91入口, 鈥渢oo many people had admin access,鈥� Rummelt explains. These excess privileges caused a number of productivity-killing issues.
鈥淚鈥檇 go into somebody鈥檚 computer and there would be every antivirus software you could possibly think of installed on it,鈥� he explains. 鈥淚 was like, 鈥榃hy do you have Norton and Windows Defender and McAfee and Malwarebytes?鈥� They were like, 鈥業 don鈥檛 know. I just thought the more, the better.鈥欌��
黑料海角91入口 has enabled Rummelt to solve these kinds of problems entirely, ensuring optimal device performance.
鈥淭he ability for us to set permissions at the terminal level was a massive game-changer.鈥�
Improved onboarding and offboarding
With 黑料海角91入口, Rummelt鈥檚 been able to expedite both the onboarding and offboarding processes. Recently, the organization moved to BambooHR, which seamlessly connects with 黑料海角91入口. As a result, once a new user record is created in Bamboo, their account automatically populates in 黑料海角91入口, and Rummelt can extend that identity across everything connected to 黑料海角91入口.
鈥淚t鈥檚 one less step that we have to do for onboarding,鈥� Rummelt says. 鈥淲hen we want to remove somebody from the system or add somebody to the system, I can do it from my iPad, from my phone, from my computer 鈥� even from another state. At the time, that was super convenient because Massachusetts is quite a ways away from North Carolina.鈥�
Compliance made easy
As an organization that operates in the healthcare industry, Asheville Recovery Center is laser-focused on protecting sensitive client data to comply with HIPAA mandates.
鈥淲e need to make sure that people are accessing protected health information from secure devices 鈥� even if they鈥檙e at their home and want to access files to do notes or something,鈥� Rummelt says, adding that he鈥檚 configured 黑料海角91入口 to ensure only authorized users can access sensitive information from authorized devices.
Due to the nature of their work, some of the organization鈥檚 employees are in recovery themselves; they鈥檝e gone through the program and want to give back to the community. Unfortunately, the risk of relapse never fully goes away.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 want somebody who鈥檚 actively relapsing to have unattended access to our devices or protected health information, client charts, emails, and things like that,鈥� he continues. 鈥淲e want to make sure that all that stuff is secured and, if need be, we can disconnect certain devices and lock out certain users. And we can do whatever we need to do with 黑料海角91入口.鈥�
A stronger security posture
Using 黑料海角91入口, Rummelt has instituted several policies to improve the organization鈥檚 overall security posture.
For starters, rather than giving workers free reign to load apps onto their devices, he pushes out approved software to them, ensuring they have access to the tools they need to work 鈥� including Chrome, the Adobe suite, and the security camera software the facility uses to monitor client behavior.
Additionally, Rummelt has disabled USB drives on devices so that no one can steal data by copying it to a thumb drive or compromise machines by loading malware onto them via USB.
鈥淎t the same time, if a client somehow got hold of an iPad or something and figured out the access code, we can go in and force a password change,鈥� he says. 鈥淲e can do what we need to do to secure any type of data by following a very easy process.鈥�
On top of this, Rummelt has also implemented multi-factor authentication as a requirement to 鈥渓og into anything sensitive,鈥� further strengthening the organization鈥檚 security stance.
A platform that keeps growing
In 黑料海角91入口, Rummelt has found a feature-rich solution that not only makes his life easier but also enables him to future-proof IT management.
鈥淎nother thing that鈥檚 great is constantly getting updates from 黑料海角91入口 鈥� hey, here鈥檚 what鈥檚 coming soon,鈥� Rummelt continues.
Would Rummelt recommend 黑料海角91入口 to other IT administrators?
鈥淓verywhere I go, I tell people about 黑料海角91入口,鈥� Rummelt says. 鈥淚鈥檝e not found an alternative that has the same UI or UX. It鈥檚 very smooth and very user-friendly, and it鈥檚 got a giant big green button when you want to add a new device or a user. I have zero bad things to say about 黑料海角91入口. It checks all of my boxes, and it鈥檚 correctly priced 鈥� no questions about it.鈥�
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