About ASURE

ASURE is a nonprofit organization that supports Arizona State University (ASU) Enterprise Partners. The organization was created to work with the Department of Defense (DoD) and provide ASU professors with compliant environments in which to conduct research and work with the DoD.  

Nadia Fierro Torres is the Information Systems Security Manager at ASURE. Her responsibilities include ensuring ASURE complies with NIST 800-171, DFARS 7012, and CMMC requirements, preparing the organization for future classified work, and managing IT systems and user onboarding processes. Prior to Atomus, Nadia and the team were dissatisfied with their traditional compliance solution. Therefore, to better serve ASU's reach and impact on national security innovation, they switched to Atomus.

As an ISSM, Atomus has been great at providing quick response times and educating me on improving ASURE’s compliance system.” ‍

Nadia Fierro Torres ‍

Information Systems Security Manager, ASURE  ‍

Story Highlights

• Fast-tracking the Onboarding Process for Technical Users: Aegis offers flexible onboarding that allows users to download required applications into a secure environment. Atomus then builds compliance controls around the required applications–speeding up onboarding for technical users.
• Enabling Compliant Travel: The Aegis platform provides ASURE the necessary technical controls, networking, and procedures to allow employees to travel and work internationally.‍
• Enhancing an ISSM’s Day-to-Day Operations: Atomus provided Nadia with a customizable security environment, proper guidance, and experts to help educate her throughout the compliance process. Enabling her to manage ASURE’s compliance systems more effectively and independently.

Using Atomus to fast-track the onboarding process for technical users

A huge challenge ASURE faced with its previous traditional compliance solution was not being able to onboard technical users efficiently. ASURE works with many highly technical professors who need to support a wide range of applications and capabilities. Traditional vendors have trouble accommodating technical users onboarding to compliant environments. With ASURE’s previous vendor, it was difficult working with them because the professors couldn’t download the applications they needed. Instead, professors had to send their application requests to Nadia for approval. Once approved, Nadia would install the applications. However, there was a recurring issue where a security policy sometimes blocked the installation even after approval, causing delays and frustration for Nadia and the team.

With ASURE’s transition to Atomus, the organization saw a significant improvement in its ability to onboard technical users. The Aegis platform allows professors to download the applications necessary to keep their workflow productive within the first two weeks of onboarding. At the end of the 2 weeks, Atomus manually reviews the applications and builds compliance controls around those specific applications to speed up the onboarding process for technical users. This process helped eliminate the delays and frustration that Nadia and the team were experiencing with their previous vendor.

The major frustration in setting up technical users has been setting up their applications. Atomus’ system and approach makes it so much easier for our users.” ‍

Nadia Fierro Torres ‍

Information Systems Security Manager, ASURE ‍

Atomus supports ASURE in traveling compliantly  

Another challenge ASURE encountered with its previous compliance solution was the team's limitations while working internationally. Their previous vendor didn’t have the technical controls, networking, or procedures to support travel. As a result, the vendor did not allow the team to work while traveling to another country, which made the work environment very restrictive. However, with the Aegis platform, the team can now work while traveling outside of the US because of its technical controls, networking, and procedures. The Aegis platform has functionalities like periodic check-ins and a VPN to keep the employees' network secure overseas. In addition, the platform has procedures requiring employees to create a ticket to notify the security administrator and Atomus of international travel so the organization isn’t alerted of unusual activity. If a ticket is not created, Atomus and Nadia will be notified immediately when someone goes on a trip and logs in from an unexpected location internationally.

An Information System Security Manager’s experience using Atomus  

As an Information Systems Security Manager, Nadia encountered numerous challenges with ASURE's previous compliance solution. First, the previous solution did not collaborate with Nadia or act as a partner in managing ASURE's compliance system. For instance, the previous vendor did not accurately assess ASURE’s compliance score, making it difficult for Nadia to understand the overall status of ASURE's system. Secondly, the previous vendor's policies were extremely strict, limiting her ability to make necessary changes or modifications to the system, even changing configurations that did not effect the compliance of the system. Traditional vendors are rigid, while ISSMs like Nadia need flexibility to customize preset configurations to fit their organizations needs.

After ASURE transitioned to Atomus, Nadia now has access to proper guidance, experts to help educate her throughout the compliance process, and more flexibility to configure their systems. This has enabled her to manage ASURE’s compliance systems more effectively and independently. If there was something Nadia didn’t understand or didn't have time to do, Atomus' experts were able to provide an explanation or take care of it for her. What makes Atomus stand out is its combination of technology and human support services, making it an ideal partner for ASURE.