EP Wealth Uses Egnyte to Protect Confidential Client Data and Support Secure File Sharing

"Feature-wise and technical-wise, there is no comparison."

Aaron Solorzano

Director of Information Technology • EP Wealth Advisors

Introduction

EP Wealth Advisors is a fast-growing wealth advisory firm supporting private and small business clients throughout the United States. As an independent financial advisor, they bring an in-depth planning-based approach to address their client’s unique financial goals and needs.

Challenge

EP Wealth Advisors’ rapid expansion created new file sharing challenges - chief among them was the need to provide secure access to sensitive client information to a remote advisor network. As a rapidly growing practice, the firm did not have a centralized system to manage client data, nor a way to ensure that confidential data was protected when shared externally. 

The first priority for the business was selecting a secure cloud file sharing solution that would support privacy and data security laws specific to the financial sector, and integrate with Practifi - a newly deployed cloud CRM system.

“We were looking to reunify departments and run all processes through one single source and one CRM. That way we could eliminate multiple systems and our people manage most of their day’s work from a single application.”

Sherryl Ray

Director of Operations

EP Wealth’s IT team evaluated multiple cloud-based file solutions, including the M365 suite, based on three primary criteria. 

• Ease of deployment and administration
• Ability to deploy fine-grain access controls for internal and external users
• Integrations with their newly selected CRM system, Practifi.

“One of the major challenges with the current system was the waterfall effect. The parent folder permissions were inherited by the sub folders. There was no way to break that inheritance – that was a huge challenge for us, as we have unique permissions based on the advisors and the teams below them.”

Aaron Solorzano

Director of Information Technology

Solution

Having put each solution through extensive testing, the decision was made to go with Egnyte, as it exceeded all of their requirements, including:

• Easy access to files for remote and traveling employees
• Granular access permissions
• Native integration with Practifi CRM

As a bonus, Egnyte’s data management and audit reporting capabilities supported the ever-growing regulatory and data privacy requirements that EP Wealth operated under, such as SEC and GLBA.

Benefits

With Egnyte and Practifi deployed as an integrated system, EP Wealth’s employees are enjoying considerable productivity benefits – from client advisors and operations, to portfolio management and financial planning.

Need-based Access Controls

IT is now in firm control of all data. Permissions are managed centrally, and real-time auditing provides complete visibility of all user and file activity from a single dashboard.

External File Sharing

Client-facing advisors can now confidentially share files with clients via a secure link, who can then remotely access these documents from mobile devices.

Fulfilling Compliance Requirements 

With policies for the automated retention, archival and deletion of regulated content, IT can effectively meet compliance requirements, and quickly produce file usage reports for regulatory audits.

“Implementing Egnyte was so self-explanatory. Rolling it out and setting up groups and permissions was easy. Compared to other solutions I have implemented; it was like night and day.”

Aaron Solorzano

Director of Information Technology