Cyber-resilience and fortification to serve the modern ADF

Toll, a key partner to Australia’s government and defence industries, have ensured their technology systems meet the same regulatory needs as its largest clients.

When the nation’s Security of Critical Infrastructure Act (SOCI Act) was amended in 2021 and 2022, Australian organisations delivering essential services were put on notice to beef up cybersecurity. Australia’s new cybersecurity co-ordinator Air Marshal Darren Goldie warned that cyber-attacks are only going to get worse especially in a technology environment that’s evolving so quickly.

Within this evolving landscape Toll Government and Defence, winner of the 2023 Australian Defence Industry Awards (ADIA) Prime Contractor of the Year award, have made it a top priority to provide secure and sustainable solutions to the challenges faced by Australian Defence and Defence Industry. This commitment, which stems from a profound understanding of the critical role they play in national security and the smooth functioning of government operations, goes beyond modernising and securing the ICT systems; it includes governance, personnel, and physical security. It is important to note that such commitment from Toll Government and Defence is ongoing with evolving preventative and protective controls against ever increasing threats.

By ensuring their technology systems and security apparatus meet the same regulatory needs of their largest clients, Toll not only are demonstrating their unwavering dedication to maintaining the accredited standards of security and compliance but also strengthening the overall resilience of Australia's defence and government infrastructure.

The importance of identifying the right partnerships

The selection of the right partners was paramount for Toll to ensure that their technology systems align seamlessly with the regulatory requirements of their largest clients.

Firstly, the importance of cultural compatibility cannot be overstated. Choosing partners who share the same commitment to security, compliance, and national interest ensures a cohesive approach and a shared vision.

Secondly, capability plays a vital role. Toll needed partners with the technical expertise and experience to understand and execute the complex technological solutions required to meet stringent regulatory needs. Furthermore, the capability to meet deadlines is fundamental to maintaining the integrity and functionality of defence and government systems.

Finally, the consideration of low-risk implementation and opting for partners with a proven history of low-risk implementations provided the assurance that the sensitive systems and data involved would remain secure throughout the process.

Toll’s careful selection of partners based on culture, capability, ability to deliver, and low-risk implementation saw them proceed with SAP as strategic IT partners, as well as cyber experts in archTIS (winner of the 2023 ADIA Cyber Business of the Year) and Willyama Services (winner of the 2022 ADIA Cyber Business of the Year and winner of the 2023 ACSA Indigenous Cyber Business of the Year).

SAP Sovereign Cloud

Toll Group has emerged as one of the first enterprise users of “sovereign cloud” services that SAP has stood up for Australia. President of Toll Government and Defence Perry Singh said in a statement that a “growing focus on cyber security resilience” in Toll, combined with a government and defence clientele, had led the logistics company to take up the services.

“SAP’s sovereign cloud capabilities were a clear choice for us as an extension of Toll Group’s existing SAP S/4 HANA environment and one that mirrored the environment of our largest government clients,” Singh said.

SAP said it had established “hardened, secure facilities” in Australia and New Zealand to house managed services and cloud services. “SAP’s sovereign cloud capabilities are currently available for SAP S/4 HANA Cloud, private edition, SAP SuccessFactors, and SAP Analytics Cloud solutions as well as Business Technology Platform,” the vendor said.

Modifying and fortifying

A top 20 government and defence contractor, Toll’s second and final phase of modernising and “fortifying” its IT environment has seen it become one of the first local users of a sovereign cloud capability built by SAP.

Perry Singh told the IBM Think on Tour summit in late July that the Toll business “embarked on a two-pronged strategy to modernise and fortify” its operations, in part to meet “heightened security posture” demands from its government and regulated customers.

Shifting into SAP sovereign cloud, a hardened version of its enterprise resource planning (ERP), HR and cloud services, General Manager of Finance and Commercial, Dominic Vigar, told the SAP NOW ANZ Summit that the modernisation and fortification strategy was developed around two-and-a-half years ago.

“It was pretty clear from that that we needed to enhance our security across the whole environment, not just for the financial transactional system but at the heart of our choice was, we needed an ERP really, and looking through the various opportunities we very quickly landed on SAP, especially once we understood about sovereign cloud,” Vigar said.

Singh said the deployment part of the project is split into two phases. “We’ve decided to go with the core financial (ERP) in phase one, and then do the operating modules in phase two, which are the warehouse management, transport and extended asset management systems and so forth,” he said.

IBM Consulting was brought into the project, and Toll saw that as advantageous in sticking to schedule and budget constraints. “We needed a very low-risk implementation,” Vigar said. “We could not afford to fail; we could not afford to blow our budget. We needed it to go like clockwork.”

The fact the project had so far been “on time and on budget” has been reinforced throughout, with phase one having been completed inside of eight months. Toll has put the condensed timeframe down to several factors, including IBM’s involvement in exploration and design phases, and an aversion in the program to almost any customisation. “We’ve allowed Toll to follow SAP processes rather than customising SAP processes to us,” Singh said.

What does the future hold?

Head of IT Ran Bhaskar told the same SAP NOW ANZ Summit conference in August that it was envisioned from the outset that Toll would use more cloud services through the modernisation. Bhaskar noted that more of SAP’s offerings could be added to sovereign cloud over time, depending on Toll’s needs as one of the first customers.

He said, “The core of S/4 is in there, a large portion of BTP (Business Technology Platform, which is the new name for SAP cloud services) and SAP SuccessFactors is in” sovereign cloud already, “as customers need more functionality, SAP’s going to work with us to … enhance that platform for us.”

Vigar suggested there were “a lot of opportunities” that Toll Defence and Government saw in the BTP side. He also said he was “really keen on SAP AI and understanding what that can unlock for us as far as efficiency in our back-office administration.” “That’s going to be a key enabler for Toll to differentiate ourselves and become a lower cost service partner for our customers,” he said.

Learn more about Toll, their Government and Defence business, as well as their commitment to IT fortification and security at the below links:

https://www.tollgroup.com/
https://www.tollgroup.com/solutions/industries/government-defence