London Borough of Harrow is the local authority governing Harrow in Greater London. With around 2500 users, 5300 identities, and a commitment to improving public services, the Council continually seeks innovative solutions to enhance its operational efficiency and cyber security posture.

In collaboration with Bytes, London Borough of Harrow embarked on a mission to fully leverage Microsoft Sentinel as part of its broader security strategy. The initiative aimed to refine their existing setup and empower internal teams through hands-on engagement and knowledge sharing.

Despite having Microsoft Sentinel already deployed, London Borough of Harrow recognised that the platform was underutilised and not aligned with best practices. Key issues included:

• The existing Sentinel instance was not operating in a dedicated Azure subscription.
• The internal team lacked in-depth operational knowledge of Sentinel.
• There was a need to increase maturity in their security operations and incident response processes.

London Borough of Harrow required a rearchitected solution and training to build internal capabilities, ensuring long-term effectiveness and autonomy.

Following a successful FastTrack engagement for Entra ID P2, Bytes proposed a comprehensive consultancy programme under Microsoft’s Modern Security Operations CSI funding. The approach was structured around collaborative workshops that combined implementation with practical, scenario-based knowledge transfer.

Key deliverables included:

• Designing and deploying a new Microsoft Sentinel instance within a dedicated Azure subscription.
• Configuring essential data connectors and analytical rules to enhance threat detection.
• Providing hands-on guidance and knowledge transfer to Harrow’s internal IT team.
• Supporting the decommissioning of the legacy Sentinel setup, including scripting to remove redundant diagnostic settings.

Throughout the engagement, Bytes’ consultant Gennaro Migliaccio worked closely with London Borough of Harrow to ensure every aspect of the solution was tailored to their specific security requirements.

This engagement significantly advanced London Borough of Harrow’s cyber security maturity. The new Microsoft Sentinel environment provided a more robust and scalable platform for detecting, investigating, and responding to security threats.

With the enhanced architecture and in-depth training London Borough of Harrow’s team is now equipped with the knowledge and confidence to operate Sentinel independently. This transformation has not only strengthened their cyber security framework but also improved operational efficiency in managing incidents.