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In the highly competitive world of Formula 1 racing, a team’s intellectual property can make the difference between spraying champagne on the podium and watching from the sidelines. Lotus F1 Team uses the activity reporting, data loss prevention (DLP), and mobile device management (MDM) features of Microsoft Office 365 and OneDrive for Business, part of Office 365, to more safely collaborate on proprietary documents from headquarters, the track, or the garage.

Formula 1 racing is defined by speed and mobility, and Lotus F1 Team is no exception. It employs some of the world’s leading minds in aerodynamics, materials research, engineering, and automotive design. Team members work across the globe traveling to races, testing and designing cars, and managing logistics and operations. Mobility and agility are in the DNA of Lotus F1 Team, and in 2014 the team started a long-term plan to optimize mobility, work automation, and business intelligence using Microsoft Office 365. As part of this plan, and to improve current file management processes, the team had a vision of being able to securely access files on any device anywhere in the world.

To get the millisecond edge it needs to win, the team relies on its global workforce being constantly productive—but the team’s collaboration needs demand highly mobile access and cause challenges with file synchronization. For starters, it’s easy to create too many versions of the same file. Several team members at headquarters have their own file shares, which other on-site employees access using mapped drives. But because external users can only access the file shares by logging on through VPN, employees often download copies of files to work on when away from headquarters, which presents security, versioning, and backup issues. Employees also exchange documents from different file shares or through email, but file sizes, permissions access, version control, and bandwidth can slow or halt the exchange of information. IT manages email with Microsoft Exchange functionality, including DLP and ActiveSync, and requires remote employees to use encrypted devices. IT also has restrictive policies about sharing files on USB drives and conducts frequent security audits.

Solution

IT Operations Manager David Cadywould chose to add Microsoft OneDrive for Business cloud storage service as a complement to employees’ file shares and mapped drives, to help manage team members’ daily working documents and files. He wants the team to be able to use collaboration features such as coauthoring, version control, and simple sharing from anywhere. To protect critical business files on employees’ mobile devices, Lotus F1 Team chose Mobile Device Management for Office 365. The initial solution deployment is to a pilot group with roles across the team. Full rollout is planned for the near future.

Instead of sending copies of documents as attachments, many employees can now right-click on a file in OneDrive for Business and select the name of the person they’d like to share the document with. By using Microsoft Outlook connected to Office 365, users can include a document by choosing files from OneDrive for Business. The resulting “attachment” is presented as a link to the file, automatically permissioned so the recipient can either view the file, edit it, or both. Users can change these permissions directly from the message.

Lotus F1 Team can better manage email content and regular attachments by setting automated Office 365 Policy Tips to appear in Outlook. These tips inform employees before they click Send that they may be about to pass along sensitive information that has been detected by the company’s policies. The IT team can decide whether tips merely warn workers that they’re about to send sensitive data, block their messages, or even allow them to override the block with a justification.

IT can apply DLP policies for Microsoft SharePoint Online, Exchange Online, and OneDrive for Business from the Office 365 compliance center and prevent unmanaged machines from syncing. For example, the team defined a list of domains in OneDrive for Business from which client synchronization requests are allowed. Any such requests originating from devices that aren’t domain-joined or aren’t members of the allowed domains are automatically blocked.

With activity reporting in Office 365, the team can track who is downloading or sharing—or trying to share—files, and with whom. The IT team can audit all user and administrator actions, including who views, edits, and deletes content, and set limits on folder-sharing and document-forwarding permissions.

Benefits

Lotus F1 Team can now more securely share documents from any managed device from anywhere team members are working. The solution’s document-sharing controls, event auditing, and information and governance reporting features help the team better protect sensitive data.

Ease of use, familiar experience

After the solution is fully deployed, employees will use OneDrive for Business more often than email for sharing documents. Users can get the file-sharing experience they’re used to in Microsoft Outlook without even realizing that the functionality is coming from OneDrive for Business. They can easily set permissions for recipients, such as the ability to open or edit a file, and the document being accessed is the original stored in OneDrive, not a copy, which limits versioning issues.

Safer file sharing and robust DLP

By using OneDrive for Business, employees have more control over how documents across Office 365 applications are viewed and shared, even when files are attached to email, and whether the files can be forwarded. IT uses policies to ensure that only encrypted, managed devices access documents, whether through VPN connections or mobile email. Cadywould appreciates the ability to selectively wipe just Lotus F1 Team data from devices, including information in native mobile email clients. Using DLP features in OneDrive for Business, his IT team can even manage the sharing of particular pieces of information stored in OneDrive and Outlook, or on SharePoint online sites.

Improved audits, compliance, and governance

Managing data is much simpler and constant policy education empowers users. For example, IT has the ability to set Policy Tips to remind employees to keep certain file types or specific content in the right locations, or to not share it with external people. IT can run activity reports to trace all users’ actions with all files, such as sharing, copying, and downloading, for full visibility and easier governance. Having these reports helps IT work with employees to conduct safe practices with critical business files.