Case Studies

Grovemex consultant successfully delivered a$10M SAP GRC 12 Access Control implementation for a Provincial Government, enhancing identity governance across 30,000 users. The project established cybersecurity controls aligned with NIST 800-53 and ISO 27001, improving audit readiness and reducing SoD violations by 40%. The engagement delivered a unified access-control framework and measurable gains in compliance efficiency

Frameworks & Tools: NIST 800-53, ISO 27001, SAP GRC 12 AC, Power BI, Azure DevOps, Archer GRC

Large Scale Challenge

Our client required a large-scale SAP GRC 12 Access Control implementation to strengthen identity governance and regulatory compliance across multiple ministries.

Challenges included complex legacy role structures, inconsistent segregation-of-duties (SoD) enforcement, and a lack of centralized user-access visibility for 30,000+ users across different government departments.

Our consultant led the project management and cybersecurity oversight, ensuring secure configuration, compliance, and operational readiness. Key activities included: SAP GRC 12 Access Controls implementation, designing secure role-based authorization for 500 roles and 30,000 users. Established cybersecurity control framework aligned with NIST 800-53, ISO 27001, and the Client’s security policies. Managed audit and compliance alignment with internal and external regulatory requirements. Integrated automated patch management and logging to minimize vulnerabilities and improve audit transparency. Developed KPIs and dashboards in Power BI to monitor SoD violations and remediation timelines. Delivered security awareness training to improve compliance culture and reduce policy breaches.

SoD violation Reduction

The engagement enhanced the Client’s access-control maturity, providing a unified governance structure across multiple ministries. Reduced SoD violations by 40% within the first year of deployment. Improved audit readiness and shortened remediation timelines by 30%. Established a sustainable access-control and monitoring model that became the blueprint for future SAP security projects across the province.

Grovemex led a comprehensive cybersecurity audit and assessment for a Municipal Government, covering five divisions’ OT operations.
The engagement delivered detailed audit reports, recommendations, and an implementation roadmap, alongside the development of 1multiple OT cybersecurity policies and standards aligned with NIST 800-53, NIST 800-82, AESO-CIP, and NERC-CIP frameworks.
Frameworks & Standards: NIST 800-53, NIST 800-82, AESO-CIP, NERC-CIP

Answering the Question – Where are we?

The municipality sought to assess and strengthen its cybersecurity posture across five divisions managing interconnected IT and OT assets.
Existing controls and governance structures needed to be aligned with national and regional regulatory standards to ensure compliance, improve visibility, and enhance resilience against emerging threats.

What we did

Grovemex consultants conducted a holistic cybersecurity audit covering all divisions, evaluating risk posture, control maturity, and governance effectiveness.
Key activities included:

Performing risk-based assessments across IT and OT environments.

Developing 25+ customized OT cybersecurity policies and standards aligned with NIST, AESO-CIP, and NERC-CIP.

Delivering division-specific reports and an implementation roadmap to guide remediation and maturity improvements.

Engaging leadership to embed governance best practices and policy adoption across departments.

The Result

The engagement resulted in:

A clear, actionable roadmap for strengthening cybersecurity and operational resilience.

Adoption of Grovemex-developed OT security standards as the city’s new governance baseline.

Improved compliance with NERC-CIP and AESO-CIP

Enhanced cross-divisional coordination, audit readiness, and risk visibility.

A Journey Toward Visibility and Control

When one of the leading power generation utilities began experiencing growing visibility gaps in its industrial network, leadership recognized that traditional IT controls weren’t enough to protect its Operational Technology (OT) environment.
Across 32 power generation sites, the organization faced the familiar challenge of legacy systems, limited monitoring, and complex regulatory requirements under NERC-CIP and AESO-CIP.

That’s when Grovemex was brought in — to help transform a patchwork of disconnected controls into a unified, measurable OT cybersecurity program.

Where are our gaps

The utility’s OT environment included systems running for decades — programmable logic controllers, SCADA servers, and generation management tools that had evolved without centralized oversight.
While operations remained stable, there was little consistency in how assets were patched, monitored, or audited.
Compliance reviews revealed gaps in documentation, inconsistent baselines, and unclear ownership of security responsibilities between IT and OT.

In short, the organization needed visibility, structure, and accountability — without interrupting critical generation operations.

Delivering Excellence

Over a 24-month engagement, Grovemex designed and implemented a comprehensive OT cybersecurity program that spanned all 32 industrial sites.
Key outcomes included:

Deployment of the Verve Industrial OT Security Platform, providing unified visibility across all control systems.

Integration with the client’s SIEM, enabling real-time monitoring of threats and anomalies.

Creation of standardized patch and vulnerability management processes, tailored to OT change-control realities.

Development of system-hardening baselines and configuration templates for critical assets.

Collaboration with OT and IT teams to embed operational controls and clarify accountability.

Cyber awareness training for site technicians and engineers to support ongoing program sustainability.

Sustainable Outcome

By the end of the program, the client had moved from fragmented oversight to a centrally governed OT cybersecurity posture.
The new framework delivered:

Full asset visibility across 32 sites through Verve dashboards.

Measurable reduction in remediation timelines for identified vulnerabilities.

Alignment with NERC-CIP and AESO-CIP compliance expectations.

A repeatable OT governance model is now used as a blueprint for future capital projects.

Today, the client continues to operate with greater confidence — balancing safety, reliability, and compliance while maintaining uninterrupted power generation.

Learning moments

Every large-scale OT program brings valuable takeaways. For this project, Grovemex identified key lessons that continue to shape our consulting approach:

Visibility Before Control:
Establishing accurate asset visibility early in the engagement avoided costly rework later and ensured that controls were built on trusted data.

Cultural Integration Matters:
OT and IT teams had different priorities — uptime vs. control. Success came when both sides co-designed solutions that respected operational realities while improving security.

Incremental Change Works Best:
Phased rollouts, starting with high-risk sites, allowed leadership to demonstrate early wins and secure funding for subsequent phases.

Tooling Is Only as Strong as Governance:
Deploying the Verve platform was essential, but sustained improvement came from governance — defined roles, change controls, and continuous metrics tracking.

Local Ownership Drives Sustainability:
Training and empowering on-site technicians created accountability and reduced dependence on external consultants for daily operations.

Overview

Grovemex provided cybersecurity architecture and system integration services for a Provincial Government in Canada, embedding security-by-design principles into enterprise and OT integration projects.
The engagement covered threat modeling, risk assessments, and secure architecture reviews across Azure and hybrid environments, improving system resilience, integration security, and compliance alignment.

Project Duration: 24 months
Frameworks & Tools: NIST 800-53, ISO 27001, CIS Benchmarks, Azure, Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI), SDLC, SAMM, IoT

The Challenge

The client’s enterprise and OT systems supported critical procurement and facilities management operations.
However, integration processes lacked standardized security validation, and development teams operated without a consistent security-by-design framework.
This created risks of unauthorized access, data leakage, and inconsistent compliance across hybrid workloads in Azure and OCI.
A unified cybersecurity architecture approach was required to align integration security with enterprise policies and recognized standards.

Approach & Implementation

Grovemex’s cybersecurity architects collaborated with infrastructure, DevOps, and application teams to embed secure architecture patterns throughout the system development lifecycle (SDLC).
Key activities included:

Conducting threat modeling and risk assessments for integration points between enterprise and OT systems.

Performing API security design reviews and establishing consistent security validation checkpoints.

Developing reference security architectures for Azure and hybrid workloads, incorporating CIS Benchmarks and SAMM maturity practices.

Implementing Role-Based Access Control (RBAC)and secure key management for Azure services.

Integrating logging and monitoring with Microsoft Sentinel to improve detection and audit readiness.

Embedding security gates and compliance templates within DevOps workflows to ensure repeatable governance.

Results & Impact

Reduced integration-related vulnerabilities by over 40%within the first year of adoption.

Improved project delivery efficiency by enabling teams to reuse validated reference architectures.

Strengthened compliance alignment with NIST 800-53and ISO 27001

Fostered a culture of secure-by-design engineering across IT and OT development teams.

Enhanced system resilience and audit readiness through continuous validation and logging integration.

Securing the Energy That Keeps North America Moving

For a leading Energy Infrastructure and Pipeline company, growing regulatory expectations and an expanding threat landscape made cybersecurity not just a compliance issue, but a business imperative.
The organization operated complex OT and IT environments across multiple control centers and field assets — each with its own tools, processes, and vendors. Leadership engaged Grovemex to help bring it all together under a single, measurable cybersecurity improvement program.

Understanding the Challenge

The client needed an enterprise-wide OT/IT cybersecurity enhancement aligned with board-level priorities and evolving regulations.
However, several obstacles stood in the way:

Fragmented visibility into cyber risks across OT and IT environments.

Inconsistent third-party security controls among vendors and integrators.

Limited metrics to track compliance progress against frameworks like NIST 800-53, IEC 62443, and ISO 27001.

A lack of integrated visibility into endpoint security and control effectiveness.

The organization sought a partner capable of blending technical execution with strategic governance — ensuring cybersecurity maturity could be demonstrated, measured, and sustained.

What Grovemex Delivered

Over a 12-month engagement, Grovemex designed and delivered a holistic cybersecurity improvement program across the client’s OT and IT environments.
Key initiatives included:

Design and deployment of a Cyber-Risk Metrics Dashboard, giving leadership near real-time insight into compliance, control performance, and residual risk.

Enterprise rollout of CrowdStrike EDR across OT endpoints, improving detection and response visibility.

Development of a Third-Party Risk Management (TPRM) program, assessing suppliers and contractors for alignment with NIST and IEC 62443 requirements.

Execution of Threat and Risk Assessments (TRAs)on major infrastructure projects to identify gaps and recommend remediation actions.

Facilitation of NIST 800-53 risk workshops and cyber maturity sessions for business and technical leaders to align priorities and build internal capability.

The Results

The program achieved measurable progress across governance, operations, and compliance:

Unified governance framework integrating OT and IT risk oversight at the enterprise level.

Improved vendor assurance through consistent TPRM assessments and follow-up remediation.

Enhanced endpoint visibility and threat detection via CrowdStrike EDR integration.

Operationalized cyber-metrics reporting, enabling data-driven discussions at board and audit committee levels.

Elevated cybersecurity posture and established a repeatable model for future business unit assessments.

Lessons Learned

Board-Level Sponsorship Accelerates Adoption:
Having executive sponsorship early ensured quick decisions, alignment of funding, and strong engagement across departments.

Metrics Build Credibility:
The cyber-risk dashboard transformed abstract security goals into measurable business outcomes — reinforcing trust with leadership and auditors.

Third-Party Risk Requires Continuous Follow-Up:
Vendor assessments alone weren’t enough — embedding recurring reviews and corrective action tracking was key to sustaining progress.

Bridging OT and IT Needs Translators:
Success depended on experts who could interpret OT risk in IT terms (and vice versa) to avoid friction and misalignment.

Maturity is a Journey, Not a Checkbox:
The engagement showed that sustainable cybersecurity improvement comes from incremental progress — culture, process, and metrics working together.

Overview

Grovemex partnered with a public university to enhance its cloud security posture through a Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB) project.
The initiative strengthened data protection, threat visibility, and secure remote access for over 2,000 staff and 1,400 students, forming the foundation for the university’s Zero Trust and SASE roadmap.

Duration: 10 months
Technology: Netskope CASB, DNS, VPN, IP Integration

The Challenge

With more than 80% of learning and collaboration happening online, the university needed to improve cloud data protection and ensure compliance—without impacting availability or user experience.

What Grovemex Delivered

Led the deployment of Netskope CASB to secure SaaS applications and prevent data loss.

Piloted Netskope Network Private Access (NPA)for secure connectivity to internal resources.

Integrated with Microsoft 365and 35 cloud applications, improving visibility and control.

Executed a phased rollout with strong change management and rollback planning.

Delivered user and admin training to ensure smooth adoption.

The Results

The project was completed on time and without service interruption.
Data-loss incidents dropped by 60%, and adoption exceeded expectations.
The university now leverages the solution as part of its Zero Trust and Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) strategy for ongoing digital learning security.