A registered investment advisory and wealth management firm serving high-net-worth individual and institutional clients across the New York Metro Area — 28 staff across a single headquarters office managing sensitive client financial data, investment portfolios, and confidential documentation under SEC and FINRA regulatory oversight.
Staff protected
Access control points secured
FINRA findings resolved
From assessment to compliance
The Challenge
For a registered investment adviser, a FINRA examination is not optional and its findings are not suggestions. When this regional wealth management firm received their examination results, three of the five findings related directly to physical security and data access controls — areas the firm’s existing IT vendor had never addressed because they weren’t in scope for a standard managed IT contract.
The findings were specific. Client data and portfolio documentation were accessible from shared workstations in common areas with no access restrictions. The server room — housing systems containing confidential financial records for hundreds of clients — was secured with a standard keyed lock and no entry logging. The reception area, client meeting rooms, and executive offices had no camera coverage and no visitor management process. And two private offices where client calls regularly took place had no detection capability for unauthorized presence during non-business hours.
The firm’s compliance officer had 60 days to demonstrate remediation before a follow-up review. Their managed IT provider’s response was to recommend a third-party security integrator. The firm didn’t want another vendor — they wanted one partner who could assess the full environment, design a solution that met the regulatory requirements, and install it cleanly before the follow-up date.
What Solved IT Did
Solved IT began with a physical security assessment across the entire office — mapping every entry point, identifying camera coverage gaps, documenting which spaces contained client data or hosted client conversations, and reviewing the existing network infrastructure for its ability to support a modern IP camera and access control deployment. Within a week, the firm had a complete remediation plan with every FINRA finding addressed, sequenced, and priced. Then we built it.
Video Surveillance — Verkada Enterprise IP Cameras We designed and installed a 16-camera Verkada enterprise IP camera system covering all entry points, the reception area, client meeting rooms, common work areas, the server room, and exterior access points. Every camera feeds into Verkada’s encrypted cloud platform — accessible remotely by authorized firm leadership from any device, retained on Verkada’s cloud storage with no on-premise hardware dependency, and producing the audit-quality footage documentation the firm needed to demonstrate ongoing physical safeguard compliance. Camera placement was designed specifically around the FINRA findings — every flagged area is now covered.
Access Control — Brivo Cloud-Managed Entry System We installed Brivo cloud-managed access control across all 14 access points in the office — including the server room, executive offices, client meeting rooms, and all entry and exit doors. Keyed entry was eliminated. Every staff member accesses the office with a credential that is enrolled, managed, and revoked centrally. The server room now requires a separate, elevated credential level — only the three authorized staff members can enter, and every entry event is logged with credential, timestamp, and duration. Visitor access is managed through a temporary credential workflow. The firm can now produce a complete access log for any door, any time period, on demand — precisely what the FINRA examination required.
Triton Sensors — Intelligent Environmental Monitoring Two private client call offices presented a specific challenge: they needed monitoring for unauthorized presence during non-business hours, but cameras in these spaces were not appropriate given the confidentiality of client conversations. We installed Triton Sensors in both offices — providing detection of unauthorized presence, aggressive keyword detection, and environmental monitoring with no cameras, no audio recording, and no collection of personally identifiable information. Triton’s SOC 2 Type II certification made it an auditable, defensible choice for a compliance-sensitive environment. After-hours alerts from these spaces now route directly to the firm’s compliance officer and security contact.
Network Infrastructure & VLAN Segmentation The existing network was flat — cameras, workstations, client-facing devices, and the server all operated on the same network segment. We redesigned the network architecture to isolate the physical security infrastructure (cameras, access readers, sensors) on a dedicated VLAN, segmented from the data network and the client-facing environment. This isolation is itself a compliance-relevant control — it ensures that the physical security systems cannot be used as an attack vector into the financial data network, and it documents a clear separation between operational and security infrastructure.
Structured Cabling The camera and access control deployment required 22 new cable runs — PoE drops for cameras, access readers, and Triton sensors. Our BICSI-certified installation team completed all cabling cleanly, labeled, and documented — routed through ceiling pathways with no visible surface runs in client-facing areas. The installation was completed across two evening windows to avoid any disruption to the firm’s operating hours.
The Results
- All five FINRA examination findings closed — follow-up review completed with zero outstanding findings; compliance officer received written confirmation of remediation acceptance
- Complete physical access audit trail in place — every entry to every access-controlled space in the office now logged with credential, timestamp, and duration; server room access fully documented
- Client meeting rooms and private offices protected without cameras — Triton Sensors provide after-hours detection in confidentiality-sensitive spaces with no audio recording and no PII collection; SOC 2 Type II certified
- Physical security infrastructure fully isolated on dedicated VLAN — cameras, access readers, and sensors segmented from the financial data network; network architecture documented for regulatory review
- Full deployment completed in 60 days — assessment, design, installation, and compliance documentation delivered within the firm's examination remediation window
- Zero business disruption — all cabling and hardware installation completed during evening and weekend windows with no impact to client-facing operations
