How Multi-Office Companies Standardize IT Across Locations

The biggest risk is inconsistent security controls across sites. An attacker who compromises the least-secured location may have network access to all locations. CIS Controls v8 identifies inconsistent configuration management (Control 4) as a primary attack vector. Your overall security posture is defined by your weakest site, not your strongest.

Microsoft Intune provides centralized device management across all locations — enforcing encryption, password policies, software deployment, and compliance requirements from a single console. When you update a policy, it applies to all devices at all sites simultaneously. This eliminates the scenario where different offices have different security configurations due to local variation.

A shared IT service — either an internal team managed centrally or an <a href="/solutions/managed-it-services">MSP supporting all locations</a> — is almost always more consistent and cost-effective than location-specific IT. Shared services provide the same SLA, the same tools, and the same policies at every site. Location-specific IT creates the divergence that becomes a security and compliance problem over time.

Most organizations cannot immediately replace all network equipment across sites. A practical approach is to standardize at the firmware and policy level first (update all existing devices to current firmware and apply consistent configurations), then replace end-of-life equipment with a standard platform as it ages out. New office buildouts should always use the standard platform from day one.

<a href="/solutions/managed-it-services/co-managed-it-services">Co-managed IT</a> combines an internal IT person (typically at headquarters) with an MSP that provides 24/7 monitoring, specialized expertise, and support across all locations. The internal person handles daily user interaction and company-specific knowledge; the MSP ensures consistent coverage and security across all sites. This is the most common model for growing multi-office companies with 50–200 users.

CIS Controls v8 recommends continuous monitoring for high-priority assets and at minimum quarterly configuration reviews. For multi-office environments, a quarterly compliance scan using centralized tools (Intune compliance reports, network configuration auditing) is the practical baseline. Annual third-party assessments provide independent verification that sites have not drifted from the standard.