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Client Success Story | Network Security
By Raj Sidhu, Founder & CEO, inTech Consulting, author of Beyond the Prompt: A Business Owner's Guide to Understanding AI
Published October 1, 2026
About this case study: The client's name is withheld for confidentiality. The scope, hardware, hours, and process come from the signed statement of work. Figures labeled "target" are the goals set for this scope, not independently audited results.
A Seattle-area law firm was running its entire network behind a SonicWall TZ 400 firewall that had reached end of life. An end-of-life firewall stops receiving firmware and security updates, which leaves the one device standing between client files and the internet unpatched against new vulnerabilities.
The firm needed a replacement that restored full security coverage without taking attorneys and staff offline during the workday.
Firewalls are among the most actively exploited devices on small business networks. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) regularly adds firewall and VPN vulnerabilities to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, and an unsupported device will never receive the fix.
For attorneys the risk is also an ethics issue. Washington Rule of Professional Conduct 1.6(c) requires lawyers to make reasonable efforts to prevent unauthorized access to client information, and ABA Formal Opinion 477R applies that duty to how firms secure electronic communications. Running unsupported security hardware is hard to defend as "reasonable."
inTech recommended a like-for-like platform move to a new SonicWall TZ 280 with one year of the Advanced Protection Security Suite (APSS). Staying on SonicWall let the firm's existing rules, VPN settings, and policies migrate directly instead of being rebuilt from scratch on a different vendor's platform.
The engagement was scoped at 16 labor hours, including one full day onsite for the physical swap, with configuration prepared ahead of time so the cutover window stayed short.
A no-drama firewall swap depends on doing almost all of the work before anyone touches a cable. inTech's process runs in three stages.
Not sure when your firewall goes end of life? Most small firms do not know until something breaks. Ask inTech for a network lifecycle review.
The statement of work defined success as full security coverage restored with no interruption to existing services.
| Measure | Result |
|---|---|
| Scoped effort | 16 hours, including 1 onsite day |
| Existing rules and policies migrated | 100% (target) |
| Security subscriptions active at go-live | 1 year APSS, active on day one |
| Business-hours disruption during cutover | Under 30 minutes (target) |
| Unsupported security hardware remaining | 0 |
Firewall replacements are quoted as a scoped project based on hardware model, security subscriptions, and onsite time. For clients on inTech Managed IT, published at $200 to $250 per user per month, lifecycle planning is part of the service, so hardware is budgeted before it expires instead of after.
See all published rates on our IT services cost page.
Start with an inventory of every security device and its vendor end-of-support date: firewall, switches, wireless access points, and the backup appliance. Anything within 12 months of end of support belongs in this year's budget.
Then confirm security subscriptions are active, not just the hardware. A current firewall with expired threat services is a router with a fan. Learn more on our IT for law firms page and our network and infrastructure management page.
inTech Consulting is a managed IT, co-managed IT, and cybersecurity provider based in Kent, Washington, supporting businesses of 10 to 500 users across Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Montana with locally staffed technicians.
inTech is a Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) and PWSBE certified through OMWBE, a member of PNDC, PNAA, and AWB, and holds a 5.0 rating across 114 Google reviews.
Protect client confidentiality with a network you can defend. Book a 30-minute call with Raj Sidhu at intechnw.timezest.com or call (206) 397-8070.
The manufacturer stops releasing firmware and security updates. The firewall keeps passing traffic, but new vulnerabilities are never patched, which makes it an easy entry point for attackers.
For a small office, a firewall replacement is typically one to two days of work. This engagement was scoped at 16 hours, with configuration staged in advance and one day onsite for the physical swap.
Yes. Washington RPC 1.6(c) requires lawyers to make reasonable efforts to prevent unauthorized access to client information, and ABA Formal Opinion 477R applies that duty to electronic communications.
Usually, when you stay with the same vendor. Moving from a SonicWall TZ 400 to a TZ 280 allowed the existing configuration to be exported and imported rather than rebuilt by hand.
Yes. Services like gateway antivirus, intrusion prevention, and content filtering only work while the subscription is active. Without it, a new firewall provides far less protection.
