1. “Given today’s business environment,
the ability to share and exchange critical
information in a secure and timely manner
is crucial to sustaining operations.”
- Joe Panora,
Director of CDCR’s
Enterprise Information
Services (EIS)
As one of the largest state departments in the United States, the
California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) is
responsible for administering justice by upholding the integrity and
operation of the California state prison and parole system. Inevitably,
they retain an array of highly sensitive files, such as inmate and
parolee personal details, audio transcription and criminal case
information – which they are required by law to provide for casework
and trials. CDCR needed a way to securely and easily share such
data between the agency and external entities involved in the cases
of inmates that need to be processed.
Goals
CDCR traditionally processed inmate and parolee case files by paper.
Even when most of the information was available electronically, much
of it was still printed out and sent for processing. In select cases,
the information would be encrypted, burned onto a CD and mailed.
However, transporting this volume of data to the Board of Parole
Hearings stakeholders in time for the scheduled hearing became
an issue. To comply with court mandates, CDCR needed a way to
accelerate the availability of data for inmates and parolees waiting
to be processed. “Given today’s business environment, the ability to
share and exchange critical information in a secure and timely manner
is crucial to sustaining operations,” explains Joe Panora, Director of
CDCR’s Enterprise Information Services (EIS).
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Customer
California Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation (CDCR) operates the state
prison and parole system
One of the largest state departments
in the United States with approximately
57,000 employees
Oversees 34 state adult prisons, 3
juvenile facilities, a variety of community
correctional facilities, and parole systems
Goals
Securely share files within the agency
and with external entities, such as public
defender and private attorneys
Implement an easy-to-use solution,
evaluated on usability, security and
scalability
Dynamically control, revoke and track
all files shared, even after they are
downloaded from the system
Deliver various file types including
Microsoft Office, PDF and media files in a
timely manner
Solution
Deployed as a cloud service, with
24/7 access to data and the option of
transitioning on premise in the future
Unparalleled security: Robust DRM,
mobile container, optimized rendering and
customizable watermarks to ensure that
only authorized users can access shared
files
Users are able to track the document
activity of the information they shared
without the involvement of IT
Benefits
Rapidly adopted in the initial pilot by the
department of 260 users and foresee
strong growth in the future
High quality of customized training and
guidance from WatchDox in rolling out the
solution at scale
Option to utilize existing SharePoint and
Windows File Share repositories using
WatchDox Content Connectors
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California Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation (CDCR) Adopts WatchDox
for Secure External Collaboration
Case Study
Government

2. Case Study | Government
Page 2
CDCR is using WatchDox as a cloud service for
fast deployment and easy scalability with the
assured security of the WatchDox solution. With
WatchDox, CDCR retains full ownership over its
data and can choose to migrate to an on-premise
virtual appliance solution, if required in the future.
Most importantly, EIS considered the unparalleled
security that distinguishes WatchDox in the market.
WatchDox has the unique ability to provide true
digital rights management (DRM) control of files on
all devices, yet the security it provides extends even
further. Data is fully encrypted and containerized
within WatchDox Mobile Applications on Android and
iOS devices, as well as optimized for accurate
rendering in the web and mobile viewers. Files marked
with “Advanced Rights Management” can be protected
even after they are downloaded from the system
directly on the desktop as they are used in native
Microsoft Office and Adobe Reader applications and
can be dynamically revoked regardless of where they
reside.
Additionally, WatchDox allows file owners and
workspace administrators to manage documents and
user permissions, including being able to view and
download document activity logs for reference in their
day-to-day interactions. While IT unsurprisingly wants
to track everything, agency users expressed the
desire to be able to audit their own data to understand
what is being shared by their collaborators for what
purpose. Other EFSS solutions only allow system
administrators to access tracking information, which
would require an IT ticket to be submitted in order to
Solution
EIS chose WatchDox for enterprise file sync and
share (EFSS) after consulting with an analyst from an
independent research firm and conducting a proof-of-
concept evaluation. They decided that WatchDox best
matched the usability and security requirements that
CDCR set forth to provide the features that both users
wanted and IT needed.
CDCR needed a solution to:
1. Securely share files within the agency and with
external entities, such as public defenders and
private attorneys.
2. Implement an easy-to-use solution, evaluated
on usability, security and scalability that could be
established as an agency standard.
3. Dynamically control, revoke and track all files
shared, even after they are downloaded from the
system.
4. Deliver various file types including Microsoft
Office, PDF and media files in a timely manner.
Internally there are many ways for employees to share
data, but when it came to external parties it became
extremely difficult while ensuring adequate security
was in place. Previous methods of user-provisioning
were extremely cumbersome and deterred widespread
adoption.
“None of the tools that were in place offered the
combination of security and customer experience that
people have come to expect from modern consumer
file sharing applications,” says Scott MacDonald,
CDCR’s Information Security Officer.

3. Case Study | Government
relay the information.“By putting the power to provision
users in the hands of authorized agency employees
(i.e. only internal agency super users identified by
department are given workspace administrator
rights), customers can efficiently and effectively share
information while minimizing IT overhead,” explains
Dan Marshall an IT security analyst for EIS.
In today’s technology environment, mobility must be
considered. CDCR knew that they could not overlook
the need for mobility in its user base. With integrated
access, creation, edit and annotation features built in,
WatchDox has that covered.
At this time, CDCR does not allow employees to
“bring your own device” (BYOD), yet still has a need to
support people who are not a part of the department
and cannot control how outside users consume data.
WatchDox provides a solution where CDCR can
adhere to best practices when sharing data across
multiple platforms.
Benefits
Since launching WatchDox, CDCR is seeing rapid
adoption in the various lines of business where it is
introduced.
An added benefit that CDCR found in working with
WatchDox is the high quality of customizable training
that is offered by WatchDox.When deploying a solution
to hundreds and potentially thousands of users, IT
departments can easily be overwhelmed dealing with
the technical implementation as well as training end
users. Rather than assuming the entire burden, CDCR
chose to engage WatchDox in administering training
to internal agency employees as well as outside
entities (public defenders and private attorneys). By
leveraging the experience that WatchDox brings to
rolling out solutions at scale, CDCR can provide the
comprehensive education, resources and support
necessary for their complete user base.
Page 3
“With integrated
access, creation, edit
and annotation features
built in, WatchDox has
[mobility] covered.”
Looking towards the future, EIS is evaluating the
possibility of extending the security, mobility and
collaboration benefits of WatchDox to existing
SharePoint and Windows File Share repositories
using WatchDox Content Connectors. CDCR currently
operates two SharePoint instances, one internal and
oneexternal,usedacrosstheorganization.Theexternal
instance was originally established with external
sharing in mind, but now with WatchDox CDCR can
reevaluate its necessity and potentially consolidate
systems. CIFS file shares are also presently used to
store automatically generated content that needs to
be provided to different external departments. Rather
than having to pull the data manually from the existing
systems to be shared in WatchDox, CDCR is planning
to leverage WatchDox Content Connectors to do so
dynamically and without duplicating the data.
CDCR can now rest assured that regardless of whom
their employees are collaborating with and where the
data resides, it can always be protected, secured,
tracked and revoked with WatchDox.

4. Enterprises share with WatchDox.
Learn more at watchdox.com.
299 S. California Ave. #300
Palo Alto, CA 94306
1.800.209.1688 | watchdox.com
WatchDox enables organizations to access, protect and
control their critical documents wherever they go: on
any tablet, smartphone or PC, even those beyond the
IT department’s control. With WatchDox technology,
organizations can collaborate securely with partners, safely
adoptbring-your-own-device(BYOD)initiatives,anddestroy
their documents remotely if a device goes missing. More
than 100 of the Fortune 1000 including many of the world’s
leading financial institutions, manufacturers and government
agencies depend on WatchDox secure file-sharing solutions.