Cable & Wireless case study:A managed security solution that doesn’t stand in the way of doing business

Do you find that juggling different security devices, applications and the companies that supply them is becoming a full-time job? Is managing your network security becoming such a burden that it is consuming too much of your IT department’s time and focus? Are you under increasing pressure to justify the amount your organisation is spending on security? If so, you are not alone, as enterprises across all industries are facing this challenge.

In a competitive business environment, organisations need to have confidence that every minute and every pound spent on IT will have a direct and positive impact on the business. Nowhere is this truer than in the retail sector, where staying one step ahead of the competition on innovation and customer service can mean the difference between a number one and a number 10 market position.

Companies are increasingly outsourcing non-core IT activities to external service providers. By offloading these highly critical yet resource-draining activities to experts, they can keep their attention tightly focused on driving their business forward.

A surge in external communications

The business case for doing this has never been more watertight. Electronic communication in the retail sector is growing all the time. This is due to the accelerating growth in online product sales, and the imperative to collaborate more extensively with suppliers and business partners online to introduce new efficiencies into the supply chain. Both developments are generating high volumes of sensitive content that needs to be channelled securely between external locations.

Although these security activities underpin the business and need to be managed effectively around the clock, they are time intensive and require a range of sophisticated skills that few organisations can afford. With the rapid rate at which new security and virus threats emerge and mutate, managing security is a full-time job, requiring a vast wealth of expertise spanning a number of disciplines.

That’s why a large number of major UK retailers, including major supermarkets and high-street stores, now rely on the Secure Internet Gateway service from Cable & Wireless to manage and secure their internet-based communications.

Confidence across the supply chain

This managed service combines a complete range of best-of-breed security solutions to ensure that an organisation’s communication and data sharing activities are protected at every conceivable level – from the internet to the desktop and back again.

As an international communications provider, Cable & Wireless can offer protection far above that provided by traditional security perimeter providers. This begins in the external network before content even arrives at the customer’s network. By protecting content beyond the boundaries of an organisation, the Secure Internet Gateway provides an ideal communication platform to support information exchanges between partners, suppliers and remote workers – with complete confidence for all users.

Thanks to the investment Cable & Wireless continues to make in its own network and its sheer scale, our customers are assured that their sensitive communications and data are being transported and managed over an infrastructure with unparalleled performance and resilience. This protection reaches the customer’s local-area network, providing a complete, end-to-end security solution that is managed under a single service-level agreement (SLA). This eliminates the risk of holes appearing in an organisation’s security plan, or something small but significant being missed.

Always on, always up to date

The Cable & Wireless Secure Internet Gateway platform is based on a standardised and consolidated architecture. Therefore, updating component solutions is quick and easy and enables our customers to benefit from the latest security management technologies. Because this is all handled centrally, changes can be made without any disruption or temporary security risk to the business.

Our security solution allows us to have a single, unified view of our customer’s communications, enabling us to anticipate and avert problems quickly and effectively, before the business suffers any impact. Indeed, Cable & Wireless prides itself on its proactive, pre-emptive approach to security management.

The protection we provide through our Secure Internet Gateway managed service couldn’t be more comprehensive. We employ only best-of-breed technologies to ensure maximum effectiveness and interoperability. Our service combines multiple firewalls and no fewer than 15 different security applications, from anti-virus protection, intrusion prevention and secure information management, to web filtering and remote access control.

Our customers benefit from all of these facilities and Cable & Wireless is their single point of contact for all support matters. That means no more buck-passing if things go wrong, and no risk of a gap in your security plan – because your complete security strategy is now being managed holistically by an external expert.

Finally, because Cable & Wireless understands the need to provide a foolproof business case for security, we are committed to helping secure the maximum return on security investment (RoSI) for our customers – one that can be demonstrated to the business in a way that is meaningful to its board directors. That’s why so many of the UK’s best-known businesses trust Cable & Wireless to manage their networks.

For more information on Cable & Wireless’ security solutions and services, contact our dedicated security practice on +44 800 092 5825 or visit www.cw.com.