CASESTUDY Sophos UTM – Wireless Protection...within our existing Sophos UTM platform,” says Mr...

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The Central Otago District Council (CODC) delivers a wide range of local government services, looks after economic development of the region and promotes Central Otago as a leading New Zealand tourism destination. With 11 sites throughout the region including Council Service Centres, Libraries and Community Pools, CODC recognised an increasing use of laptops, mobiles devices and tablets, and needed to introduce secure wireless networks for its internal staff and visiting guests. IT SECURITY SPECIALISTS Sophos UTM – Wireless Protection BUSINESS CHALLENGE The Central Otago District Council has overall responsibility for delivering local government throughout Central Otago. The Council runs four departments (Infrastructure, Planning and Environment, Governance and Corporate Services, and Community Services) and has various Committees and Community Boards to help with its decision making processes. With more than 150 staff across a number of widespread locations, effective networking is critical to the successful running of the Council’s business. With a recent drive in-house to become more wireless and mobile, the focus was shifted to ensuring CODC could offer robust wireless networking across its many locations. “We’ve seen a big increase in the use of laptops, mobile devices and tablets and with that comes the need for staff to be able to take their equipment to meetings and have robust connectivity and easy access to important information,” says Glenn Tetlow, Information Systems Engineer at Central Otago District Council. “We saw wireless as a key way in which we could all work more efficiently,” adds Mr Tetlow. As the Council set about scoping its wireless requirements, it identified the need for a secure wireless network for internal staff and a second separate guest network for contractors and visitors. “Our wireless needs were pretty straightforward, with two separate networks to cater to our different users,” says Mr Tetlow. “The key thing for CODC was finding a solution that would make managing the wireless infrastructure easy across the entire organisation”. CODC began evaluating a number of different wireless vendors and it quickly realised that the best option was already close at hand. “As we looked at our options, it started to make more and more sense to look at the wireless application within our existing Sophos UTM platform,” says Mr Tetlow. “By using Sophos UTM Wireless Protection we could use the same physical UTM device and did not need to look at a second network device and software, so it was an easy decision.” Sophos UTM Wireless Protection offered CODC a robust and user-friendly wireless application with rich private/public network manageability, all within a proven solution that they were already very familiar with. CODC engaged Scientific Software & Systems (SSS), an acknowledged IT Security specialist, and long-term support partner of the Council, to assist with its implementation. THE SOLUTION Sophos UTM Wireless Protection lets you simplify your wireless networking by using Sophos UTM as a wireless controller to centralise your Wi-Fi management and security. Sophos wireless Access Points (APs) are automatically set up and configured by the UTM, which means all your wireless clients get complete threat protection: Installs fast with automatic setup and configuration: With Sophos UTM Wireless CASESTUDY “Our people are no longer tied to their desks and when they are in meetings they have easy access to all of the key information they need from the network” ORGANISATION Central Otago District Council (CODC) LOCATIONS Alexandra – Head Office, Clyde, Cromwell, Ranfurly & Roxburgh STAFF 150 SOLUTION Sophos UTM (Unified Threat Management) – Wireless Protection

Transcript of CASESTUDY Sophos UTM – Wireless Protection...within our existing Sophos UTM platform,” says Mr...

Page 1: CASESTUDY Sophos UTM – Wireless Protection...within our existing Sophos UTM platform,” says Mr Tetlow. “By using Sophos UTM Wireless Protection we could use the same physical

The Central Otago District Council (CODC) delivers a wide range of local government services, looks after economic development of the region and promotes Central Otago as a leading New Zealand tourism destination.

With 11 sites throughout the region including Council Service Centres, Libraries and Community Pools, CODC recognised an increasing use of laptops, mobiles devices and tablets, and needed to introduce secure wireless networks for its internal staff and visiting guests.

IT SECURITY SPECIALISTS

Sophos UTM – Wireless Protection

BUSINESS CHALLENGE

The Central Otago District Council has overall responsibility for delivering local government throughout Central Otago. The Council runs four departments (Infrastructure, Planning and Environment, Governance and Corporate Services, and Community Services) and has various Committees and Community Boards to help with its decision making processes.

With more than 150 staff across a number of widespread locations, effective networking is critical to the successful running of the Council’s business. With a recent drive in-house to become more wireless and mobile, the focus was shifted to ensuring CODC could offer robust wireless networking across its many locations. “We’ve seen a big increase in the use of laptops, mobile devices and tablets and with that comes the need for staff to be able to take their equipment to meetings and have robust connectivity and easy access to important information,” says Glenn Tetlow, Information Systems Engineer at Central Otago District Council.

“We saw wireless as a key way in which we could all work more efficiently,” adds Mr Tetlow. As the Council set about scoping its wireless requirements, it identified the need for a secure wireless network for internal staff and a second separate guest network for contractors and visitors. “Our wireless needs were pretty straightforward, with two separate networks to cater to our different users,” says Mr Tetlow. “The key thing for CODC was finding a solution that would make managing the wireless infrastructure easy across the entire organisation”.

CODC began evaluating a number of different wireless vendors and it quickly realised that the best option was already close at hand. “As we looked at our options, it started to make more and more sense to look at the wireless application within our existing Sophos UTM platform,” says Mr Tetlow. “By using Sophos UTM Wireless Protection we could use the same physical UTM device and did not need to look at a second network device and software, so it was an easy decision.” Sophos UTM Wireless Protection offered CODC a robust and user-friendly wireless application with rich private/public network manageability, all within a proven solution that they were already very familiar with. CODC engaged Scientific Software & Systems (SSS), an acknowledged IT Security specialist, and long-term support partner of the Council, to assist with its implementation.

THE SOLUTION

Sophos UTM Wireless Protection lets you simplify your wireless networking by using Sophos UTM as a wireless controller to centralise your Wi-Fi management and security. Sophos wireless Access Points (APs) are automatically set up and configured by the UTM, which means all your wireless clients get complete threat protection:• Installs fast with automatic setup and configuration: With Sophos UTM Wireless

CASESTUDY

“Our people are no longer tied to their desks and when they are in meetings they have easy access to all of the key information they need from the network”

ORGANISATIONCentral Otago District Council (CODC)LOCATIONSAlexandra – Head Office, Clyde, Cromwell, Ranfurly & RoxburghSTAFF 150

SOLUTIONSophos UTM (Unified Threat Management) – Wireless Protection

Page 2: CASESTUDY Sophos UTM – Wireless Protection...within our existing Sophos UTM platform,” says Mr Tetlow. “By using Sophos UTM Wireless Protection we could use the same physical

and the helpdesk are very knowledgeable and easy to deal with.”

OUTCOMES Central Otago District Council has realised an immediate positive effect from the introduction of wireless networking. “We’ve only introduced wireless to our Council Offices and main Service Centres at present, but the feedback at these locations has been excellent,” says Mr Tetlow.

“Council staff have found the system straightforward and easy to use too,” says Mr Tetlow. “Most have simply powered their devices and carried on with business as normal, only now with wireless connectivity while they are on the move.” The Council believes there are three key areas in which it has most benefited from the introduction of Sophos UTM Wireless Protection – mobility, productivity and simplicity. “Our people are no longer tied to their desks and when they are in meetings they have easy access to all of the key information they need from the network,” explains Mr Tetlow.

“Sophos UTM has offered us greater levels of flexibility, by offering simpler connections to the network for both internal staff and external guests like visitors and contractors,” says Mr Tetlow. “This has definitely made the lives of our IT team easier as they don’t have to scramble to get things set-up for external parties especially.” “Wireless connectivity will allow us to operate more effectively and efficiently, by giving our people the ability to work from anywhere,” says Mr Tetlow. “It is only with this kind of empowerment that productivity is truly allowed to grow,” he explains. “Sophos UTM is also very straightforward and this simplicity of functionality is perfectly matched to our needs.” Overall, CODC is extremely happy with its investment in Sophos UTM Wireless Protection. “We’re delighted with how easy Sophos UTM Wireless Protection is to use and manage,” says Mr Tetlow. “It’s also very cost-effective and that’s always going to be an added bonus in my books.”

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Protection you can set up multiple APs within minutes. They require no local

configuration and will simply find the controller, retrieve their IP address via DHCP, and import the configuration. Devices automatically appear in the UTM interface where you can manually activate them.

• Creates reliable mesh networks: Sophos has a range of APs to support different deployment scenarios. They include the ceiling-mount design AP 30 and the dual-band/dual-radio AP 50 which acts as a repeater and/or bridge to extend coverage into hard to wire areas.

• Provides guest Wi-Fi and BYOD access: Sophos UTM Wireless Protection gives you secure, easy-to-manage guest access out-of-the-box – without extra appliances, licenses or complex configuration. Customisable splash pages, bandwidth limits, on-the-fly guest logins and content filtering allow you to customise your guest experience.

• Secure wireless and integrated UTM protection: To prevent unauthorised access Sophos UTM Wireless Protection uses the most advanced encryption and authentication standards available, including WPA2-Enterprise in combination with IEEE 802.1X (RADIUS authentication). APs forward wireless traffic to the UTM, giving wireless clients the same level of security as if they were physically connected to the LAN.

“Sophos UTM Wireless Protection is a nice tidy package that’s not complicated, and yet allows us to do exactly what we need to,” says Mr Tetlow. “The boxes are very easy to set-up and configure, it’s really easy to use, and the visibility is great as it’s so easy to see exactly who’s on the system at any time,” he explains. “I have used a number of different wireless solutions in previous roles and the Sophos UTM wireless solution is arguably the easiest to use,” says Mr Tetlow. “It’s also very good value as the costs are certainly not excessive,” he adds.

IMPLEMENTATION

The CODC IT team was confident that the implementation of Sophos UTM Wireless Protection would be straight-forward and so it elected to manage the process itself.

“We installed the solution ourselves, pretty much on the same day that SSS supplied all of the hardware equipment and the relevant licenses,” says Mr Tetlow. “It was a very easy roll-out. The documentation was excellent and we simply installed the relevant licenses and got on with things.”

“Wireless Protection was very easy to integrate into our existing Sophos UTM solution and not having to set up a second separate management interface was a real plus,” explains Mr Tetlow. “We didn’t need much help from SSS directly this time, but as always we knew they were only a call away if we needed assistance,” says Mr Tetlow. “The support from SSS is always very good. Both their technicians

ABOUT SOPHOS UTM - WIRELESS PROTECTION

The Sophos UTM gives you complete security from the network firewall to endpoint antivirus in a single modular appliance. It simplifies your IT security without the complexity of multiple-point solutions. The intuitive interface will help you quickly create policies to control security risks. And clear, detailed reports will give you the insight you need to improve your network performance and protection. Wireless Protection is just one of the modules available on the Sophos UTM platform. The other modules available are Network Protection, Email Protection, Web Protection, Webserver Protection and Endpoint Protection. SSS - IT SECURITY SPECIALISTS 0800 777 001 [email protected]

IT SECURITY SPECIALISTS