Construction Company Builds a Secure Hybrid IT Infrastructure with WatchGuard
Challenge
Founded in 2003 as an asset services business, Adelaide-based Mykra has grown to become one of Australia’s leading construction and maintenance companies. With 70 staff and hundreds of contractors, the firm undertakes projects throughout South Australia, New South Wales, Victoria and the Northern Territory.
About three years ago, the company realized that its existing IT security was no longer sufficient to protect its growing operations. While endpoint security tools had been installed on most devices, there was no comprehensive network security infrastructure. Mykra’s IT manager, Carson Cox, explains this left the firm vulnerable to potential cyber security threats and data loss.
“We could see that the number of threats was continuing to climb, and we were increasingly concerned that we might suffer operational problems if they caused an outage within our core IT systems,” Carson explains. “We also have quite a few staff who are not particularly tech-savvy and so we needed to have protective measures in place that could automatically detect and neutralize any problems as soon as they occurred.”
Carson says the company’s hybrid mix of on-premises devices and hosted servers added another layer of complexity when it came to IT security. Some data is stored locally on PCs while key applications and data stores sit within Telstra’s Adelaide data center.
“It was becoming increasingly clear to us that we had significant gaps in our security defenses,” Carson comments. “We knew we had to take steps to deploy the correct tools to overcome those gaps.”
Solution
Working with IT partner Calvert Technologies, Mykra evaluated a range of strategies for upgrading its security measures. A decision was made to deploy a WatchGuard Firebox M300 appliance with WatchGuard Total Security Suite. These solutions provided the advanced security features Mykra needed to automatically detect security issues and streamline the security processes for their staff.
Results
Once the WatchGuard appliance and software were fully operational, Mykra quickly began enjoying some significant business benefits. Staff could make use of a remote desktop environment to access applications and data when away from company headquarters. When in the office, all traffic to and from the Telstra data center was secured and protected from threats.
“Instead of having to monitor multiple security tools and point solutions, WatchGuard provides comprehensive protection for our entire IT infrastructure,” comments Carson. “This streamlines the way we operate by removing complexity and reducing need for constant management.”
Carson explains that Mykra continues to enjoy a strong working relationship with Calvert Technologies and the firm is providing ongoing advice and support: “Thanks to WatchGuard and Calvert, we now have peace of mind when it comes to our IT security. Rather than having to worry about the risk of falling victim to a cyber attack or data breach, we are able to focus our minds on providing the best possible level of service to our clients.”