Energy Company Fuels Its Security with WatchGuard
Challenge
With operations in over 25 countries with more than 1,000 employees, Clarke Energy prides itself on delivering award-winning specialized services in engineering, installation and maintenance of engine-based power plants. Clarke Energy focuses on bringing the highest quality gas and diesel-fueled technology to their multi-national customers.
Employees of Clarke Energy are regularly traveling around the world and the company needed to ensure their data remains safe, while still providing access to the usual business and industry-specific applications. Building a secure standardized work environment tailored for each location was the critical first step. Because of that, central management was a must-have in their security solution.
As the company began to scale with new business, they needed a solution to replace aging and fragmented IT systems. Before making the switch to WatchGuard, the company evaluated other vendors including Meraki, Check Point and SonicWall. “The flexibility of WatchGuard allows for a fully configurated solution that matched our business needs per location,” remarked Anthony Hayes, group IT director at Clarke Energy.
Solution
“We chose WatchGuard products as they provided the most comprehensive security solution at the best value for our money. Not only that, but centralized management allows for easy deployment while reducing the time to upgrade firmware and maintenance costs,” Anthony evaluated.
The company’s WatchGuard Firebox T35, T55, M370 and M470 appliances running Total Security Suite allows them to upgrade their security and protect their networks against persistent threats. “Being able to protect the company against zero day threats is important. That’s why we implemented Data Loss Prevention, DNSWatch, IntelligentAV, Threat Detection and Response,” noted Anthony.
Clarke Energy also needed a way to add an extra layer of security on their wireless networks, particularly in their branch locations. Accordingly, the company deployed WatchGuard AP325 access points, which allowed them to manage and monitor their wireless connectivity.
Results
Anthony and his team were able to easily control and manage the site after deploying the WatchGuard access points and Firebox appliances. What’s more, the granular configuration options provided custom roles for employees who require access to certain applications on the Internet. With the help of WatchGuard’s local team, as well the planning and preparation of their internal IT team, Clarke Energy experienced a smooth deployment.
Due to the ease of deployment and all included features, Anthony is confident that he will be using WatchGuard the next time they incorporate a new site into the network. “The quick deployment of the Total Security Suite solution is the key to growing our business,” Anthony commented.
“Upgrading the firmware can be scheduled for sites in different time zones – which saves us time and ensures we have the latest version running,” concluded Anthony. “The reliability of WatchGuard appliances has been extremely high over the past many years.”