Safeguarding a distributed network with minimal overhead

Are we a global leader in procurement and supply chain consulting? A frontrunner in both direct and indirect procurement software? A top-tier provider of managed procurement services? The truth is, we embody all of these roles and more. GEP delivers an ideal combination of strategic and advisory services, cutting-edge technology, and managed services, all with a sharp focus on transforming procurement and supply chains to help clients meet their business objectives.

The existing proxy solution was cumbersome to operate and deploy, and its bandwidth limitations negatively impacted user experience. Additionally, while cloud applications have enhanced collaboration, they inadvertently introduced inefficiencies within GEP's distributed network.

GEP sought a solution that would streamline processes while ensuring the security of all devices, whether they were being used on-site or off-network, without compromising the effectiveness of the security measures in place.

To Proxy or Not to Proxy

With a workforce of 7,200 employees across Asia, Europe, and America, the client sought to enhance its security framework by incorporating an additional layer of protection and considered Cisco Umbrella.

“In a widely distributed organization, the capability to proactively block threats at the DNS lookup stage, without the need to physically deploy more personnel or hardware at our numerous global sites, is incredibly beneficial for us. We also aimed to minimize latency on our network. We appreciated that Umbrella’s intelligent proxy would provide us with detailed protection without compromising performance,” explains Matsuhara.

Matsuhara added, “Since Umbrella only proxies requests for high-risk domains, it avoids the latency and complexity typically associated with traditional proxies. The quality of internet connections varies significantly across the countries where our employees are located, so we want to ensure that their experience remains unaffected.” The client acknowledged that transitioning from Zscaler to Umbrella would offer them new capabilities previously unavailable.

“Umbrella serves as a robust additional layer to strengthen the security of our corporate offices, manufacturing sites, and data centers. We were also able to provide off-network protection for our employees by activating the Umbrella roaming security module,” states Matsuhara.

Global protection implemented with ease

“Our transition to Umbrella was remarkably seamless, to the point that none of our 7,200 users even mentioned it,” states Matsuhara. “In just a few minutes, and without affecting performance, our entire network achieved continuous security that functions regardless of a device's location or internet access method. Additionally, we can now quickly identify issues by device, allowing for a faster response.” Matsuhara highlights this enhanced visibility as a key advantage of switching from Zscaler to Umbrella. “Umbrella promptly notified us of infections in various countries that our previous malware solution had missed, and we have observed a significant reduction in command and control callback traffic.” Matsuhara also notes other benefits. “Umbrella secures cloud access and enables us to improve the user experience.” GEP has reclaimed time that was once dedicated to managing their Zscaler solution. “We have achieved our objective of regaining time lost to Zscaler administration,” Matsuhara remarks, “and Umbrella’s user-friendly interface has contributed to further administrative time savings.”