Innotrac : Stonesoft Makes PCI Compliance and Network Consolidation Easier

Fast Growth Leads to Hefty Network Challenges


innotrac_logoInnotrac provides product fulfillment and Customer Care services for global brands through an integrated network of fulfillment centers in the United States and Europe. Since 1984, the company has undergone a high growth period marked by several market acquisitions. While the acquisitions successfully diversified the company’s client base, merging different IT environments was a different story. Innotrac inherited different order management systems, warehouse management systems and network infrastructure – all of which added complexity to the performance and security of the enterprise network. In addition, the company’s evolving customer base required Level 1 PCI compliance in order to act as a credit card payment gateway for fulfillment.

To improve performance, Innotrac decided to consolidate and standardize its network infrastructure. Innotrac realized that this would require a new level of security, performance and support. Innotrac began a search for a best-of-breed solution provider.

High Availability, Unsurpassed Support and Ease of Use Make Stonesoft the Clear Choice

innotrac_pic01As Innotrac set out to find a new network security vendor, they laid out specific criteria:
  • PCI Compliance: Innotrac needed a vendor who could provide specific security and reporting capabilities that would comply with PCI’s Level 1 Service Provider certification.
  • Resilient Capabilities: Innotrac required high availability and active clustering to capitalize on their investments and support their SLA commitments. 
  • Enhanced Customer Support: An important consideration in the selection process, stemmed from the fact that the previous vendor’s support team was located overseas and weren’t locally available for on-site support. Innotrac needed not just vendor, but a partner who could be available to provide account service and technical support at a moment’s notice. 
  • Lower Operational costs: Innotrac needed a partner that could provide better support at a lower cost.
  • Ease of management: The company needed a solution that would simplify and centralize device management while maintaining a high level of security.
With these criteria in mind, Innotrac’s technical support team introduced Stonesoft as a possible partner. Innotrac began researching Stonesoft and discovered that the StoneGate suite of solutions, which included FW, VPN and IPS exceeded their requirements, starting with redundancy. Stonesoft’s firewall solutions featured built in high availability tools, including its patented Multi-Link™ technology, which ensured both the network and firewall performance was always up and running.

Additionally, Stonesoft’s StoneGate solutions could be managed from a single management console, which was also built into the device. This centralized approach would allow Innotrac to easily monitor, update, configure and manage every device on its network – including third-party and virtual devices. The solutions also featured the reporting and management technologies needed for Level 1 PCI Compliance.

Stonesoft did more than just meet Innotrac’s technical requirements; they also met the company’s demands for a local presence and lower support costs. With U.S.-based customer and account support, Innotrac would be able to resolve any network issues quickly. Furthermore, Stonesoft’s award-winning technical support team would offer an unprecedented level of service.

Innotrac brought Stonesoft in to conduct a formal proof of concept, which involved running StoneGate devices at multiple firewall locations using Innotrac’s existing rule set. The ease of management and deployment was the proof that was needed to move forward. 

 “Stonesoft had everything we were looking for – and not just on paper. Their proof of concept exercise showed us that network security management and high availability could be easy.”
John Cummins, Director - IT Operations and Information Security, Innotrac

A Roadmap for Improved Security and PCI Compliance


innotrac_pic02With Stonesoft selected as Innotrac’s network security partner of choice, the first step was to evaluate the current infrastructure strategy. Innotrac had previously maintained firewalls at multiple data center locations across its network. After evaluating Innotrac’s business and network operations, Stonesoft helped guide Innotrac to consolidate to only two locations. Each of these data centers would house two StoneGate firewalls, thereby providing network redundancy.

Stonesoft also reviewed all of Innotrac’s firewall rules. Across multiple acquisitions and evolving technological demands, the set of rules previously used by Innotrac’s firewalls were fraught with redundancy and errors. As a result, Stonesoft reduced the rule set by approximately 30 percent. This, in turn, would make it easier for Innotrac to manage its network security devices as well as improve security across the enterprise.

As part of this process, Stonesoft worked with Innotrac to consolidate credit card transaction processing to one facility, which created a more effective process that met the criteria for PCI Level 1 compliance.

The next step to achieving compliance was to implement StoneGate IPS for layered traffic inspection. Because the IPS already had the correct signatures built in, the PCI auditor was able to confirm compliance with that particular requirement almost instantly (less than an hour). In addition, Innotrac was able to easily execute two-factor authentication at no additional cost.

“Stonesoft’s solutions provided a suite of products that satisfied specific PCI requirements, which meant all we had to do was deploy them. It was really that simple.”
John Cummins, Director - IT Operations and Information Security, Innotrac


The Bottom Line


The high availability tools and technologies built into the StoneGate Firewall and IPS have enabled Innotrac to handle volume increases from its largest retail customers without risk. For example, during the Christmas season, order volumes can increase by as much as 300 percent. The network redundancy afforded by Stonesoft’s solutions handles volume spikes and avoids network down time that could result in client penalties and expedited supply chain costs.

Managing network security has never been easier or more affordable for Innotrac. In fact, the company achieved a 100 percent ROI on their Stonesoft investment in 6 months. The indirect and direct savings include:
  • Administration costs: Prior to Stonesoft, network management required the equivalent of 2.5 full time employees. Today, a single employee can do the job with little day-to-day administration.
  • Less infrastructure: StoneGate’s built-in advanced security functionality, including high availability, management, reporting and two-factor authentication, means that Innotrac doesn’t have to purchase and maintain additional products. 
  • Lower data circuit costs: With Stonesoft’s help, Innotrac has reduced its data circuit costs by 30 percent. Innotrac now deploys StoneGate Firewall/VPN for backup WAN connectivity.
When asked what’s the best thing about working with Stonesoft, Innotrac’s answer goes beyond the savings and security. It’s Stonesoft’s attention to detail, support and communication that most impresses the company.

“A six month ROI is impressive, but it’s the long-term relationship that matters most.  With Stonesoft, we finally have a good partner that knows more than network security – they know our business and our people.”
John Cummins, Director - IT Operations and Information Security, Innotrac


Summary


Innotrac Requirements
  • Needed redundancy at firewall locations
  • Enforce compliance with Level 1 Service Provider PCI certification
  • Reduce network administration costs
  • Overcome challenges with complex network infrastructure, including rule sets
  • Improved technical support
  • Streamline network device management
Results with Stonesoft
  • 100 percent ROI in 6 months
  • Quick and easy achievement of specific Level 1 Service Provider PCI certification requirements
  • Reduced costs by eliminating separate network components
  • Reduced administration effort from the equivalent of 2.5 FTE to 1 FTE
  • 30 percent reduction in data circuit costs
  • Simplified management of all network devices (third party and virtual) from a single console

About Innotrac

Innotrac Corporation, founded in 1984 and based near Atlanta, Georgia, is a full-service fulfillment and logistics provider serving enterprise clients and world-class brands.  The Company employs sophisticated order processing and warehouse management technology and operates seven fulfillment centers and one call center spanning all time zones across the continental United States.  Innotrac Europe GmbH has a network of fulfillment centers, call centers, and returns processing facilities with operations in the UK, Germany, France, Denmark, Sweden, Poland, Austria, Italy, Switzerland and the Netherlands.


About Stonesoft

Stonesoft Corporation (NASDAQ OMX: SFT1V) is an innovative provider of integrated network security solutions to secure the information flow of distributed organizations. Stonesoft customers include enterprises with growing business needs requiring advanced network security and always-on business connectivity.

StoneGate™ Secure Connectivity Solution unifies firewall, VPN, IPS and SSL VPN blending network security, end-to-end availability and award-winning load balancing into a centrally managed system. The key benefits of StoneGate Secure Connectivity Solution include low TCO, excellent price-performance ratio and high ROI. The StoneGate Virtual Security Solutions protect the network and ensure business continuity in both virtual and physical network environments.

StoneGate Management Center provides unified management for StoneGate Firewall with VPN, IPS and SSL VPN. StoneGate Firewall and IPS work together to provide intelligent defense throughout the enterprise network while StoneGate SSL VPN provides enhanced security for mobile and remote use.

Founded in 1990, Stonesoft Corporation is a global company with corporate headquarters in Helsinki, Finland and Americas headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. For more information, visit www.stonesoft.com and http://stoneblog.stonesoft.com.