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The Most Flexible Security Architecture for Small Businesses

Enterprise Class Firewall/VPN Security Offered as a Subscription Service

Caught between the need for advanced network protection and the costs of purchasing and maintaining these systems, small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs) often find their level of protection compromised.

High-end firewalls provide the desired security, but require internal IT resources for administration. Conversely, low cost "plug and play" security devices are available off retail shelves, but quickly become ineffective without regular software updates.

As a result, SMBs are increasingly turning to outsource managed services for optimum security at affordable monthly rates.

One such provider of outsourced security is ProPlus, based in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada. Using Stonesoft's StoneGate to deliver 24x7 managed firewall security, ProPlus makes enterprise-class protection and virtual private networking affordable to smaller organizations. ProPlus also uses the StoneGate secure VPN component to provide customer access to hosted email and business applications.

Utilized in this manner, StoneGate is a robust platform for ProPlus' Managed Security Service Provider (MSSP) and Application Service Provider (ASP) offerings.

Centralized Management

ProPlus deployed StoneGate in 2002 to secure its own network infrastructure, and to upgrade VPN capabilities supporting its existing ASP offerings. StoneGate also enabled the company to add in-demand managed firewall services, expanding its role to MSSP.

Jimmy Ruokolainen, ProPlus VP of Technical Services, recognized that StoneGate offered several advantages for service providers. "In addition to providing advanced security, StoneGate simplifies policy and configuration management for managed service providers and large, distributed enterprises," he said. "The centralized management and remote upgrade ability are essential."

With StoneGate, ProPlus can monitor and manage customer firewalls from a central location. Subscribers receive a hardware appliance that comes pre-installed with the StoneGate software and is ready for network plug-in at their premises. Final software configuration is then performed remotely by the ProPlus security team. ProPlus can also remotely distribute frequent software updates to firewall appliances, to protect against the latest security threats.

StoneGate includes auditing and log data management for all connected firewalls. Powerful tools also automate many administrative functions. The system features an intelligent rule base design with sub-rule bases, and a template capability that supports the creation and reuse of management policies for faster customer set up. "Other firewalls require third-party add-ons to achieve the management functionality that comes built-in to StoneGate," said Ruokolainen.

All components, including firewalls, network elements, security policies and VPNs, are managed via a single user interface.

Business Continuity

For today's organizations, Ruokolainen stressed the importance of secure and continuously available Internet connections. This is especially true for managed service providers that depend on the Internet for the delivery of services to customers in order to meet service level agreements (SLAs).

For ProPlus, 'always-on' Internet connections are required to remotely monitor and manage firewalls at customer premises on a 24x7 basis. Similarly, its ASP business needs highly available VPN connections to ensure that customers have access to ProPlus-hosted applications and data whenever they need them.

StoneGate is the only firewall and VPN with patented MultiLink[TN] technology, which performs load balancing between multiple Internet Service Providers (ISPs) for continuous Internet access and reliable, fault-tolerant VPNs. The unique feature watches multiple ISP connections and enables fail-over in the event of a network outage. It also selects the fastest route for inbound and outbound traffic, for fast throughput and performance.

StoneGate also integrates clustering and load-balancing capabilities for firewall and Web servers based on award-winning StoneBeat® technology, providing high availability for these components, as well.

"StoneGate delivers the business continuity that is vital for our MSSP/ASP business," said Ruokolainen. "Its high availability assurance means that we can more effectively meet SLAs."

He added that creating a similar solution with the same level of high availability would require multi-vendor components and cost several times more.

An Ideal Managed Service Solution

For managed service providers, StoneGate is available with flexible monthly pricing, allowing these organizations to scale costs to actual usage volume. This creates a low entry fee and manageable business model.

The IT landscape is becoming increasingly complex, with new security threats appearing daily. As more SMBs embrace outsource solutions, StoneGate offers a way for xSPs to reliably meet the demand.

According to Ruokolainen, "Managing security for others is a significant responsibility. We view StoneGate as the best platform choice. StoneGate delivers operational efficiency and ensures the highest security."

ProPlus customers are benefiting from the managed service solution. "We have been using StoneGate as our firewall and VPN," said Robert Bowles, executive director of Community Business Development Corp. Southwest in Harvey Station, New Brunswick, Canada. "StoneGate combined with managed services has helped us resolve problems faster, decrease downtime and increase productivity."

"ProPlus enables us to get enterprise-level technology at an affordable rate," said Luc Theriault, Network Manager of Atlantic Compressed Air in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada. "We're very happy with ProPlus' managed firewall and VPN offering for our distributed environment."

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