2 page Case Study - Posted 2/12/2007
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U.K. Council Saves Two People-Days a Week and Bolsters Security with Antivirus Solution
Bolton Council processes a growing volume of e-mail messages as it moves ahead with the government’s transformation agenda for local authorities in the United Kingdom (U.K.). Its information and communications technology (ICT) department wanted to empower council officers to work more flexibly while reducing the impact of spam on servers and the time they spend quarantining e-mail messages. Bolton council deployed Microsoft® Forefront™ Security for Exchange Server to provide a more secure environment for its upgrade to Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 communications and collaboration server. The solution has cut two person-days a week in operating costs and prevented spam e-mails from threatening the network’s stability.
Business Needs
Bolton is a distinctive and diverse town, just 20 minutes north of Manchester, which is home to more than 260,000 people. Bolton Council is one of the best performing local authorities in the country, gaining a top rating of four stars under the new Comprehensive Performance Assessment.
In 2006, officers decided the council needed a better anti-malware solution to help meet the transformation agenda promoted by the U.K. government. Bolton Council wanted to make much greater use of online services, including automatically transmitted e-mail. It also wanted a more secure environment to support mobile and remote working for its employees. Its existing solution relied on a single antivirus technology that was becoming increasingly risky.
With 12,000 employees, Bolton Council also wanted to manage its growing estate of 5,500 mailboxes more efficiently. Ray Crompton, Corporate ICT Account Manager, says: “We were blocking 2,000 to 3,000 spam e-mails a day and quarantining 1,000, but quarantine management alone was taking up two full person-days a week. It was also difficult to filter lists and check up on and identify people who were abusing the e-mail messaging system, using profanities in communications, for example.”
The existing e-mail servers did not run any protection against viruses, so if an e-mail-borne virus breached the gateway defence and “hit” the servers, it would often lead to e-mail downtime. Crompton says: “E-mail is critical to our authority’s working arrangements, and any downtime causes huge disruption to critical services. Our defences were only at the front end, and there was nothing to protect the back-end servers.”
Solution
In its search for a better anti-malware solution, Bolton Council first looked at upgrading its existing solution. It then considered deploying Sophos Anti-Virus. Neither proved satisfactory. Crompton says: “We struggled to find a single vendor with a complete solution that could secure us from many different attackers: virus writers, spammers, and hackers. Filtering out spam could take up to five days, and while we considered some aspects of these products good on spam, there was no filtering of key words or reporting functionality.”
On taking out a Microsoft Enterprise Agreement (EA) for low-cost volume licences, the council upgraded several of its critical systems and migrated to Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 communications and collaboration server.
The EA provided an opportunity to learn more about Microsoft antivirus solutions. After attending a briefing at Microsoft Services in Reading, England, about the EA, the council’s ICT department became aware of two products: Microsoft Forefront Security for Exchange Server antivirus software and Forefront Spam Manager.
By this time, Bolton council was already using Microsoft Internet and Acceleration Server 2004 as a firewall, and this was then extended to pre-authenticate users and stop attacks against the new Exchange servers.
Having decided to implement Forefront Security for Exchange Server, Bolton council was delighted with the fast time to market. Crompton says: “Microsoft Services came in and installed Forefront Security on five Exchange servers, including the clustered back end. The product was up and running in less than half a day.”
Benefits
Bolton Council was able to move ahead quickly and securely with new ways of working, such as remote access and mobility solutions, because of the added security of Microsoft Forefront solutions. Due to the EA, the council achieved a much lower total cost of ownership and cut two person-days a week in operating costs.
With the automated ability to block spam and detect malware, Bolton Council’s IT team can concentrate on higher-value tasks, rather than firefighting. In addition, Bolton Council is making significant cost savings in terms of storage and has reduced the risk of downtime to its critical systems.
Bolton Council benefits from the new system because it:
- Blocks 10,000 e-mail messages a day, whereas previously up to 1,000 had to be quarantined and checked manually.
- Delivers much greater reporting functionality.
- Removes viruses and malware that had previously infiltrated the Exchange Server information stores.
- Offers more scope for filtering lists to check if people are abusing the system.
- Provides evidence of abuse sufficient to satisfy a disciplinary inquiry.
- Seamlessly integrates with third-party tools and Exchange Server 2003.
- Helps employees locate e-mails easily without having to search through spam mail, making operations more productive.
- Reduces storage space with excellent spam filtering.
This case study is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY.
Document published February 2007
