4-page Case Study - Posted 5/7/2007

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FranklinCovey

Security Solution Makes Administration Easy, Boosts Protection for Planning-System Firm

Headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, FranklinCovey offers effectiveness training, assessment services, and productivity tools online and through retail stores. The company, faced with security threats such as viruses and spyware, needs to protect its data for compliance and reporting purposes. Previously, FranklinCovey used multiple third-party security applications to secure its IT infrastructure, which is primarily based on Microsoft® products. However, because the company wanted a solution that would integrate with its existing infrastructure better, it deployed Microsoft Forefront™ Client Security to protect its computers. The company now has a fully integrated security solution that is easy to manage, simpler to administer, has saved time, and offers better protection.

Situation

FranklinCovey, located in Salt Lake City, Utah, is a global leader in effectiveness training, productivity tools, and assessment services for organizations and individuals.

Forefront Client Security gives us the ability to easily manage our IT environment in a centralized way while giving us full reporting on the security of the entire Windows infrastructure.  Dan See Director of Infrastructure FranklinCovey

Organizations and individuals access FranklinCovey products and services through corporate training, licensed client facilitators, one-on-one coaching, public workshops, catalogs, 87 retail stores, and the company’s Web site. FranklinCovey has nearly 1,500 associates, who provide professional services and products from 39 offices in 95 countries.

Many of the organization’s products, such as audio and video media, books, planners, software, and seminars, are sold through its retail stores, located throughout North America. In addition, the organization’s customers can purchase these services on the company’s Web site.

FranklinCovey employees use 1,200 computers to handle training and meeting requests and sales data as well as to send e-mail messages to the central office. However, these computers are increasingly susceptible to outside security threats. “We’ve seen a huge proliferation of malware and spyware in the past few years,” says Dan See, Director of Infrastructure, FranklinCovey. Data security is also important for the company, which must comply with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and other laws.

Staying ahead of these security challenges has proven difficult, however, because FranklinCovey only has 12 IT employees to maintain security for the company’s network, which includes 110 server computers that run the Windows Server® 2003 R2 operating system. “Because of the small size of the IT staff, we really need an easily managed IT security environment,” says See. “We don’t have a lot of time or resources to concentrate on security.”

For that reason, FranklinCovey had relied on various third-party applications to manage security. The company’s existing license for its antivirus product was set to expire in late 2006. FranklinCovey sought a new security solution that would fully integrate with its existing Microsoft products and technologies. See says, “We liked the concept of a Microsoft-applied and Microsoft-integrated antivirus and antimalware solution.”

Solution

Late last year, FranklinCovey participated in the Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Rapid Deployment Program (RDP), which provides companies with access to prerelease versions of Microsoft applications. At the same time, FranklinCovey took part in the Windows Vista™ RDP.

During those programs, the company learned about the Microsoft Forefront™ line of business security products, which helps protect information and control access across an organization’s entire network infrastructure. Specifically, FranklinCovey became interested in Microsoft Forefront Client Security, a unified virus and spyware protection for computers and server operating systems.

FranklinCovey also liked that Forefront Client Security offered centralized management capabilities and integration with the company’s existing Active Directory® service and Windows®-based IT environment.

In early 2007, the company hired Microsoft Gold Certified Partner Convergent Computing (CCO) to help deploy Forefront Client Security throughout the FranklinCovey network. CCO, based in Oakland, California, helps organizations design, implement, and support their networks.

Deployment of Forefront Client Security was completed in less than one week. At the same time, CCO deployed Microsoft Operations Manager 2005 and Windows Server Update Services, which give IT administrators the ability to manage and deploy updates across the infrastructure.

Benefits

With Forefront Client Security, FranklinCovey has gained an easily installed security software solution that integrates seamlessly into its existing Microsoft IT environment. As a result, administration and management is much simpler, allowing IT administrators to save valuable time. Forefront Client Security also improves the overall protection of the FranklinCovey network of computers and servers.

With Forefront Client Security, the IT environment is much easier to administer, particularly in terms of automatic updates.  Steve Hurd Systems Administrator Franklin Covey

Easy Installation

Installing Forefront Client Security— along with Operations Manager 2005 and Windows Server Update Services—on FranklinCovey computers and servers was an easy process. “Operations Manager and Windows Server Update Services were deployed within a few days, with Forefront easily installed on top of those,” says Steve Hurd, Systems Administrator, FranklinCovey. Hurd was particularly impressed with how easily Forefront Client Security was deployed on Windows Vista–enabled computers. “The installation on Windows Vista was extremely smooth,” he says. “The computers didn’t even have to be restarted, and Windows Vista was able to connect immediately to the Windows Server Update Services server.”

Improved Management Capabilities

Another advantage of the solution is that Forefront Client Security easily integrates with the overall FranklinCovey IT environment, which includes Microsoft Exchange Server 2007, the 2007 Microsoft Office system, and Active Directory. “Forefront works alongside everything else we already have in place in our Microsoft environment,” says See. “It also integrates well with the newly installed Operations Manager and Update Services applications, giving us capabilities we didn’t have before.”

The result is a solution that gives FranklinCovey a more consolidated environment that is easier for its IT administrators to manage. “Previously, we had to look in many different places to find out who was running a particular program,” says See. “Forefront Client Security gives us the ability to easily manage our IT environment in a centralized way while giving us full reporting on the security of the entire Windows infrastructure.”

Simplified Administration

Forefront Client Security also gives FranklinCovey a much simpler way to oversee administration than before. “We used to rely on multiple security applications, and we had no idea if a user had installed updates or if those updates had been downloaded,” says See. “It wasn’t easy to manage at all. Forefront Client Security gives us a centralized, automated updating process. We have full visibility into that process, and we only need to look at the console to see where updates need to occur.”

This capability is especially important for Sarbanes-Oxley compliance, adds See. That law requires that FranklinCovey install Windows XP Service Pack 2, which includes the new Windows Firewall, on many of the firm’s computers. “In the past, we would not have been able to easily gather and report on that information without locking all the computers,” says See. “With Forefront Client Security, the IT environment is much easier to administer, particularly in terms of automatic updates.”

Timesavings

FranklinCovey users previously had to manually start and run the company’s spyware solution, which slowed computer performance. “It was common for us to receive complaints about slow computers,” says See. “However, Forefront Client Security lets us proactively manage and monitor individual computers without the user having to interface with the software. That saves valuable time for IT administrators and cuts down on those complaint calls.”

Saving time means that the IT staff can concentrate their efforts on other projects. “We now have time to analyze other upcoming technologies we’re interested in, such as some of the document management solutions we’re in need of. We can turn our attention to the other important work we need to do,” says Hurd.

Increased Protection

Overall, Forefront Client Security has greatly increased protection on the FranklinCovey network. “Soon after deployment, Forefront immediately began identifying spyware, malware, and viruses on our systems that our previous security solution wasn’t finding,” says Hurd. “We had previously used various security products that all caught different things. But because they were all locally installed solutions, there was no real way of knowing when a computer user had actually run a program, found malware, and removed it. “

Forefront Client Security has also uncovered other potentially dangerous situations the company was not aware of. “It’s clear that Forefront is already giving us a better ability to stay ahead of our many security challenges,” says Hurd.

For More Information

For more information about Microsoft products and services, call the Microsoft Sales Information Center at (800) 426-9400. In Canada, call the Microsoft Canada Information Centre at (877) 568-2495. Customers who are deaf or hard-of-hearing can reach Microsoft text telephone (TTY/TDD) services at (800) 892-5234 in the United States or (905) 568-9641 in Canada. Outside the 50 United States and Canada, please contact your local Microsoft subsidiary. To access information using the World Wide Web, go to:
www.microsoft.com

For more information about Convergent Computing products and services, call (510) 444-5700 or visit the Web site at:
www.cco.com

For more information about FranklinCovey products and services, call (801) 817-1776 or visit the Web site at:
www.franklincovey.com

Microsoft Forefront Product Portfolio

The Microsoft® Forefront™ comprehensive line of business security products provides greater protection and control through integration with your existing IT infrastructure and through simplified deployment, management, and analysis. Forefront is a comprehensive solution that helps provide protection for the client operating system, application servers, and the network edge.

For more information about the Forefront product portfolio, go to:
www.microsoft.com/forefront

This case study is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY. 

Document published May 2007