Guardian Management LLC

Security Solution Simplifies Deployment and Saves Time for Busy Real Estate Firm

Based in Portland, Oregon, Guardian Management is a growing business that specializes in multifamily housing investment and property management services. The company employs 500 people in five states and has a two-person IT staff to manage computer security for those employees. To protect company computers from viruses, malware, and other security challenges, Guardian had relied on security software that had limited deployment, management, and reporting capabilities. In April 2007, Guardian decided to deploy Microsoft® Forefront™ Client Security, a new solution that integrates with existing Windows® environments and offers automated deployment and updates, and comprehensive reporting tools. With Forefront Client Security, Guardian has gained an easy-to-deploy solution that helps improve security, provides easy reporting, and saves time for the IT staff.

Situation

. . . Forefront Client Security is automatically deployed with the latest updates in a few hours. I no longer have to manually install updates or worry about individual computers.  Will Wilson Director of Information Systems Guardian Management

Guardian Management is a real estate investment and management company headquartered in Portland, Oregon. Founded in 1971, the firm owns and manages multi-family housing communities, apartment buildings, and other residential buildings. Business is growing fast for the company, which currently owns and manages more than 175 properties in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Texas, and Arizona. Guardian employs 500 people. Most of these employees are property managers and other real estate professionals who use personal computers and mobile devices to prepare weekly or monthly reports, certify tenant income information, and coordinate apartment preparation and repair.

Staying ahead of security threats is especially challenging for Guardian because it has an IT staff of only two people who manage the company's core IT operations. Over the past four years, Guardian used Trend Micro OfficeScan and several other security solutions to protect its IT environment. However, certain aspects of those solutions were problematic for Guardian. “Recently, we had a mobile device user who couldn’t get onto the Internet,” says Will Wilson, Director of Information Systems at Guardian Management. “The security solution we had at the time notified the user that there was a worm in the system, but couldn’t eliminate the worm.”

An even bigger challenge was administration. “The previous antivirus solution didn’t have built-in reporting capabilities, so it was hard for me to narrow down problems to specific computers,” says Wilson. Deployment and configuration of the solution was also a time-consuming, manual process. “Each time I needed to deploy the solution for a new user, I spent 30 minutes configuring settings and making sure scripts were running correctly,” he adds. “Nothing was automated, and I spent too much time installing the solution. I needed more time for looking at new technologies and helping the company prepare for more growth.”

Wilson realized that Guardian needed a new security solution that was easier to deploy and manage, and that offered greater protection for its business.

Solution

In late 2006, Guardian Management learned about Microsoft® Forefront™ Client Security, which helps protect client computers and server operating systems from viruses, malicious software (also known as malware), worms, Trojan horses, and a host of other security threats. The solution is also designed to integrate fully with an organization’s existing IT infrastructure that is based on the Windows® operating system. It also works effectively alongside other Microsoft security technologies.

Guardian was interested in a security solution that integrated with its IT infrastructure, which is based on the Windows Server® 2003 Enterprise Edition operating system. Guardian also uses Windows Server Update Services, Microsoft Exchange Server 2007, Microsoft SQL Server™ 2005 database software, Microsoft Operations Manager 2005, and the Active Directory® service. Forefront Client Security uses SQL Server 2005 for reporting capabilities and Operations Manager for overall system monitoring.

Wilson says Guardian was also interested in Forefront Client Security because it offers unified protection for personal computers, portable computers, and server computers, and also offers centralized IT management capabilities. In addition, Forefront Client Security contains automatic security update features and comprehensive new reporting tools, such as scheduled security reports. IT administrators can view these reports by clicking hyperlinks from an easy-to-read summary.

In April 2007, Guardian made the decision to deploy Forefront Client Security throughout its network. The company initially installed the solution on 50 computers, with deployment for the remaining 450 computers scheduled for completion by June 2007.

Benefits

As far as reviewing and analyzing security assessment and malware reports, the process is at least two to three times easier than it was before.  Will Wilson Director of Information Systems Guardian Management

By using Forefront Client Security, Guardian Management now has an easy-to-deploy security solution that integrates seamlessly with its existing Windows-based IT infrastructure. The solution helps improve security and provides easy reporting capabilities. All of these advantages help the organization’s IT administration save time on deployment, installation, and management.

Helps Improve Security

Guardian Management realized the benefits of the solution almost immediately following deployment. “We uninstalled the previous security solution on a mobile device, installed Forefront Client Security, updated the scan engines, and within seconds Forefront Client Security discovered a worm and quarantined it,” says Wilson. “We then did a full system scan and discovered seven more viruses.”

Wilson adds that the solution does more than simply find viruses. “Forefront Client Security is much more than just an antivirus and anti-malware product,” he says. “It helps protect the whole IT environment from threats such as services that shouldn’t be running. It gives us really solid protection.”

Simplifies Deployment

Forefront Client Security gives IT administrators an automated, simple process for deployment and configuration. “It’s much simpler to deploy than our previous solution,” says Wilson. “I can easily deploy and configure security policies, for example. I can also quickly configure how I want updates to be sent, how much control I want users to have, and which destinations certain security policies should be sent to.”

Because Forefront Client Security automates the deployment process, Wilson says that setting up new computers is easy. “After I bring a new computer onto the network, Forefront Client Security is automatically deployed with the latest updates in a few minutes. I no longer have to manually install updates or worry about individual computers.”

Provides Seamless Integration

Forefront Client Security offers seamless integration with the existing Guardian Management IT infrastructure, simplifying IT administration. “The way in which Forefront Client Security integrates with Windows Server Update Services is especially beneficial for us, in terms of deploying signature updates,” says Wilson. “Our users’ computers receive automatic updates from Forefront Client Security, through Update Services, every few hours. And because there isn’t any notification to the users that updates are being sent, it’s not disruptive to them at all.”

Eases Reporting

Because Forefront Client Security provides the ability to schedule reports and easily view those reports through hyperlinks, reporting is easy for Wilson. “As far as reviewing and analyzing security assessment and malware reports, the process is at least two to three times easier than it was before,” he says. “On the main Forefront Client Security menu, I’m presented with a comprehensive view of security on all our systems. If there are any problems, I click an Alerts link and I’m immediately taken to a report that summarizes those problems. From there, I can easily drill down to specific computers. It’s easy and effective.”

Saves IT Administration Time

Because Forefront Client Security provides an easy installation process and fully automated reporting, Wilson saves time that he previously spent on configuration and management. “The initial setup process takes 50 percent less time for me than the previous solution,” he says. “After our earlier solution was installed, it took an additional 30 minutes to configure it. With Forefront Client Security, I can do that within a few minutes.”

Wilson estimates that he has reduced overall security management time by 20 percent with the help of Forefront Client Security. “I don’t spend time worrying about computer security or dealing with alerts and patches, because that’s all automated,” he says. “Now I have between four and six hours per week that I’m no longer spending on security management. I can concentrate on exploring other Microsoft technologies that Guardian is considering.”

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 by using the World Wide Web, go to:
www.microsoft.com

For more information about Guardian Management products and services, call (503) 802-3600 or visit the Web site at:
www.guardianmanagementllc.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, the application server computers, 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 July 2007