SD WORX

Human Resources Firm Boosts Performance and Cuts Costs with New Security Solution

SD WORX provides human resources management services to businesses in Belgium and other European Union countries. Recently, the company wanted to replace its third-party antivirus software with a more affordable, effective, and centrally managed security solution. To address this goal, SD WORX deployed Microsoft® Forefront™ Client Security to 1,600 client computers and 16 terminal servers. Now, SD WORX uses a central management system to administer improved protection against viruses, spyware, and other malicious software. Automatically generated reports offer a fast, clear overview of security status, and multiple automatic daily updates help guard against emerging threats. The new solution requires 25 percent less memory on terminal servers, which supports more remote connections, and it runs with higher performance, which helps improve productivity.

Situation

SD WORX specializes in human resources management, with full-service offerings in payroll, policy, and legal advice for customers in the European Union. Based in Antwerp, Belgium, SD WORX has its own offices as well as an extensive network of partners in most European countries. SD WORX is a public limited company with 1,650 employees. It had 2006 revenues of 171 million euros (U.S.$224.7 million).

After deploying Forefront Client Security, our client and server computers both run faster. We’re using 25 percent less terminal server memory, which allows us to connect 25 percent more thin clients.  Peter Vandenven Manager of Decentralized Systems SD WORX

In late 2007, SD WORX wanted to replace its existing third-party antivirus software. After examining its IT needs, the company determined that any new solution should support centralized management and include spyware protection. The product should also cost-effectively scale to permit broad distribution within the company. “Our previous antivirus software performed satisfactorily, but it was becoming extremely costly to maintain,” says Peter Vandenven, Manager of Decentralized Systems at SD WORX. “We also wanted to monitor updates centrally because this approach uses IT labor resources more efficiently.”

Solution

In early 2008, SD WORX chose Microsoft® Forefront™ Client Security to help protect the company against spyware and rootkits, as well as traditional threats such as viruses, worms, and Trojan horses.

Vandenven cites several reasons for his company selecting this software: “Market studies revealed that Forefront Client Security was steadily moving up the antivirus software rankings. And given that our environment is already highly Microsoft-oriented, this product was a logical choice for us. High-quality technical support from Microsoft was also important. These factors—together with the price, which is included in our general licensing agreement—made our decision easy.”

In January, SD WORX deployed Forefront Client Security to 16 terminal servers running the Windows Server® 2003 operating system. These servers support both internal users and remote users who connect to the company’s network over the Internet using Terminal Services technology. In February, the company installed the software on a limited number of employee computers running the Windows® XP operating system. That same month, the IT staff created a script to automatically remove the former antivirus product from computers and to scan them for spyware. In March, the company used the script to deploy the new solution to the full production environment of 1,600 computers.

“Migration to Forefront Client Security was very fast,” says Vandenven. “It was a smooth operation, as demonstrated by an installation error rate of only 0.2 percent.”

Benefits

With Forefront Client Security, SD WORX has centralized management over an integrated antivirus and antispyware solution. Easy-to-generate reports detail the current security status. Automatic and frequent updates help protect against the latest threats. And unobtrusive, high-performance operation frees up system resources and improves productivity.

Centralized Management and Detailed Reporting

Forefront Client Security includes a central management system that provides an easy-to-use console through which SD WORX administrators manage client security and generate reports and alerts about the security status of the IT environment.

“A key advantage of Forefront Client Security is its centralized management and control,” emphasizes Vandenven. “Before, we didn't have a central console for monitoring our system, so drafting reports that list the results of the daily virus scan was manual and complicated. To extract the right data from a database and import it into a report required us to define a report template and then continually adjust its parameters. This process wasted valuable time. Now, we automatically receive a security status report in just a few seconds.”

A key advantage of Forefront Client Security is its centralized management and control.… Now, we automatically receive a security status report in just a few seconds.  Peter Vandenven Manager of Decentralized Systems SD WORX

The report provides specific information about the number of computers connected to the network and the number that are offline. The company’s IT administrators can readily see how many online computers have reported infections and other problems. They can also view a 14-day history to compare current and previous status, and they can click metrics listed in the report for details on individual computers. In this way, the administrators can focus their remedial action exactly where it’s needed.

Frequent, Automatic Updates

Forefront Client Security protects client computers and servers by installing security agents on them. Working through the central management system, SD WORX can create and customize these security agents to better control the IT environment and optimize protection against different types of threats. The company distributes the agents using Windows Server Update Services, which reduces administrative workload through automation.

The previous product updated virus signatures once or twice a day, on average. In contrast, Microsoft distributes an average of three updates a day, and Windows Server Update Services automatically downloads these signatures from the Internet. Vandenven says, “The Update Services server is on our premises, so we can manage it ourselves. If users are not connected to the company network, their computers receive the updates via the Internet. If a virus outbreak occurs, Forefront Client Security alerts us to the problem and advises us on how to resolve it quickly. Because Microsoft distributes multiple daily updates for Forefront Client Security, we can detect malicious software faster. In this way, we are working more proactively, so we believe that we can protect our environment from more threats.”

Unobtrusive, High-Performance Operation

Following a policy defined by SD WORX, every day at noon Forefront Client Security automatically scans all the computers on which it is running, without interfering with employees’ day-to-day work. At that time, many SD WORX staffers are on their lunch break, but their computers remain connected to the network. However, even if employees are working when the scan occurs, the computer’s performance is not significantly diminished, which helps save time and improves productivity.

“With the previous antivirus system, performance issues prevented us from implementing automatic virus scanning,” says Vandenven. “With Forefront Client

Security, scanning is much faster, and users often don’t even realize that it’s taking place. Their computers don’t freeze or suddenly slow down.”

Centralized management also contributes to the software’s unobtrusive operation. Vandenven adds, “With Forefront Client Security, if a virus outbreak occurs, we can initiate a scan from the central console, either on a specific computer or across the entire environment. In the past, we had to remotely take over a potentially infected computer, meaning that the user had to stop working during the scan. In this way, the new solution is saving us valuable time.”

Additionally, the new solution uses hardware resources more efficiently than the old one, resulting in higher operational performance. “After deploying Forefront Client Security, our client and server computers both run faster,” adds Vandenven. “We’re using 25 percent less terminal server memory, which allows us to connect 25 percent more thin clients. This optimized infrastructure provides us with maintenance that is more cost-effective.”

Integrated Virus and Spyware Protection

Forefront Client Security delivers improved protection from many types of malicious software. Consequently, SD WORX does not have to buy and manage a separate spyware solution or worry that its computers are unprotected from this particular threat. "Before, some users had antispyware on their computers, while others didn't,” says Vandenven. “Today, with Forefront Client Security, everyone benefits from spyware protection, and their computers are scanned for it every day. As a result, we feel that there is a general improvement in the level of security at SD WORX.”

Based on the success of the new solution, SD WORX plans to install other Microsoft Forefront security software, including Microsoft Forefront Security for SharePoint®, on key servers throughout the IT environment. “Many of our servers are currently protected by third-party products,” Vandenven concludes. "We will investigate whether these products can be replaced with Microsoft Forefront software, because we now know firsthand just how much it can offer.”

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 SD WORX products and services, call 32 (0) 2 704 3000 (Belgium) or visit the Web site at:
www.sdworx.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 July 2008