In the legal profession, confidentiality of information is paramount. With 25 branches across Australia and an increasingly mobile workforce, Shine Lawyers found itself juggling the need to protect its information while still meeting growing demand for mobile and remote access. The company had pursued an ad-hoc approach to security, deploying a number of different solutions for web filtering, email filtering, antivirus scanning and a firewall. However, as those applications became more dated, reliability issues arose and Shine began exploring alternatives. Having taken out a Microsoft® Enterprise Agreement licensing arrangement, Shine evaluated and implemented Microsoft ForefrontTM Unified Access Gateway, Forefront Threat Management Gateway and related security technologies. These provide a secure network protection perimeter that can be easily extended to mobile devices and remote laptops.
Situation
Originally founded as a country practice in 1976, Shine Lawyers is now one of the largest plaintiff litigation firms in Australia. It has 19 offices across Queensland and four offices in Victoria, as well as offices in Perth and North Sydney, New South Wales. Currently the company has approximately 350 employees.
In line with its core value of being ahead of the pack, Shine has been an early adopter of new technologies. Critical to this approach is the ability to securely manage the firm’s confidential data, amid its rapidly expanding IT operations.
In the past, Shine had protected its networked resources with an assortment of standalone applications that each handled separate functions, such as the firm’s network firewalls, web filtering, email filtering and antivirus scanning. While that approach had been applied with some success, the applications were nearing the end of their useful lives and causing reliability issues.
The existing system was also not adapting well to the way Shine’s employees had become more mobile. Travelling employees – many using increasingly more powerful smartphones and laptops – were struggling to access Shine’s network from outside the office.
According to staff, these remote-access difficulties were due to the lack of integration between Shine’s security applications.
“Our remote access worked, but it was limited and required additional support and resources to maintain,” says Jeremy Collins, IT Manager, Shine Lawyers. “We were looking to improve it: the driver – from the board and CEO down – was to enable our staff to get better access to important information from their mobile devices, so they could work more easily on the fly.”
Shine’s existing security infrastructure could not adequately support comprehensive mobile access. Consequently, the company considered its options for a fully integrated security infrastructure that would simplify security across its many offices.
The new system would need to be more reliable and more integrated than the existing setup. It would also need to support upgrades in the office’s technology suite, notably a planned implementation of Microsoft® Office SharePoint® Server, Microsoft Office Communications Server (OCS) and Microsoft Exchange Server® 2010.
Solution
Having recently signed a Microsoft Enterprise Agreement licensing arrangement that gave it access to Microsoft’s broad product range, Shine included the Microsoft ForefrontTM security applications in its range of possible solutions, which also included a number of standalone third-party applications.
Testing proved that the Microsoft applications not only provided robust network security, they also integrated with the rest of Shine’s Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 environment more easily than the alternatives. This promised easier user access management through a consistent interface – single Active Directory service – and tight integration with current and planned Microsoft applications.
“We looked at other products, but in the end decided that the combination of what Microsoft provided was perfect for our requirements,” says Collins. “It promised unmatched functionality around direct access and provided our remote workforce with a simple way to connect into our network from the field.”
Working with Microgenx, Shine implemented two new products from the Microsoft’s Forefront line of business security products: the new Threat Management Gateway (TMG), and User Access Gateway (UAG).
TMG replaced Shine’s previous standalone email gateway, firewall, antivirus and Internet access monitoring solutions, across its branch office network. This provides a highly integrated security platform that protects all of the company’s systems users.
It also provides HTTPS inspection to ensure the integrity of secure web application sessions, and incorporates failover support so that sessions can be maintained even after connections or servers drop out.
UAG is part of the Windows Server 2008 R2’s DirectAccess capabilities. It provides a secure way for remote users to access intranet and SharePoint content from outside the company; securely access internal content from more than 40 smartphones already deployed; and access internally hosted applications that were not previously available outisde Shine’s network.
Users can also connect directly and securely to Shine’s internal network using a laptop and Microsoft Remote Desktop Services, without having to rely on a separate virtual private network (VPN).
Lastly, Microgenx made sure the new security infrastructure would be more manageable.
“We deployed a related security tool: System Center Operations Manager,” says Braden Voigt, Senior Solutions Architect, Microgenx. “This makes the different security applications easier to monitor.”
Benefits
The implementation of Microsoft Forefront TMG and UAG has given Shine Lawyers a robust, flexible, well-integrated security environment that will support its planned expansion far into the future.
Remote access, increased productivity
One of Shine Lawyers’ key goals with the upgrade was to enable remote access to networked applications and data from anywhere – while maintaining appropriate security protection. The combination of TMG and UAG has delivered this capability.
“The solutions Microsoft provided were perfect for our requirements,” says Collins. “We’re now able to provide our remote and mobile workers a simple and flexible way to connect to our network, wherever they are.
Significant cost savings
Having paid for numerous standalone products in the past, Shine has reduced security licence costs by approximately A$20–30,000 per year. This is partly owing to the fact it already used Microsoft products routinely in its office.
“We kept costs down because we could deploy the solution as part of our Microsoft Enterprise Agreement,” says Collins.
Easier security maintenance
The unified security perimeter has closed gaps between the standalone products and made the company’s systems easier to protect. TMG allows IT staff to monitor and enforce security compliance from a single, centralised interface. This enables security issues to be managed more efficiently, improves reporting, and simplifies the reconfiguration of the security platform.
“When I commenced the implementation in its beta release, TMG was one of the most stable products I’ve seen,” says Voigt. “UAG and Direct Access have delivered above and beyond expectations. They are very versatile, and the management console is easier to navigate, which makes security easier to manage.”
Current and future protection
As well as helping Shine Lawyers secure and mobilise its existing environment, the Microsoft solutions have also given the company confidence that it can adopt other modern technologies without affecting its security protection.
With a commitment to investing in new technologies, Shine is currently expanding its Microsoft SharePoint environment, and is also planning a number of upgrades. They include adoption of Microsoft’s Hyper-V virtualisation, Exchange 2010 messaging, and Office Communications Server unified messaging platform. Shine is confident that the solution implemented under the TMG and UAG umbrella will meet its long-term security requirements.
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
For More Information
For more information about Microsoft products and services, call 132 058 or visit our website at: http://www.microsoft.com/australia/business/business-and-industry/products/microsoft-forefront
For more information about Microgenx products and services, call 07 3503 1160 or visit the website at: www.microgenx.com
For more information about Shine Lawyers products and services, call (07) 3006 6000 or visit the website at: www.shine.com.au
This case study is for informational purposes only. TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY.
