Case Studies

Astellas Pharma Inc. (Astellas Pharma) is one of the largest pharmaceutical manufacturers in Japan and has operations worldwide. The company sought to improve performance of its enterprise messaging environment and strengthen existing security measures by upgrading to Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 and Microsoft Forefront Security for Exchange Server. The new solution more effectively filters malicious software from nearly 226,000 e-mail messages every day, simplifies IT management, and requires only 8 servers, compared with 12 for the previous solution.

Bolton Council's information and communications technology department needed 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. They deployed Microsoft Forefront Security for Exchange Server to provide a more secure environment for its upgrade to Microsoft Exchange Server 2007. The solution has cut two person-days a week in operating costs and prevented spam e-mails from threatening the network's stability.

Cable&Wireless helps its customers secure their IT environments through security solutions based on Microsoft technologies. In 2006, the organization upgraded its managed services infrastructure to the new Microsoft Forefront Security for Exchange Server solution, which provides advanced protection against security threats. In 2007, the company added Forefront Security for SharePoint to help protect its Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 collaboration environment and its hosted services.

Del Monte is committed to enriching the lives of today's family by providing nourishing, great tasting, and easy-to-use products that meet the needs of everyone in the home. As a company, they have utilized several Microsoft products—including Microsoft Forefront business security products, Microsoft System Center, Microsoft Antigen, and Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007—to better meet their business needs. Read the case studies below for insight on how specific products helped them achieve their goals.

EL AL Israel Airlines, the previously state-owned airline, receives about 200,000 e-mail messages a day, of which only about 7,000 are legitimate communications from customers, employees, and vendors. Until recently, the volume of the remaining unsolicited messages required EL AL to increase its e-mail storage capacity by 30 to 40 percent a year, which was expensive. To address these challenges, EL AL deployed Microsoft Forefront Security for Exchange Server. The new solution effectively filters unwanted content, resulting in a more efficient use of IT resources, lower costs, and higher productivity.

Guardian Management LLC (Guardian), founded in 1971, is a third-generation real estate management company devoted to the philosophy that an impeccably managed property produces the highest financial return to owners and the best service to the community. To this end, they've employed several Microsoft products—including Forefront, Microsoft System Center, and Microsoft Antigen—to help them better meet their goals. Read the case studies below and learn how these products helped Guardian enrich their business environment.

As paper manufacturer Koehler Paper Group upgrades to Microsoft Exchange Server 2007, it plans to adopt Microsoft Forefront Security for Exchange Server for e-mail security. Koehler calls the solution a “strategic” choice that will allow it to upgrade confidently and eliminate third-party security products—crucial given e-mail’s mission-critical importance to Koehler and the company’s small IT staff. “Forefront works like a dream,” says an executive.

Oakwood Worldwide provides temporary furnished housing in the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Asia Pacific region. This case study outlines how Oakwood uses Microsoft Exchange Hosted Filtering, Microsoft Exchange Hosted Continuity, and Microsoft Forefront Security for Exchange Server to virtually eliminate spam, improve help desk productivity, and reduce e-mail costs, as well as accelerate the time it takes to recover the e-mail system should an outage occur.

E-mail is mission-critical to Pei Cobb Freed and Partners, one of the world’s premier architectural design firms. To help keep e-mail running, the company plans to move to Microsoft Forefront Security for Exchange Server as it upgrades to Microsoft Exchange Server 2007. It likes the greater antivirus protection it gets from five simultaneously scanning engines—compared to the one engine it had with its previous antivirus solution.

Perot Systems provides technology consulting solutions and services to companies, worldwide. With the rise in spam and e-mail viruses, Perot Systems sought an effective way to safeguard its own—and its customers’—messaging systems. Microsoft Antigen for Exchange and Microsoft Antigen Spam Manager—the predecessors to Forefront Security for Exchange Server—make it easier for them to block the approximately 8.5 million spam and virus-infected e-mails they receive each month.

The Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Sweden’s leading institution for technical education, needed comprehensive protection for e-mail at the server level. After deploying Microsoft Forefront Security for Exchange Server, KTH's Mailbox and Hub Transport server roles are protected by five scanning engines in one integrated solution that saves time for IT managers and offers high performance. The solution will also easily scale to support the institute’s more than 100,000 mailboxes.

SAS, a global technology leader, wanted to extend its internal collaboration environment, based on Microsoft SharePoint products and technologies, to include an extranet. It also wanted to minimize the potential of a virus attack vector being exposed within the extranet. To accomplish this task, the company is extending the effectiveness of defense-in-depth to its extranet with the help of Microsoft Forefront Security for SharePoint. SAS protects its extranet with up to five simultaneous engines and maintains that protection without needing additional staff.

Financial services firm Sasfin Holdings Limited suddenly saw its spam e-mail traffic spike tenfold—to 165,000 messages per day—and its existing defenses were powerless to stop it. Only Forefront Security for Exchange Server stemmed the flow, reducing mail bottlenecks from hours to minutes. Sasfin says the solution also beats its current antivirus software. The company plans to deploy it broadly when it becomes commercially available.

SOK Group, one of Russia’s largest manufacturers, relied on a third-party product to protect its central e-mail infrastructure. But the single scan engine in that product sometimes allowed new viruses to slip through. So, as the company upgraded to Microsoft Exchange Server 2007, it also migrated to Microsoft Forefront Security for Exchange Server. As a result, it expects to cut downtime by 20 to 30 percent.

The T-Systems IT business unit has relied on Microsoft Antigen for the e-mail security of its Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 infrastructure. So, as the technology leader moves to the 64-bit world of Exchange Server 2007, it’s also adopting Microsoft Forefront Security for Exchange Server. The company praises its ability to catch viruses and dangerous file types—with easy administration and no hit on server performance.

TOPNORDIC, one of Europe’s leading technology solution providers, designs and hosts e-mail solutions for its corporate and government customers. These solutions must provide top performance and reliability, both to satisfy customers and to keep costs low. As customers adopt Microsoft Exchange Server 2007, TOPNORDIC recommends Microsoft Forefront Security for Exchange Server over third-party alternatives.

The Tracy Unified School District wanted e-mail security that was as easy to implement and manage as it was reliable. That’s what it has with Microsoft Forefront Security for Exchange Server. The solution offers more scanning engines and options than the McAfee software the district formerly used, is boosting uptime, and costs less. The district plans to add Microsoft Forefront Security for SharePoint to its Microsoft SharePoint Portal Server environment, as well.

As one of Europe's busiest airports, e-mail is a mission-critical technology for the Vienna International Airport. In order to keep their e-mail flying smoothly despite increasing threats from viruses and spam, the airport is deploying Microsoft Forefront Security for Exchange Server throughout the enterprise. The airport expects the same high level of protection and simplified management that it had with the Forefront Security predecessor, Microsoft Antigen.

Windrush Frozen Foods depends on e-mail for workflow that keeps orders for its highly perishable food products moving effectively. To help ensure reliable e-mail, it depends on Microsoft Forefront Security for Exchange Server. In addition to providing what the company says is flawless security, the solution is so easy to administer that the Windrush IT staff now has more time for strategic projects that add value throughout the company.