Customer Perspectives

Businesses in the U.S. construction industry often manage large mobile workforces that are hosted across a sprawling network of field offices and other locations. As a result, businesses in this sector can face significant networking and cybersecurity challenges, not least in managing complex architectures and gaining visibility into their networks. Given that the industry is one of the most at risk of cyberattack, these challenges can place construction firms at significant risk.

Time for a Network Refresh

For one major construction services company with a footprint of over 500 field offices and 15,000 employees, these challenges were exacerbated by significant technology limitations.

Although it had deployed a software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN), the solution was immature and did not deliver the performance or manageability required of it. The company was similarly held back by its Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud security solution, which was nowhere near as robust as it needed to be.

The company recognized that it was time for a complete network refresh. Its goals included protecting its AWS workloads, securing on-premises and remote sites with a more functional and reputable SD-WAN solution, and consolidating its vendor technology stack for a network that is integrated and easier to oversee and manage.

Assessing the Options

Having narrowed the field of potential partners to two, the company asked the candidates to run a proof of concept (POC). Of the two, only Fortinet completed a successful POC and was therefore selected by the company for its network modernization program.

Today, the company has deployed Fortinet Security Fabric solutions to meet its needs. This centers on FortiGate Next-Generation Firewalls (NGFWs) with Fortinet Secure SD-WAN enabled to connect the company's on-premises and remote data centers, leveraging FortiSwitch Ethernet switches to connect devices to the network. The solution incorporates FortiGate VM virtual firewalls and is powered by FortiGuard Unified Threat Protection (UTP), a suite of advanced web and content security services that are part of FortiGuard Security Services. The company uses URL filtering, intrusion prevention system, and application control capabilities.

Finally, the company has deployed FortiManager for NGFW, network, and security management and FortiAnalyzer for log management, analytics, and reporting.

Making Network Management Easier

With the deployment underway, the company is already impressed with the levels of consolidation that Fortinet is bringing into play. The Fortinet Security Fabric integrates security, switching, wireless, and SD-WAN capabilities and brings control and management capabilities to a single-pane-of-glass view through FortiManager. As well as unifying network and security management, operations, and configuration, the solution has met the company's requirements for enhanced security on-premises and in the cloud.

The company also benefits from the vendor-agnostic approach taken by Fortinet regarding its wider IT environment. In practice, Fortinet's Cloud Consulting Services team provides the company useful guidance on AWS security best practices.

With Fortinet as its partner, the company has deployed a robust and mature SD-WAN while enhancing the security of its workloads, no matter where they sit. And, it boosted the IT team's efficiency and productivity. Armed with greatly enhanced functionality, management, and visibility of the network, the company can support its complex operational requirements with confidence.

Take a security-driven networking approach to improve user experience and simplify operations at the WAN edge with Fortinet Secure SD-WAN.