Success Story: Schlouch Incorporated, Novell Security Manager, and GroupWise

Novell Cool Solutions: Feature

Digg This - Slashdot This Posted: 6 Sep 2006

Schlouch Incorporated is one of Eastern Pennsylvania's leading residential and commercial site preparation specialists. With revenues of almost $70 million, the company specializes in heavy earth excavating, utility installation, concrete, paving, blasting, and surveying.

Challenge

Schlouch Incorporated operates in a competitive industry where security is paramount. The company had outgrown its network, and limited virus protection was creating security risks. Workstations were locking up daily with a bombardment of spam and spyware. Such downtime is expensive when estimators rely on a stable network to create estimates for jobs costing millions of dollars.

Project managers at multiple sites also require secure and reliable access to track budgets and project plans. These users need easy access not only to e-mail, but also to large files. Waiting for IT to fix any downtime issues could put project deadlines at risk. To secure and stabilize its outdated environment, Schlouch needed a comprehensive network security solution.

Novell Solution

Schlouch replaced its anti-spam and anti-virus products with Novell Security Manager, powered by Astaro*. Novell Security Manager integrates nine security applications to provide Web, e-mail and network security. The product protects against spyware, spam, e-mail and Web viruses, and phishing, while providing content filtering, and intrusion detection and protection.

"I've been a network consultant specializing in security risks for 18 years and have never seen a product as efficient as Novell Security Manager," said Anthony J. Pisarek, IT Coordinator for Schlouch Incorporated. "The product is reliable, easy to administer and doesn't require a huge amount of hardware. The best part is that we have everything available and only pay for the components we use."

With protection against both e-mail and Web viruses, Schlouch has not had a virus report on a workstation since implementing Novell Security Manager. In a recent 30-day period, Novell Security Manager stopped 70 Web-based viruses from reaching the network.

"We installed Novell Security Manager on an existing HP server and had it working in 30 minutes," said Pisarek. "We used to have a dedicated resource running around fixing spyware and virus issues. Now he just performs periodic maintenance tasks in each office."

Novell GroupWise provides secure collaboration for Schlouch, without requiring an excessive amount of hardware or administration. GroupWise offers strong protection against virus attacks, as well as WebAccess for remote access from any location using a standard Web browser.

"Novell GroupWise is the most reliable messaging system on the market," said Pisarek. "It's simple, reliable and just works. Some of our files that contain drawings may be up to 20 MB, but GroupWise makes good use of resources and has no problems handling a large volume of big files."

Results

By implementing Novell Security Manager, Schlouch has eliminated spyware and viruses from creating havoc with its network. Users no longer have to reboot on a daily basis which has increased productivity and dramatically reduced helpdesk calls. The IT staff has reduced administration time by 85 percent, freeing up time to grow its network.

Novell GroupWise allows users to communicate remotely and to exchange large files. Novell NetStorage provides secure access to large files from any location, based on user identity, which safeguards confidential files and estimates.

For the entire success story, see: http://www.novell.com/success/schlouch.html

Novell Cool Solutions (corporate web communities) are produced by WebWise Solutions. www.webwiseone.com