CASE STUDY
NOT ONLY DID WE
COMPLETE THE ROLLOUT AT A TIME WHEN MANY PROJECTS WERE BEING
POSTPONED , BUT WE HAD ALL 180 SHOWROOMS ONLINE WITHIN JUST
THREE MONTHS .
The solution to both challenges lay in the adoption of a new software-defined wide-area networking ( SD-WAN ) infrastructure , through which communications linking the group ’ s 180 showrooms to the central data centre and headquarters in Cairo ( based mainly on multiprotocol label switching [ MPLS ]) could be replaced with a more flexible , cost-effective network using locally available broadband connections such as ADSL .
As with any transition to SD-WAN , the benefits of providing direct access to cloud and Internet resources at the network Edge needed to be weighed against the security implications of bypassing previous centralised security checks as traffic is no longer backhauled to the data centre . For Oriental Weavers , the potential risk exposure was even greater due to the operational technology ( OT ) systems of the group ’ s manufacturing , logistics and supply chain .
180 locations online within three months
After drawing up a shortlist of vendors and evaluating each against both current and anticipated future requirements , Oriental Weavers chose the Fortinet Secure SD-WAN solution based on FortiGate nextgeneration firewalls ( NGFWs ). In addition , FortiClient endpoint protection , FortiManager and FortiAnalyser for centralised management , reporting and analytics , were also selected .
“ The most important attributes for us were centralised control and connection reliability ,” explained Ahmed Dawood , IT Director , Oriental Weavers group . “ To deliver the customer experience we required while complying with the ETA invoicing mandate , we needed fast , secure , reliable , 24 by 7 connectivity and an ability to monitor and control everything from a central location .”
With the project rollout coinciding with new government lockdown measures put in place to combat the rising global COVID-19 pandemic , the importance of centralised control was further elevated .
“ With restrictions on travel and increasing numbers of staff working remotely , the ability to push out central configuration changes and policy updates in real time proved invaluable ,” added Dawood . “ In the end , not only did we complete the rollout at a time when many projects were being postponed , but we had all 180 showrooms online within just three months .”
The combination of FortiOS and FortiGate purpose-built security processors ( SPU ) enabled comprehensive threat protection with the industry ’ s best performance as well as ultralow latency-even for secure sockets layer ( SSL ) encrypted traffic . Advanced SD-WAN features such as auto-discovery virtual private network
( ADVPN ) allow traffic to be routed directly between remote locations rather than via the HQ hub , which further simplifies management and improves application response times .
By combining the sophisticated intrusion prevention system ( IPS ) and application control of the FortiGate NGFWs with the endpoint protection provided by FortiClient , Oriental Weavers was able to lock down its OT and other traffic based on combinations of user , device and application protocol , and thus effectively eliminate a large range of potential attack vectors .
With a simple and friendly user interface , FortiClient uses SSL and Internet Protocol secure ( IPsec ) VPN to provide secure , reliable access to corporate data
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