Southwestern Community College in Creston, Iowa required a new firewall solution. Their small security team sought assistance from ICN for firewall management. Learn more about their specific security needs below.
Business Challenge
Prior to switching to the ICN managed firewall service, SWCC was using a Cisco firewall that was cumbersome for the SWCC team to operate. Their team could perform the necessary changes and updates, but they never felt like they were using it to its maximum potential. That is when they started to look for alternatives that better fit their needs.
Solution
SWCC hired a security firm to help them in getting their security needs more on track. Their firewall needed to be updated and maintained, so that was one of their first priorities.
Security Improvements
Consultation
ICN helped with the firewall choice to make sure that it was the best fit. The ICN network admins did the setup and configuration to correct any lingering issues from the previous firewall. ICN is performing 100% of the firewall management and they are willing to join calls when issues are being discussed with other vendors to ensure everything is completed in a secure way.
Initial Configuration
The initial configuration was able to be streamlined and some configuration errors that had been made on the old firewall were corrected for a fresh build. Small items that SWCC didnβt think about in the past were being taken care of, which was leaving no holes in their network.
Staff Time Management
The SWCC team has saved a great deal of time thanks to the ICN's overall oversight of the firewalls. Time is crucial while working with a small team.
Security Visibility
SWCC's security and penetration testing scores have been rising ever since they changed the firewall and hired a vendor to help with their security strategy.
βWith low man power it is great to have someone with this much knowledge handling any issues that we have. When we have a need it is a quick e-mail to the support team at ICN, and they take care of it or send it to someone else to complete.β - Scott Helm, Director of Information Technology and Information Security Officer