Fortinet > Case Studies > Fortinet and BT Collaborate to Enhance Managed Network Services with Secure SD-WAN

Fortinet and BT Collaborate to Enhance Managed Network Services with Secure SD-WAN

Technology Category

Cybersecurity & Privacy - Network Security
Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) - Cloud Computing

Applicable Industries

National Security & Defense
Telecommunications

Use Cases

Cybersecurity
Tamper Detection

Services

Cybersecurity Services
Training

About The Customer

BT is the UK’s leading telecommunications and network provider and a leading provider of global communications services and solutions. It serves multinational organizations, providing them with a solution that fully combines security and connectivity in a single appliance. BT supports customers at every stage of deployment and operation, from initial set-up and roll-out through ongoing monitoring, management, and enhancement. It provides a consistent level of service for organizations’ differing digital maturity, infrastructures, and business needs, allowing customers to simply add devices and infrastructure to their network, giving them flexibility and agility to respond to market changes and growth.

The Challenge

BT, the UK’s leading telecommunications and network provider, recognized the need for a security-driven approach to networking services due to the increasing scale, pace, and variety of cyber threats. The network transformation enabled by SD-WAN, while beneficial, also expanded the attack surface, making traditional perimeter-based security insufficient. Overlaying security as an afterthought introduced unnecessary cost, complexity, and cyber risk into the network. BT needed a solution that would fully integrate security and connectivity in a single appliance, while also providing support for customers at every stage of deployment and operation.

The Solution

BT partnered with Fortinet, a global leader in integrated and automated cybersecurity solutions, to launch a new managed secure SD-WAN service. This service converges networking and security functionality into a single integrated solution, with an SD-WAN overlay built into Fortinet’s next-generation managed firewalls. This allows organizations to prioritize their business-critical applications for optimum performance and accelerate the adoption and integration of cloud services. BT provides a consistent level of service for organizations’ differing digital maturity, infrastructures, and business needs. With all functions managed as a single entity, it allows customers to simply add devices and infrastructure to their network, giving them flexibility and agility to respond to market changes and growth. Through continuing threat assessment and detection, BT can also support customers by identifying and preventing attacks, and mitigate damages should a breach occur.

Operational Impact

The partnership between BT and Fortinet has resulted in a solution that not only addresses the security challenges posed by the increasing scale, pace, and variety of cyber threats but also optimizes network performance. The integrated solution allows organizations to prioritize their business-critical applications for optimum performance and accelerate the adoption and integration of cloud services. It also provides a consistent level of service for organizations’ differing digital maturity, infrastructures, and business needs, allowing customers to simply add devices and infrastructure to their network, giving them flexibility and agility to respond to market changes and growth. Through continuing threat assessment and detection, BT can also support customers by identifying and preventing attacks, and mitigate damages should a breach occur.

Quantitative Benefit

Improved Performance and Experience: Prioritization of business-critical traffic and real-time services for optimized network and application performance.
Efficient Operations: Management of all sites, troubleshooting, and enabling Secure SD-WAN to new and existing branches easily using a single-pane-of-glass interface.
Natively Integrated Security: Combination of SD-WAN and security capabilities in a unified solution to preserve the security and availability of the network.