Ultima Enables Employees with On-the-Go Security

Ultima Business Solutions provides end-to-end IT services and solutions to customers in the United Kingdom. The company’s “cloud-first” focus helps customers securely migrate to the cloud with best-of-breed technologies, consulting, and managed services—freeing them to focus on their core businesses.

We Use It First

Ultima uses new solutions and technologies itself before recommending them to its customers. That strategy has paid off over the past 25 years as customers repeatedly turn to Ultima as their trusted advisor. Ultima also is a Check Point partner and has used Check Point firewalls, endpoint security solutions, and other technologies to secure its own business, as well as its customers’ organizations.

As the company moved its operations to the cloud, it wanted to extend protection to its mobile devices. When salespeople and consultants were in the office, devices are well-protected through Ultima’s on-premises firewall and other security solutions. When users returned to the office from being in the field and the on-premises solutions detected malware, they would alert the security team, which could remediate the device. But when users were out in the field, the security team had no visibility into these devices. Even more worrisome, users weren’t aware if their devices were being attacked, because there were few obvious symptoms.

“We know of the advanced threats that our devices face when they leave the office,” said Chris Watkins, Solutions Architect in Security at Ultima. “We needed visibility into what’s going on with them and the ability to extend the same level of on-premises protection to them in the field.”

Extending Protection with Capsule Cloud

 Colin Prime-Moore, Chief Technology Officer at Ultima and the Ultima security team collaborated to find the best way of protecting mobile devices. They chose Check Point Capsule Cloud to extend their existing on-premises Check Point capabilities to all Windows and Mac devices that aren’t attached to internal systems.

Check Point Capsule Cloud provides network perimeter security as a cloud service. Laptop traffic is sent to the cloud where the traffic is inspected for zero-day malware, filtered for inappropriate sites and content and policies are enforced and logged, giving Ultima always-on, always-updated protection for users off the company network.

The Ultima team conducted a proof of concept with Capsule Cloud, and immediately found viruses, began blocking malicious sites, and analyzing suspicious files on the company’s mobile devices. It deployed Capsule Cloud through Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager and gained immediate, centralized visibility into all covered devices.

“Deployment was easy—we didn’t have to do anything,” said Watkins. “It was completely automated. Now we can protect multiple devices for 450 employees.”

Complete Visibility, Invisible Management

 Ultima integrated Capsule Cloud with its existing Check Point solutions, centralizing management. The team now has complete visibility into devices when they are outside of the office security perimeter. A single security policy seamlessly protects both on-premises and mobile devices. Capsule Cloud prevents mobile devices from downloading suspicious files, blocks access to malicious websites, and keeps bots from damaging laptops. Alerts notify the security team when it identifies a high-risk file or event.

“We know exactly what’s happening,” said Prime-Moore, “and we don’t have to keep a close eye on it because we’re confident that it’s working well. The goal is to not have to touch it at all.”

Empowering Users

 Ultima is implementing an internal initiative to unify workspaces, applications, and teams to further empower users. In the past, employees couldn’t use personal apps on company devices because it was so difficult to secure them. Now with Capsule Cloud and other mobile security and rights management solutions, Ultima is embracing greater openness while significantly reducing risk. Mobile users don’t know that Capsule Cloud is running, because it’s not disruptive. Meanwhile, the security team gets the data they need to better protect the company.

“We want to enable employees and maximize their productivity,” said Prime-Moore. “Now we can sandbox the business environment away from the personal environment with advanced apps, supporting operating systems, and other security measures. Users can do what they need to do, and we can monitor, escalate, and alert on any suspicious activity.”

Empowering Customers as Well

 Ultima launched its managed services business using Check Point solutions almost two decades ago. Capsule Cloud represents a great solution for customers who are using Check Point solutions and need to extend security policy to roaming users. For Ultima customers who aren’t currently using Check Point solutions, Ultima can now demonstrate how easy the solution and its management portal are to use, and can quantify the value it gets out of using the solution.

“Cloud is the future, and Capsule Cloud lets us offer customers a flexible service based model for a variety of advanced security services,” said Prime-Moore. “Check Point enables us to bring new services to market and introduce customers to the value of our offerings without the need to go thru painful deployment processes.”

Next Steps

 Ultima continues to expand its security strategy. One of its next steps is to go beyond securing devices to secure data wherever it rests or travels. It is exploring various advanced apps and Check Point MTP to secure smartphones.

“Check Point Capsule Cloud gives us confidence with an essential layer of security,” said Watkins. “We’re covering all of the bases, so customers also can be confident in our services and stay protected even when they roam. Check Point does more than just protect roaming users—it also helps us protect and enhance our reputation as a managed services provider.”