Switching from on-premises to cloud SRH Group Protects Their Email Systems
Using Retarus Email Security
German education and healthcare group SRH uses cloud-based Email Security from Retarus to protect their 25,000+ electronic mailboxes. The messaging specialist was recommended by their partner Deutsche Telekom, who supports SRH with strategic security advice.
Replacement Needed for Email Security and Sandboxing
SRH consists of 45 different companies and institutions in the areas of healthcare, education, and social services throughout Germany. Divisions of SRH include educational institutions such as universities and schools, 15 acute and rehab clinics throughout Germany as well as some 200 medical care centers and facilities providing care to people with special needs (e.g. senior citizens, people with disabilities). Additionally, SRH also provides advisory and support services. Almost 10,000 people are employed in the non-profit foundation’s healthcare division alone.
The subsidiary SRH IT Solutions GmbH is responsible for providing the various institutions and divisions within SRH with IT services and solutions.
The existing solution for email security and sandboxing was an aging system from a US manufacturer that was operated on-premises. That’s why SRH was seeking a suitable replacement.
Maximum Protection of Sensitive Patient Data, Cloud Delivery
The data that SRH processes on a regular basis includes sensitive patient data and, like the healthcare sector as a whole, SRH has been the repeated target of cyber-attacks. SRH IT Solutions therefore wanted to improve their standard of security with a system offering the highest possible malware detection rate. Because SRH pursues a cloud strategy, their new email security solution was to be provided in the cloud as well.
However, this condition was based on the premise that data would be processed in Europe and only a minimum of information regarding their email traffic would be retained in the cloud. The customer also wanted support from a local provider.
Naturally, they also did not want to experience any loss of functionality compared to their prior solution. Another requirement was the option of continuing to use their existing components for the encryption of email messages.
“We were impressed by the short response times and the commitment of the Retarus technicians to troubleshooting.”
Philipp Haag // Project lead at SRH IT Solutions
Go-Live within Eight Weeks
To select a suitable service provider, SRH IT Solutions created an evaluation matrix with the support of Deutsche Telekom. Retarus emerged victorious from this selection process and was named the new provider, winning out against two global market players that also had made it onto the shortlist.
During the implementation, SRH IT Solutions relied on the experience of Retarus and followed their proposed standardized process. The implementation phase only lasted approximately eight weeks, from commissioning to go-live, followed by some minor adjustments. The most significant effort during migration was involved in integrating the already existing e-mail encryption systems. In addition, detailed synchronization was required when transferring very specific configurations from the legacy system.
Retarus Product in Use
Reduced Training Costs, High Acceptance
Thanks to the provisioning of Email Security from the cloud, the old on-premises appliance is no longer needed. The Retarus solution ensures stability without outages. It protects the mailboxes of around 14,000 employees as well as numerous functional mailboxes. There was no need to provide end users with training other than initial registration. The comprehensive user manual provided by Retarus answered any follow-up questions.
Acceptance of the new system was very high from the outset, with employees particularly thankful for the “digest” (daily email that delivers each user their personal spam report with optional access to quarantined messages as a self-service). As a result, the workload of SRH’s internal helpdesk has been significantly reduced.
Key Facts
- Email Security including sandboxing
- Easy to use for admins and end users
- Personal contacts at all levels
- Contractually agreed service levels (SLA
s )
Security Standard Raised as Requested
SRH is completely satisfied with Email Security from Retarus, who provides their Secure Email Gateway in the cloud via their own, redundantly designed data centers in Germany. These data centers can be audited at any time and are of course 100% GDPR compliant. SRH no longer needs to use their own hardware or software for email security, has increased their security standards as desired, and can concentrate fully on their own core business.
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