Health insurer transforms performance & security with comprehensive, next-generation firewall as-a-service
About the Customer
Customer Challenges
Our customer, a leading health insurance provider, had an extremely complex and largely undocumented firewall solution that was approaching end of life and needed to be replaced. The infrastructure included 98 firewalls across 45 sites and four destination zones. Our customer’s primary challenges and pain points included:
- Secure management of heterogeneous firewall infrastructure.
- Reliance on contractors to manage firewall infrastructure across 45 sites, providing an inconsistent experience.
- Ongoing performance, support, and resource management issues.
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CUSTOMER REQUIREMENTS
Our customer didn’t just want a technology refresh to a next-generation firewall solution. They also wanted a custom, end-to-end solution that would free up financial and technical resources, minimize capital costs, and could be consumed as a service. Their primary requirements included:
- Agnostic assessment of OEM vendors to determine the optimal next-generation firewall technologies for their specific needs.
- Advanced capabilities with the flexibility to deploy security solutions at a granular level at the firewall.
- End-to-end solution including assessment, design, build, and ongoing management.
- A custom as-a-service model, including hardware-as-a-service.
- An on-premises solution with fully managed services, including hardware, software, and support
- An easy-to-consume monthly payment schedule.
SOLUTION: Firewall-as-a-Service, leveraging Palo Alto Networks technology
GDT began the engagement with a custom assessment of our customer’s existing environment, taking stock of gaps and capabilities as well as desired business outcomes.
Project components
- Assessment and design: GDT began the engagement with an in-depth assessment of our customer’s specific challenges and pain points, existing firewall environment, and desired business outcomes. As part of the assessment, GDT also performed an agnostic analysis of three key firewall OEMs, including our customer’s existing vendor, to determine the optimal vendor and technology for their specific needs and environment. GDT also put together a design as part of the project scope, along with a roadmap with detailed next steps.
- Migration: Upon completion of the assessment, GDT migrated 98 legacy firewalls and approximately 50 pairs to Palo Alto Networks next-generation firewall technology across four different destination zones including on-premises, AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud.
- Managed services/FWaaS: During the migration process, GDT assumed control of the existing firewall environment from multiple vendors. GDT migrated and managed the new Palo Alto Networks environment in those four areas. Eventually, GDT shifted the managed services model to a FWaaS infrastructure solution.
Benefits
GDT collaborated with Palo Alto Networks to deliver a modern, next-generation FWaaS solution for the customer. Benefits of the solution include:
Best-in-class, homogenous next-generation firewall architecture.
Improved performance, security, support, and resource management.
Cost reduction and delivery optimization
Seamless integration into other functions.
Business-aligned, SLA-driven outcomes.
Extension of firewall functions into the cloud.
Standardized reference architecture for acquisition and growth.
Harness the Power of GDT and Palo Alto Networks
GDT is a long-time Palo Alto Networks partner with deep expertise and multiple specializations across next-generation firewalls, SASE, MSSP, and more. GDT is among a select group of partners who have met the Diamond Innovator performance, capabilities, and business requirements of the Palo Alto Networks NextWave Partner Program.
Additionally, GDT is a proud CYBERFORCE member, a Palo Alto Networks technical recognition program that recognizes only its most elite partners for their pre- and post-sales expertise. CYBERFORCE members enable GDT to streamline the sales cycle by ensuring the right experts are involved at the right time.
