Cloud first strategy
As an innovation leader in automation technology, Festo understands that speed, efficiency, and time to market are critical for continued success. In alignment with this approach, Festo’s corporate IT department implemented a “cloud first strategy” and had already started to transition away from on-premise hardware at their global offices, instead deploying applications and solutions via Platform as a service (PaaS) and Infrastructure as a service (IaaS) environments. Having successfully deployed applications on AWS and Azure public clouds for several years, they were off to a great start.
However, when thousands of Festo employees were suddenly required to work remotely, the IT organization was faced with an unprecedented challenge as it sought to keep the business and global employees productive. Festo had partnered with Cisco for many years and had a positive experience with on-premise Cisco Secure Firewall ASA solutions, so they discussed available options with their Cisco account team.
Festo could deploy additional on-premise Cisco Secure Firewall ASA solutions, but that would require the coordination of shipments, installation, and setup worldwide. Given the mandate to work remotely, global travel restrictions, and shipping delays, this approach could take many weeks to complete. Festo needed a solution that could be quickly deployed, so that remote employees could securely access corporate applications and data to remain productive.
Productive global remote workers
Prior to the mandate that employees must work remotely, Festo successfully supported about 750 remote worker employees via on-premise Cisco ASA physical firewalls and Cisco ASAv virtual firewalls on AWS and Azure, along with Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Clients. However, the Festo IT department had concerns about their ability to immediately support thousands of remote worker employees worldwide.
Working with the Cisco team, Festo decided to extend their use of Cisco ASAv virtual firewall solutions globally across AWS and Azure public clouds. The solutions had worked very well to-date and the approach was aligned with the IT department’s cloud first strategy. Within just a few hours, Festo successfully deployed Cisco ASAv virtual firewall solutions worldwide, supporting about 8,000 concurrent remote workers and over 14,000 remote workers daily. Remote employees worldwide obtained secure, reliable access to corporate applications and data, which enabled them to continue developing innovative automation solutions and provide support to their global customers. The solution also easily scaled to support additional remote workers if needed.
Festo leveraged cloud deployment tools that made the entire process fast, consistent, and repeatable, while greatly reducing the risk of human error. This cloud first approach also provided Festo with a competitive advantage over firms that relied solely on on-premise physical solutions, since coordinating shipments, installation, and setup would likely take many weeks.
Winning with Cisco Security
By moving key applications and services to the public cloud, Festo enjoys greater speed and flexibility to meet the dynamic needs of their many employees, customers, and business partners worldwide.This approach has also enabled Festo to reduce their onpremise hardware, software, and infrastructure costs. Cisco’s global presence and portfolio of industry leading, integrated security solutions has helped Festo implement its cloud first strategy to meet existing and future needs.
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