Large Manufacturer centralizes printing after Cyber-attack.

The Company

The customer is large global manufacturing company that has 175 plants in 50 countries and employs 8,000 people worldwide. They are generating a turnover of 4,5 billion US dollars annually.

The Industry

Manufacturing

The Requirements

After a ransom malware attack took down all Windows Print Servers, the customer was in need of a centralized print management solution for both Windows and SAP printing.

The Solution

VPSX Enterprise, MFPsecure/Print, VPSX/Output Manager, Mobile Connector for VPSX, Innovate/Audit.

The Benefit

Centralized control over companywide printing with full auditing and tracking capability. A secure, standardized solution with great flexiblity that can support the customer’s current (legacy, SAP, Workplace) and future (VDI, mobile) requirements. Reducing the number of print servers decreases the chances of another malware attack.

Why Change?

The customer’s knowledge of its IT infrastructure was lost after a ransom malware attack.

Why Now?

The entire structure had to be created from scratch as the existing print servers could not be deployed out of fear for recontamination. The customer could not manage and control printing from either Windows or SAP.

Why LRS?

LRS could assist in creating an overview of all available printing devices globally. VPSX Enterprise offers a single layer to manage all output and provide full visibility and traceability of company wide printing with the flexibility of direct IP printing for those locations that don’t qualify for centralized printing.

All throughout the transition, LRS acted as the trusted advisor to both the customer and the partner. Early LRS engagement and use of LRS tools allowed the customer to quickly regain control and limit future risks.

The customer is a large global manufacturer of a variety of products, including forest products, polymers, building materials and life sciences. The company has 8,000 employees distributed over 250 subsidiaries in 50 countries with an annual turnover of 4,5 billion US Dollars.

They had 7,000 Windows clients and used SAP as well as many other bespoke back-end printing applications for critical business printing. Reporting was done from different systems and applications. After a ransom malware attack the 100 Windows print servers were forced to be taken offline. They faced an enormous loss of infrastructure and data, including all knowledge of their entire global printer infrastructure. There was no server printing in place and SAP printing was only allowed through a known and a minimum number of users for security purposes. There was no tracking available of any kind.

To find and map the print fleet, the LRS printer discovery tool was used to discover all devices globally. The information provided by the tool included the type and manufacturer for each device. After obtaining the overview, they could import the devices into the centralized management console of the LRS software.

After the cyber-attack 100 print servers were shut down and needed to stay offline for security reasons (recontamination). Building new servers opened up an opportunity for print server consolidation. The new LRS infrastructure would only have one central server hosted in Azure with VPSX Enterprise and MFPsecure/Print applications installed along with a dedicated SQL Server for Innovate Audit reporting.

A global secure Workplace- (front-end) and SAP- (back-end) printing system was designed and implemented which enabled all of the windows print servers to be decommissioned.

Within a short period of time, the VPSX Enterprise solution successfully managed label, barcode-, LIMS-, front- and back-end printing. Direct Secure Release pull printing was provided with MFPsecure/ Print. Direct IP printing was enabled as an exception for users that had a specific requirement for it. All of these fully managed and reported on in the LRS Innovate/Audit software.

The customer also had a large number of locally attached printers which were removed as part of the rollout of the new centralized print infrastructure. Both the removal of these printers and the reduction in print servers led to significant cost savings.

The LRS solution was able to identify and recover knowledge on the print infrastructure. This was vital to them being able to rebuild a print environment that was secure and reliable. Not only did they lose data, they were compromising data by not having a secure solution in place after the attack. Due to the close collaboration between the partner and LRS, a secure, centralized print environment could be established within a matter of months.

BUSINESS BENEFITS

The LRS solution could be implemented in phases; First direct IP printing in the first instance which resulted in the quick creation of the customer’s new print environment. Secondly, VPSX Enterprise and Output Manager (back-end printing) were implemented to cover all the other business critical printing output.
Reliability and security with MFPsecure/Print and Scan for end2end encryption.
Print server elimination (from 100 to 1 Windows print servers).
Removal of personal USB printers which led to high cost savings.
Future digital transformation strategies, such as VDI and mobile print, are supported by the existing solution.

KEY DELIVERABLES

Azure hosted single output management solution with centralized monitoring from a single interface containing all company wide print activity.
Direct IP printing solution was enabled as an exception for users that had a specific requirement for it, (e.g. low bandwidth, high utilization).
Reporting and auditing: increase security by monitoring all enterprise wide printing and prevent future attacks.
Direct Release Secure pull printing with full auditing and reporting capabilities.

Case-Details

Large Manufacturer centralizes printing after Cyber-attack.

BUSINESS BENEFITS

KEY DELIVERABLES

Learn how LRS solutions can add value to print service offering. Visit LRSOutputManagement.com to learn more.

Cloud Printing

Managed Services

SAP Output Management

EMR Output