Zscaler > Case Studies > British American Tobacco Enhances User Experience and Security with Zscaler

British American Tobacco Enhances User Experience and Security with Zscaler

Technology Category

Functional Applications - Computerized Maintenance Management Systems (CMMS)
Networks & Connectivity - Gateways

Applicable Industries

National Security & Defense
Telecommunications

Applicable Functions

Maintenance

Use Cases

Tamper Detection
Traffic Monitoring

About The Customer

British American Tobacco (BAT) is one of the world’s most international businesses, with a sales footprint in 180 countries. BAT has manufacturing facilities in 39 countries and employs over 55,000 people worldwide. To serve offices and users across the globe, BAT had in place 40 different Internet gateways from various vendors. The company's geographic spread across countries and continents with different infrastructure standards made it difficult to maintain a uniform security cover. BAT had a locked down approach to Internet browsing, which created user dissatisfaction.

The Challenge

British American Tobacco (BAT), a multinational company with a presence in 180 countries, faced significant challenges in maintaining multiple global locations that used varied endpoint technologies. The company had 40 different Internet gateways from various vendors, leading to a high maintenance and support overhead. The geographic spread across countries and continents with different infrastructure standards made it difficult to maintain a uniform security cover. As a result, BAT had a locked-down approach to Internet browsing, leading to user dissatisfaction. This was further aggravated by high latency due to the need to VPN into the BAT infrastructure and the associated backhauling of Internet traffic.

The Solution

BAT initiated an 'open internet' project to enable users to go direct to the Internet regardless of location. The company required a single scalable solution that would enable open browsing policies and minimize traffic backhauling while ensuring a robust security cover for both on-premise and mobile users. After a cost-benefit analysis and a successful pilot test, BAT deployed the Zscaler Solution across the organization globally. With Zscaler, users could go direct to the Internet without VPN-ing into the office infrastructure. User traffic was routed to the closest node in the Zscaler’s network of 100+ datacenters, providing a fast user experience with near zero traffic latency, and minimizing traffic backhauling. Zscaler also ensured that BAT’s more granular browsing policies were enforced across all locations and devices.

Operational Impact

The implementation of Zscaler resulted in enhanced user satisfaction by minimizing traffic latency and enabling an open browsing policy. It ensured advanced security across all users across locations. With the advanced security cover and the granular policy control that Zscaler provided, BAT was able to open up their browsing policies. Users could now leverage the power of Web 2.0 technologies, and IT could apply user-specific controls instead of blocking entire applications. The solution provided a vastly improved user experience while maintaining right-sized user governance. The SaaS model and a single global solution simplified management and reduced maintenance overhead.

Quantitative Benefit

Zscaler paid for itself in 2 years, resulting in estimated £1M savings in software replacement costs.
Zscaler solution covers 32,000 users across 186 countries.
Zscaler’s network of 100+ datacenters provides a fast user experience with near zero traffic latency.