A winning combination to maintain a secure network

Leicester City FC is an English Premiership football club, forming part of what is arguably the richest and most watched football league in the world. While the club is used to Lady Luck playing her part on the football field, Leicester City FC did not want to leave email security and control to chance a minute longer than necessary.

"Mail relaying was becoming a problem and so was the increasing threat of viruses spreading freely across the network. IT resources were stretched to the limit, and managing a network became frustrating and made inefficient use of IT time," explained Yusuf Denath, the club's Business Systems and IT Manager, pointing out that as a result, the company felt "exposed and vulnerable".

"The net effect was disgruntled staff who constantly moaned at the interruptions and loss of information, as keeping on top of viruses was becoming a major issue. In addition there was no monitoring of type of information coming into the club."

Leicester City FC decided to purchase a server-based email content security and anti-spam protection solution - yet not just any solution would do. Mr. Denath specified that the product they were seeking had to meet a number of criteria, among them:
Easy to set up and manage
Ability to quarantine, block, delete on demand with the flexibility for the user to select appropriate option and action
Capable of interfacing with Microsoft Exchange Server, the club's mail server
Easy administration
Ability to run unattended
Seamless operation
Ability to scan every email and handle throughput of more than 5,000 emails a day
Product life of over three years through regular updates.

The club opted for the GFI MailSecurity/MailEssentials bundle to meet its needs: the free trial versions of each product enabled Leicester City FC to test the software fully before purchasing, enabling the IT team to establish that the bundle met the club's required standards.

"The 100-user GFI MailSecurity/MailEssentials bundle fitted the bill perfectly," said Mr. Denath. "It allows closer monitoring of incoming emails and attachments and blocks any viruses associated with them at source. Through GFI MailEssentials, we can also send out company disclaimers which was not possible under Exchange."

"We are now less susceptible to incoming viruses and enjoy better use of IT time as well as improved user relations," Mr. Denath affirmed. "We feel the product has coped well and performed satisfactorily for us. Its appeal has not diminished, as we are very dependent on its use. It is out of sight but definitely not out of mind. Threats of infections are minimized and our content filtering and monitoring by file types has improved."

Thanks to the GFI MailSecurity/MailEssentials bundle, Leicester City FC has struck a winning shot against email viruses, threats and spam.