When Coleg Gwent, the largest higher education institution in Usk, Wales, was virtualizing thousands of desktops and servers, a problem emerged. The college’s security solution was consuming significant compute resources and causing virtualized endpoints to run slowly or even lock up. Also concerning were weekly outages resulting from infected endpoints, requiring IT to travel to classrooms and offices across multiple sites to clean and reimage machines. To address these issues, Coleg Gwent evaluated alternative security solutions and selected GravityZone Business Security from Bitdefender.

In operation since 1938, Gerawan Farms is the largest grower and distributor of ‘stone’ fruits in the U.S. and across the world. Throughout the years, the company has maintained its high quality produce, services and distribution through the assistance of innovation and technology. The base full time staff is approximately 1000 people. However, in its busiest seasons, Gerawan Farms has up to 4500 employees, which include seasonal workers, contractors and full time staff. Moreover, Gerawan Farms has a highly distributed workforce allocated in the fields and orchards, the processing and packing plants, and offices. Approximately 250 field workers rely on various mobile devices – iPads, iPods and iPhones – to capture and share information through an intricate system that communicates to the processing plants and the company’s main office. In the recent past, Gerawan Farms was suffering from poor administrative controls for security – utilizing multiple security vendors. Tad Uhl, Manager of Information Technology, Gerawan Farms, says “We have come to rely on mobile devices to ensure our efficiency as a company. With our distributed workforce operating and reporting on multiple devices using various security products, it was problematic to manage updates and policies, and even to know which computers or devices ever came into the network.”

In theater, the show must go on. If problems arise, the theater’s actors, crew, and the business offices do what they can to keep performances running smoothly. When network outages and slowdowns were affecting business operations at Seattle Theatre Group, the Internet service provider and internal SonicWall firewall reported there were no issues. Also concerning was that Symantec Endpoint Protection and Microsoft Windows Defender were not blocking malware from hacking users’ workstations and office servers. Seattle Theatre Group’s IT team evaluated alternative network solutions, including ExtraHop Reveal(x), Microsoft Advanced Threat Analytics and Bitdefender Network Traffic Security Analytics (NTSA). For endpoint security, IT considered Malwarebytes, Avast and Bitdefender GravityZone Business Security. Bitdefender rose to the top of the pack with Seattle Theatre Group choosing NTSA and GravityZone.

IRIS Solutions, a managed IT service provider, faced significant challenges with their previous security solution, VIPRE. VIPRE failed to stop malware at client sites, leading to increased malware infections and security breaches. Additionally, VIPRE's licensing model required IRIS Solutions to set up individual licenses for each client, which was both time-consuming and expensive. This inefficiency prompted IRIS Solutions to seek alternative security solutions that could offer better protection and a more efficient licensing model. After evaluating several options, Bitdefender and Sophos emerged as the top choices. Ultimately, IRIS Solutions selected Bitdefender Cloud Security for MSPs due to its exceptional security features and a licensing model well-suited for managed service providers.

In hospitals, rapid and reliable access to medical data is critical to clinicians improving patient outcomes. The IT team at Austrian healthcare provider Tauernklinikum was logging extra hours to ensure infections missed by its previous ESET security solution did not result in any lost data or disrupt patient care. IT also grew concerned when reduced network performance caused by ESET began slowing transfer of files and data. Before long, IT evaluated solutions from Bitdefender, Avast and Kaspersky and determined Bitdefender GravityZone Elite integrated security offered the best solution.

Grupo Vega Distribución S.A.C., one of Peru’s largest grocery chains, was on a mission. The retailer deployed four security products one after the other and yet ransomware attacks continued to occur. After each event, IT spent hours or even days cleaning infected systems and restoring backups. While these remediations prevented data loss or business interruption, the burdensome effort distracted the IT team from other important tasks. Once again, Grupo Vega sought to replace its security solution. The retail and distribution company evaluated other security products and selected Bitdefender GravityZone.

Keeping 36,000 desktops, laptops and tablets, along with physical and virtual servers up and running, in peak performance and cyber-secure is a never-ending process. Chasing down infections with the district’s old Microsoft System Center Endpoint Protection (SCEP) security solution slowed users’ devices and didn’t always yield enough information to root out the problem. Speed was another issue. Because the Microsoft solution was more memory-intensive, programs took longer to start up and documents were slower to open. Users were frustrated with the lag time.

Mentor’s IT strategy focuses on adopting technologies that aggressively reduce costs, improve system performance, and increase operational efficiency. In recent years, IT consolidated Mentor’s geographically dispersed datacenters to two datacenters, in the U.S. and Ireland, and virtualized thousands of servers and desktops. Initially, IT was using a security solution that required installation of agents on every virtual machine (VM). As Mentor scaled to 10-plus VMs per physical server host, system performance slowed to a crawl during security scans. Not only did this reduce end-customer satisfaction and workforce productivity, but it slowed the work of the software engineers who create products for customers as well. To address performance shortcomings, IT ruled out adding servers and storage, since extra capacity would sit idle when scans weren’t running. Mentor tested several security solutions for its VMware workloads over several months. In a 32 VM-per-host environment, for example, Bitdefender GravityZone recorded an average performance impact of 3-4 percent, while other solutions showed a 17-27 percent degradation. Mentor continues to periodically test Bitdefender against other solutions and GravityZone still tops the charts for performance and security.

When an Archdiocese began consolidating IT services across its various agencies and locations, its IT support organization transitioned from supporting several hundred to many thousands of employees. Senior leadership, with the assistance of outside IT committee members, determined that a managed detection and response solution would help reduce IT operational costs and deliver improved stability across the decentralized organization. After evaluating solutions from various managed security vendors including Bitdefender, Carbon Black and CrowdStrike, IT selected Bitdefender Managed Detection and Response (MDR) Service. Staffed by experienced security analysts, Bitdefender’s MDR Service provides the Archdiocese with 24X7 monitoring of in-depth telemetry to rapidly identify malicious activities, remove threats, reduce investigative time, and limit damage.

Ransomware is an especially chilling security threat. Cybercriminals encrypt enterprises’ files and databases and hold them hostage unless the ransom is paid, or IT can restore the infrastructure. Previously, Enable Resource Group, a managed service provider (MSP) serving churches and other enterprises, was mitigating ransomware intrusions nearly every week for clients when it used another security solution. While Enable dodged data loss and ransom payments, restoring clients’ encrypted systems from backups was a huge burden on its staff. In addition, the previous solution’s heavy use of computing power caused workstations and servers at client sites to run slowly. Enable previously used a separate security solution, NOD32, for clients’ Apple workstations, further straining Enable’s customer support teams. Enable tested alternative solutions from several vendors, including Bitdefender, Cylance, and VIPRE. When Enable injected 200 malware infections into the test environment, Bitdefender quarantined 196 and stopped three at run time. The final instance had no impact. Enable decided to consolidate its security environment onto Bitdefender Cloud Security for MSPs.

When the pure technology group (PTG), an IT managed service provider (MSP), used to offer cybersecurity protection, the standard was to implement the client’s preferred solution. However, using multiple security solutions, such as McAfee, Symantec, Sophos, and Trend Micro, became complicated. Advanced threats, such as crypto viruses, were bypassing these solutions and causing downtime for clients. The solutions were also difficult to use, and basic administrative tasks could disrupt clients’ workflow. For example, one of PTG’s security solutions would execute updates that systematically rebooted client servers for a law firm client during business hours, knocking employees offline. After evaluating various alternative solutions, PTG determined that Bitdefender Cloud Security for Managed Service Providers (MSPs) was the superior choice for endpoint protection.

A robust cybersecurity strategy requires comprehensive protection from endpoints to cloud to networks. Evolumia, a value-added reseller and managed services provider, struggled to gain a centralized security view of customers’ IT environments with its prior Panda Security solution. In addition, the solution generated frequent false positives and negatives, creating vulnerabilities and extra work for the security team. In response, Evolumia evaluated and tested Trend Micro, Kaspersky, and Bitdefender security solutions. Bitdefender Ultra was the clear choice.

W&W Informatik GmbH, the central IT provider for Wüstenrot & Württembergische Group, faced significant performance issues with their existing antimalware solution. The solution was causing performance degradation in their fast-growing virtualized server environment. The server team was on the lookout for a new cybersecurity solution that could eliminate the security performance penalty while maintaining robust protection. They aimed to establish a multilayer concept of antimalware protection. After a chance meeting at a VMworld trade show, W&W IT decided to conduct proofs of concept with Bitdefender and two other competing solutions. Ultimately, they chose Bitdefender GravityZone Enterprise Security for their virtualized server infrastructure.

A few years ago, Denis Muckensturm, IT Manager for Les Jardins de Gaïa, took a vacation he is unlikely to forget. Enjoying his time off 1,000 kilometers from home, he received a call from an employee who reported that files on several computers had disappeared or been encrypted. Working remotely with an IT support firm, he removed the ransomware. Approximately 60% of employees were not able to work for one day. After this experience, Muckensturm decided to replace the Trend Micro security solution. In addition to the ransomware attack, less invasive infections were occurring regularly. When computers were infected, IT needed to use additional software, such as Malwarebytes or RogeKiller, to remove malware. After researching Bitdefender, ESET, Kaspersky, and Symantec solutions, Les Jardins de Gaïa chose Bitdefender GravityZone Elite Security.

Many businesses depend on iPremise to deliver secure and crucial IT services and solutions. Recently, the company had been noticing issues with customer networks. iPremise was using a combination of what they thought were well-known endpoint security products from a large security vendor based in Japan. They discovered a very alarming situation – the security vendor’s endpoint solution was not detecting unprotected devices, and worse, malware was hitting some of their clients through their networks from these unprotected devices.

Citrix, a global secure digital workspace vendor, sought to win additional business by expanding access to Citrix Demo Center—a cloud-based secure workspace for Citrix partners, customers, and employees to test Citrix solutions to include prospective customers. Citrix also wanted to extend testing timeframes from 24 hours to days. Citrix Demo Center is delivered via four global data centers running Windows servers and Windows 10 virtual desktops on Citrix Hypervisor (formerly XenServer) in the United States, United Kingdom, South Africa, and Australia. All this needed to be accomplished without compromising the company’s rock-solid reputation for top-notch security.

Facilitating long-term financing for capital projects including state agency and university projects, affordable housing and healthcare facilities, manufacturing projects, farmland and equipment are essential to the economic health of Kansas. KDFA helps by serving as a conduit finance authority efficiently accessing capital markets. Like any organization handling sensitive projects and financial information, KDFA is highly concerned about cyberattacks. KDFA tried various antivirus solutions to protect its endpoints but was dissatisfied with various performance metrics and myriad computer issues. KDFA then added enhanced solutions from these vendors to protect against ransomware, but they also failed to meet KDFA’s expectations. In fact, KDFA was infected with ransomware six times in a six- to eight-month period, and all prior solutions lacked effective remediation tools. Even though KDFA avoided paying ransoms, clean-up and lost productivity from the six incidents cost time and resources and disrupted normal work operations for two to three days each time.

The IT department of this international shipping company began in 2013 to seek a new security solution for their extensive network that spans four continents. Lack of antivirus in the virtual environment, combined with a fear of overhead on the servers was an early challenger for The Clipper Group. Additionally, there was a growing concern of a rapidly and constantly changing threat environment. “With new security risks frequently emerging, you must decide where to place priorities, and where the greatest demands will be in a global corporate IT department,” said Michael M. Kristensen. Michael M. Kristensen, Operation and Project Lead for IT, was the person responsible for the project and planned rollout of Bitdefender GravityZone. ”We had trouble figuring out the market because the threat landscape is always changing. We needed a simple setup, but at the same time, we wanted a solution that addressed emerging threats, and not only mitigate at well-known and already-defined threats.” The Clipper Group, with Michael M. Kristensen in the lead, conducted a thorough and lengthy research process, in which they tested all aspects of Bitdefender GravityZone and confirmed the solution met Clipper Group’s high standards of safety.

Operating blind is always uncomfortable for IT professionals. In cybersecurity, it can be scary. That’s why Emirates National Factory for Plastic Industries (ENPI Group) replaced its prior security solution. In addition to providing limited endpoint visibility, the solution would degrade endpoint performance during software updates. ENPI considered several cybersecurity solutions and selected Bitdefender GravityZone.

The IT department of the Herning Kommune operates like an in-house service provider for all the municipal division IT departments, from administration to schools, road maintenance, retirement homes, waste collection and many other essential services. With a distributed workforce of approximately 9000 employees and only 500 employees working within city hall, the Herning Kommune IT departments are responsible for the smooth and safe IT operation of city services for 85,000 residents. Herning Kommune is a committed VMware customer, using vCloud Director to extend services to all the divisions within the municipality. Mikael Korsgaard Jensen, Server Manager, Herning Kommune is responsible for running the infrastructure for the municipality.

When the European Union adopted the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), businesses needed to reevaluate and potentially update their IT environments and security posture. Otherwise, they could be facing stiff fines if they experienced privacy or data breaches. ADVNET, an information technology systems integrator and value-added reseller, paid close attention to GDPR and soon determined that its Sophos security solution was not up to the challenge of complying with the new data protection requirement. The company sought an alternative and evaluated Trend Micro and Bitdefender.

Even though the University of Urbino’s origins extend back hundreds of years, the academic institution has an advanced IT infrastructure with modern-day requirements similar to a large enterprise. When it came to computer security, university faculty and administration were increasingly frustrated by the performance of two former antivirus solutions, ESET Nod Antivirus and Trend Micro. Users complained about system slowdowns and, more seriously, attempts to eliminate viruses were not always successful. The IT department determined that a solution with a lighter footprint would serve their needs better. Cloud deployment would keep users secure while freeing staff from server maintenance.

We don’t have to look far for news about high-profile data breaches. Almost weekly, governments, companies, political organizations and other entities are compromised in cyberattacks. As a provider of health insurance to federal government employees, GEHA must be vigilant about safeguarding protected health information (PHI) under United States law. Cybercriminals work hard to steal personal data about federal employees, particularly those with security clearances. Theft of such data could result in significant financial penalties and reputation harm for the company. Prior to Bitdefender, GEHA used Microsoft System Center Endpoint Protection (SCEP) and Trend Micro Deep Security. As attack vectors became more sophisticated, ransomware and other threats began bypassing the solutions. In fact, one attack locked out 80 percent of employees from accessing their files for 13 hours. To address growing security concerns, the IT team evaluated Cylance, Trend Micro OfficeScan, and Bitdefender GravityZone. In addition to reviewing industry security research studies from Gartner Group, AV-TEST, AV-Comparatives, and NSS Labs, IT tested how the security solutions detected and stopped hundreds of malware samples that mimicked zero-day signature-less threats.

LTE group faced significant challenges with their existing McAfee endpoint security solution, which failed to prevent a security breach that caused rolling downtime for 1,000 employees and several thousand students over two weeks. The breach disrupted Skype VoIP deployment, leading to poor quality of phone and video conversations and remote video-based training. Additionally, McAfee's peer-to-peer broadcasting caused network issues, and despite identifying the problem, McAfee couldn't resolve it. Dissatisfied with the breach and high number of threats missed by McAfee, LTE's IT team evaluated alternatives, including Sophos, Cylance, Microsoft Windows Defender, and Bitdefender solutions, ultimately selecting Bitdefender GravityZone.

When it comes to managed IT services, cloud-enablement is essential to delivering premium-level offerings. Blaze Networks, a security-focused managed service provider (MSP) was unpleasantly surprised when its prior cybersecurity solution was struggling, resulting in delayed virus definitions and policy updates. Further, since the solution vendor offered sub-par technical support, Blaze was forced to solve the issues with extensive troubleshooting, which was a drain on internal resources. Seeking an alternative offering, Blaze Networks evaluated several cybersecurity solutions and selected Bitdefender GravityZone Cloud MSP Security as the basis of its endpoint security.

Businesses want to verify that prospective partners are financially viable, with strong credit histories. Offering the industry’s most predictive scoring algorithms, Creditsafe helps businesses make sound, informed decisions about engaging with other firms. Creditsafe must ensure its information is secure from cyberattacks, while maintaining superior system performance for its employees and high virtualization density for optimal efficiency. The company’s prior security solution offered IT limited visibility and reporting about outbreaks. Its scanning of servers and laptops would also slow system performance and reduce productivity of users. To resolve these issues, Creditsafe conducted proofs of concept against a range of competitive solutions.

In today’s classroom, learning takes place online as much as it does with books. That means school systems must keep students and teachers safe online and comply with the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA). With thousands of user devices and a myriad of operating systems and browsers, the School District of Clay County knows this is no easy feat. The district tried the Kaspersky solution, but virus scans slowed device performance. As a result, the information services (IS) team turned off many of the solution’s security features, leaving endpoints vulnerable to cyber threats. IS tried Microsoft System Center Endpoint Protection and had a similar problem. Then it deployed Avast, which crashed 90 percent of the computers.

Security was once a regional affair at this company. As a global operation, they used separate installations of Sophos solutions for the Americas, Asia-Pacific, and Europe. The challenges were that security management was not centralized, policies were not always consistent, and security reporting and analytics were not easily shared. When IT wanted to consolidate the Sophos installations, it discovered the solution lacked the ability to centrally manage its far-flung global environments. In addition, Sophos was regularly missing infections, putting an increased burden on IT to manually resolve issues and restore data from affected systems. Sophos scanning also made workstations run more slowly. In response, IT evaluated and tested Symantec, Bitdefender, as well as a newer Sophos solution. Bitdefender GravityZone was the stand-out choice.

Protecting the confidentiality of personal data is the highest priority for Lebenshilfe Heinsberg e.V. The association's IT assets are vital to service, and any computer malfunctions would force staff to manually document their activities and electronically capture the information later. The same applies to medication plans. The workshop uses an ERP system to keep withdrawal and inventory records on hand. Losing any of this data would severely disrupt operations: both human resources and accounting are entirely software-based. Several years ago, budget pressures forced the IT department to replace the software it relied on for protection against malware: the vendor decided to discontinue a program that allowed Lebenshilfe e. V. to use it under a campus license, raising costs 15-fold. This prompted decision-makers to search for a new, affordable security solution.

Listening to your customers is important, as the large European IT systems integrator Bechtle knows well. When customers increasingly requested Bitdefender solutions, Bechtle conducted a technical and business evaluation and decided to form a new value-added reseller partnership.