Leading Australasian multichannel retailer EziBuy had an anti-spam and anti-virus solution in place, so reviewing internal email security wasn't a priority. However, some of the retailer's 400 users were still getting three or four spam messages daily. The expectations of EziBuy Group’s CIO Hamish Grant weren't quite being met.
"Spam wasn't a major problem but it was an irritation. I was expecting to see one spam message a month, not one a week, let alone multiple per day," says Grant. "We regularly checked quarantine to ensure executive email wasn't being caught."
At the 2010 CIO Summit, Grant told SMX about his experience. SMX guaranteed a quick, easy solution for the spam problem – with no quarantine requirement or obligation to commit – and set about provisioning EziBuy on the spot.
"SMX said that the process would be quick and easy, and that spam would disappear – and it has," Grant says.
A key differentiator of the SMX solution is that for a small premium SMX added significant redundancy, removed internal overheads and provided customised exception reporting.
SMX also identified areas where EziBuy was vulnerable to threats and suggested measures to address these. SMX recommended and helped implement SPF records to bulletproof EziBuy's email against spoofing. This showed EziBuy that in one three day period it endured unacceptably high levels of attacks.
"SMX identified measures we hadn't thought of implementing previously," says Grant. "Their portal provided visibility of the level of threats and allowed us to fix these."
SMX also scans out-bound mail for viruses and spam, thus ensuring EziBuy's IP address is not at risk of being listed on a Realtime Blackhole List (RBL).
Hamish Grant is happy that SMX is protecting the network core and helping EziBuy to meet key business continuity outcomes.
"SMX delivered what they promised and more," says Grant. "Additionally, the solution is cost effective and met my budget expectations."
