Endpoint Security, Security Management, Standardized Data Protection, PC Lifecycle Management, and Issue Resolution

Executive Summary

Overview
The State of Michigan formally entered the United States of America in 1837. With more than ten million residents, Michigan ranks eighth in population among the fifty states. Probably most well-known as the center of the domestic automobile industry (Detroit), Michigan is the only state to consist entirely of peninsulas. Lansing, Michigan’s state capital, is home to all three branches of state government. IT plays a critical role in facilitating smooth operations at all levels of government, as well as interactions among citizens, government agencies, departments, and representatives. The IT infrastructure has evolved with the state as it has grown, and today consists of 55,000 desktops and 2,000 data center servers. This scale resembles that of a Fortune 30 company.

Barriers
The State of Michigan’s IT staffing was widely distributed, consisting of 2,300 employees and 2,300 contractors in 19 agencies spread throughout the state. Each agency had different processes and architectures and was disconnected from other parts of the state government. With 55,000 employees, 1,400 remote state offices, and several dozen data centers, the state lacked an overarching network infrastructure or common enterprise tools, resulting in difficulties in management and coordination between agencies. Additionally, the state lacked an enterprise-wide security policy, and, as a result, it could not move forward with technology initiatives requested by various agencies, such as wireless Internet service. Michigan faced the real threat of a security breach that could cost the state significantly. Backup and recovery efforts were frequently failing, with a success percentage in the low 70s in 2005, jeopardizing the state’s two petabytes of data.

The Solution
In 2001, Governor John Engler issued an executive order to create the Michigan Department of Information Technology (MDIT), a cabinet-level agency designed to serve the technology needs of each of the state’s departments. The MDIT’s mandate was to consolidate the existing 19 different IT organizations into one and rationalize all the associated hardware, software, and procedures. Continuing with the direction set by Governor Engler, Michigan’s current governor, Jennifer Granholm, moved the MDIT forward with her support of key strategic initiatives.

As a part of the Michigan One consolidation initiative, Symantec Ghost Solution Suite was deployed for PC lifecycle management, thereby enabling the MDIT to standardize the images across the 55,000 desktops it manages. The state also standardized data protection processes on Veritas NetBackup to improve its failure rate for backup and recovery. Another major initiative, Secure Michigan, standardized security solutions, including Symantec AntiVirus Enterprise Edition, which was installed on all desktops throughout state offices. Symantec Critical System Protection was later deployed to protect against intrusions on critical servers. Symantec Security Information Manager is used to correlate log data from across the state’s systems to provide custom alerts and reports on the state’s security landscape. And Symantec Enterprise Security Manager (now a part of Symantec Control Compliance Suite) was implemented to monitor and report on compliance with regulations and standards.

The MDIT is now implementing Symantec Endpoint Protection and Symantec Network Access Control to bolster security at the endpoint. Symantec Consulting Services expedited the implementation of NetBackup and designed custom data collectors for Security Information Manager. The state relies on Symantec Business Critical Services to ensure smooth operations. Also instrumental in the solution were Symantec Partners Sun Microsystems, DewPoint, and EMC, which provided support for the NetBackup deployment, and Symantec Partners Software House International, Dyntek, and EDS/HP, which provided licensing support.

Benefits
The MDIT has increased its value to the agencies it serves through its relationship with Symantec, particularly in the areas of security, data protection, and IT standardization. A Total Operational and Economic (TOEI™) analysis by The Alchemy Solutions Group identified and quantified savings in the following areas from June 2004 through December 2009:

• PC Lifecycle Management Productivity Gains: $13,313,936 in realized and projected productivity gains through the use of Symantec Ghost Solution Suite from January 2004 through December 2009.
• Security Monitoring and Remediation Productivity Gains: $1,875,059 in productivity gains through quicker identification and remediation of security issues from July 2004 through December 2009.
• Data Protection Labor Cost Avoidance and Productivity Gains: $809,919 in labor savings by centralizing backup and recovery processes from February 2008 through December 2009 with Veritas NetBackup.
• Data Storage Reduction Savings: $328,960 in storage space savings, despite growing storage requirements, from January 2008 through December 2009.
• Quarterly System Audit Productivity Gains: $367,977 in labor productivity gains by automating system audits from July 2004 through December 2009.
• Issue Resolution Savings: $223,427 total savings since engaging Symantec Business Critical Services in 2007 through the reduction in severity one incidents and improved resolution times for severity two, three, and four level issues.