Taco Bueno Selects ConSentry Intelligent Switches to Enable Future Growth
Fast-Food Retailer Replaces Legacy Switches to Enable VoIP Expansion, Network Control, and Visibility on Its Expanding Corporate Network
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ConSentry Networks announced today that Taco Bueno, a casual Mexican food corporation operating in more than 190 locations across the Southern and Central U.S., is deploying ConSentry’s LANShield™ Switch platforms and InSight Command Center as part of a network upgrade. Taco Bueno is swapping out its Cisco gear for the ConSentry solution because ConSentry provided more control and functionality for lower cost. Taco Bueno has already seen the following benefits with the upgrade:
* Easy-to-implement network expansion with greater user and application control
* Layer 7 application and content filtering for a more secure LAN and productive workforce
* The ability to more proactively monitor the LAN environment and user activity to learn network usage patterns and head off additional bandwidth requirements
Prior to deploying ConSentry’s platform, Taco Bueno’s corporate environment was operating on a traditional network based on Cisco access switches. Taco Bueno needed additional switch ports to support new users, training rooms, and an expansion of its VoIP deployment. But the company was unsatisfied with the limitations of its Cisco equipment, specifically the lack of internal LAN security, application filtering, content filtering, and monitoring.
After reviewing LAN access switches from several vendors, John Rowe, Taco Bueno network administrator, selected the ConSentry LANShield platform because it met the company’s most important needs and, according to Rowe, “enabled all the functionality that we didn’t have with our existing switches. I also looked at other products, but nothing compared to what ConSentry had to offer.”
ConSentry Solution Exceeds Expectations
Taco Bueno used the network expansion as an opportunity to also address other network shortcomings.
“I needed a solution that would alleviate my growth issues while soothing some bad wounds that had been untouched in the department for years,” explained Rowe. “Even after seeing the ConSentry platform in action, we had no idea how beneficial it would ultimately be. We knew the LANShield solution would allow us to expand our phone system and training rooms, but it has also been a huge asset in other ways. It has allowed us to monitor the usage across the network and create profiles to block applications or websites, resulting in increased productivity. We are also able to cut down on unnecessary bandwidth and network usage to increase network efficiency.”
Taco Bueno is moving quickly to upgrade its switching infrastructure to the ConSentry solution. Rowe estimates that over the next 18 months the network will transition to be a ConSentry-exclusive network. Deploying the LANShield platforms has also helped the company cut budget expenses and avoid buying additional hardware for application filtering, content filtering, and LAN security because those functions are included with ConSentry’s product.
Throughout this project, Taco Bueno relied on its longtime partner M&S Technologies for network design, technology specification, and vendor selection guidance. M&S specializes in network security and advised Taco Bueno on how to leverage its network upgrade for VoIP to gain Layer 7 visibility and role-based access control. According to Mark Miller, president of M&S Technologies, “ConSentry’s intelligent switching gave Taco Bueno a powerful and cost-effective ‘two for one’ combination, with stronger user control enabled automatically with the switch deployment.”
Taco Bueno was able to immediately benefit from the increased network security.
“As a network security administrator, I am now able to monitor the network, limit who uses the network, and control what they use on the network. The ability to do malware checking across the network and determine where our users are going makes our department that much more efficient,” Rowe explained. “And the fact that we were able to purchase and deploy these intelligent switches for less than the cost of our current ‘dumb’ switch technology was amazing.”
Consolidated Management with InSight™
ConSentry’s solution also provides consolidated management through its InSight Command Center, where Rowe can capture and view network traffic data as well as set policies. ConSentry’s InSight provides centralized visibility into network activity with incident- and exception-based information, resolved to the username, at Layer 7 for common business protocols, such as file names and URLs. This visibility is particularly useful for Taco Bueno’s remote users, with their limited IT resources, since Rowe can understand and support that user community.
“Helping enterprises save money, both in their capital costs but more importantly in their day-to-day network operations, is a hallmark of a ConSentry deployment,” said Joe Golden, CEO of ConSentry. “Our ability to deliver actionable intelligence means IT gets a simple but powerful platform for applying control in the LAN.”
About ConSentry Networks
The ConSentry Networks Intelligent Switching architecture delivers native user and application control at the LAN access edge. With this technology, ConSentry’s award-winning LANShield product family enables IT managers to improve the visibility, control, and performance of users and applications and radically simplify LAN deployment and operations. ConSentry is backed by blue-chip venture capital firms Accel Partners, DAG Ventures, INVESCO Private Capital, and Sequoia Capital and is headquartered in Milpitas, California.