Customer Success
Fawaz Alhokair Group
Reducing Information Security Management Costs by 70 Percent at
One of Saudi Arabia’s Largest Retail Groups
More than 750 fashion stores, 11 major shopping malls, 152 food outlets,
and 10 large format retail hypermarkets―but only one information security solution. Could it be done? It certainly could if you are the IT director
for the Fawaz Alhokair Group, one of the leading retail franchisers in the
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Swapping out a diversified and fragmented suite
of security solutions operated with each subsidiary, the IT director and his
team have standardized on one world-class, reliable endpoint protection solution: Symantec™ Protection Suite Enterprise Edition. This single, complete
approach to information security protects 3,500 Windows-based endpoints
against malware, spam, and spyware by accurately identifying and addressing
risks. It’s also playing a vital role in increasing the Group’s competitiveness
in the highly charged Saudi retail market: by unifying its security strategy
around Symantec Protection Suite, the Fawaz Alhokair Group has reduced
its security budget by 70 percent.
ORGANIZATION PROFILE
Website: www.fawazalhokair.com
Industry: Retail
Headquarters: Riyadh, Kingdom of
Saudi Arabia
symantec SolutionS
Endpoint Security
Transforming the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) retail landscape
In just over 18 years, Fawaz Alhokair Group has transformed the retail landscape of Saudi Arabia
through successfully pioneering international retail franchising. Starting with just two menswear
stores in 1990, today the Group is a highly diversified corporation with core businesses in retail
and real estate, as well as investment interests in six lines of emerging business. Using the expertise developed within the retail fashion industry, Fawaz Alhokair Group has successfully diversified
into food and large format retail, and now it is applying the same dedication and leadership principles to organically grow the business portfolio, by exploring ventures in real estate, financial
services, telecoms, automotive and healthcare, to mention but a few.
The board recognizes, however, that there’s a tremendous amount still to be done. An aggressive
diversification strategy will see the current $2.1 billion turnover tripling in the next five years, with
a consequent expansion of the current 12,000 strong staff base. And to achieve that growth, there
needs to be synergy―especially when it comes to common Group processes such as technology.
Until recently, each of the operating subsidiaries operated largely separate and diversified tech-
Why Symantec?
· Comprehensive
threat protection
solution
· Quality of support
in the Kingdom
of Saudi Arabia
· Existing high
quality perception
of Symantec
Customer Success
Fawaz Alhokair Group
nologies: where the Malls business operated
one IT infrastructure, Large Format Retail
operated another; where Fashion Retail relied on a particular type of technology, Food/
Entertainment had another. One of the consequences of this siloed approach to technology was an overlap of technology security
solutions, such as antivirus, antispyware,
firewall, and other security solutions.
To help drive that tripling in growth in five
years, the Fawaz Alhokair Group is streamlining and unifying much of its technology infrastructure―and security is a key component of that strategy. The IT director of the
Fawaz Alhokair Group explains what needs to
be done. “Our goal is to integrate many of
the separate systems we operate and drive
growth through operational efficiency. We
currently run more than 100 separate interfaces across the Group, for example, and
common processes and technologies will
inspire a more adaptive, agile business.
Having worked in banking and consulting for
many years, the IT director brought all his
skills and experience to bear on deciding the
appropriate direction for the Group’s technology security. “When I joined the Fawaz
Alhokair Group, a proof of concept had already been completed comparing Symantec
against McAfee. My conclusion was that
Symantec offered a greater depth of easy-touse functionality; their solution offered very
strong support here in Saudi Arabia; and the
technologies were all tightly integrated.
Symantec was our immediate number one
choice.”
Ensuring every line of business is
safe from data loss
Working closely with the local Symantec partner Arabic Computer System, the Fawaz
Alhokair Group is now deploying Symantec
Protection Suite Enterprise Edition to provide
a protected endpoint and messaging environment―a secure solution which ensures every
line of business is safe from complex data
loss, malware, and spam threats. For the first
time, the Group has one common approach
to antivirus, antispyware, firewall, intrusion
prevention, and device and application control with Symantec™ Endpoint Protection,
which gives the Saudi Arabian company com-
SolutionS at a glance
Business Drivers
• Integrate back office processes for multiple
lines of business
• Support aggressive 5-year growth strategy
Technology Challenges
• Secure the organization from security
threats
Business Value and
Technical Benefits
• Reduced information security costs by 70%
• Introduced a protected endpoint and messaging environment for 3,500 endpoints
• Ensured every line of business is safe from
complex data loss, malware, and spam
threats
• Replace separate, fragmented security
systems and processes
• Provided one common approach to
antivirus, antispyware, firewall, intrusion
prevention, and device and application
control
Symantec Products
• Delivered effective and accurate antispam
and antivirus protection
• Symantec™ Protection Suite Enterprise
Edition, including
• Offered ease of use, minimal disruption to
the environment, and easy configuration
– Symantec™ Endpoint Protection
– Symantec Brightmail™ Gateway
– Symantec Premium AntiSpam
Technology Environment
• Endpoints: 3,500
• Operating Systems: Microsoft
Windows 2003
• Applications: Oracle E-Business Suite,
Microsoft Exchange, and others
• Servers: 10
Symantec Partner
• Arabic Computer System
prehensive virus protection against malicious
threats that might target its Windows platform. Meanwhile, Symantec Brightmail™
Gateway delivers effective and accurate antispam and antivirus protection for the inbound and outbound Exchange email. The
solution catches more than 99 percent of
spam reaching the Group perimeter, with less
than one in a million false positives, based on
continuous automatic updates, IP reputation
analysis, and comprehensive reporting. And
the Symantec™ Premium AntiSpam subscription service delivers antispam protection to
negate the spam threat.
“Network security is paramount here in
Saudi Arabia,” the IT director says. “There is
less awareness of the threats that abound,
which means it’s all too easy for staff to try
“The great advantage of Symantec
Protection Suite Enterprise Edition
is that everything is so easy to
manage. There’s minimal disruption
to the environment, straightforward
workflows for critical security
”
tasks, and easy configuration.
IT Director
Fawaz Alhokair Group
Customer Success
Fawaz Alhokair Group
and connect infected laptops, USB devices,
and other hardware to the network. Using
Symantec Protection Suite, we are stopping
those threats in their tracks.”
“This single, complete approach to
information security has enabled
the Fawaz Alhokair Group to reduce
”
its security budget by 70 percent.
Currently live everywhere apart from
the Fashion Retail business, Symantec
Protection Suite Enterprise Edition protects
3,500 Fawaz Alhokair Group Windows-based
endpoints against malware, spam, and
spyware by accurately identifying and addressing risks. Advanced content filtering
secures sensitive and confidential information; while the real-time security intelligence
capability ensures the team receive early
threat warnings and proactive protection
from newly evolved risks.
IT Director
Fawaz Alhokair Group
Minimal disruption to the
environment
“The great advantage of Symantec Protection
Suite is that everything is so easy to manage,” the IT director explains. “We’re using
both a ‘push server’ method to automate the
deployment of the solution to the endpoints,
coupled where necessary with physical
installation. There’s minimal disruption to
the environment, straightforward workflows
for critical security tasks, and easy
configuration.”
There’s another reason for the Fawaz
Alhokair Group Board to cheer― Symantec
Protection Suite Enterprise Edition is saving
money. “We’ve taken five previously separate
security budgets and rolled them into one,
unified technology security implementation.
This single, complete approach to information security has enabled the Fawaz Alhokair
Group to reduce its security budget by 70
percent,” says the IT director.
In today’s testing economic climate―where
every budget is under scrutiny―that 70 percent reduction in security costs is instrumental in helping the Fawaz Alhokair Group
achieve its ambitious growth forecasts.
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countries. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners. All product information is subject to change without notice. Part Number 20049008