MFA Incorporated
Endpoint Security and ZTNA Pave a Path to the Future for a Midwest Farming Co-op
Overview
MFA Inc. has served the Midwest agriculture industry since 1914 through approximately 120 retail outlets and crop protection services. Despite its nearly 200 locations and 1,600 employees, the organization keeps budgets and staffing tight. Efficiency in internal security and network operations is therefore crucial.
To that end, MFA has standardized its network and security systems on the Fortinet Security Fabric. Its deployment includes, among many other solutions, FortiGate Next-Generation Firewalls (NGFWs) enhanced by the FortiGuard AI-powered Unified Threat Protection (UTP) Services bundle and Fortinet Secure SD-WAN (Software-Defined Wide Area Networking) to securely connect its many hundreds of locations. MFA has also deployed the FortiEDR endpoint detection and response solution and FortiClient Enterprise Management Server (EMS) to better protect end-user devices. Working with Fortinet, MFA has been able to increase security, control, and visibility of its network, while reducing downtime, and saving time and money for the security team.
“We have slowly built up our Fortinet security architecture. I can say, categorically, that we are much more secure now compared with our infrastructure before we first introduced FortiGate firewalls.”
– Loren Woody, Senior Manager, IT Operations, MFA Inc.
Business Impact
Greatly enhanced security posture companywide
Reliable connectivity via software-defined wide area networking (SD-WAN), even in rural areas with unreliable broadband
Wireless access improves both security and efficiency, especially for workers performing tasks such as taking inventory
Minimal downtime for security devices, from next-generation firewalls (NGFWs) to endpoint protection and management tools
Efficiency of security management: Changing a firewall policy across hundreds of devices takes 5 to 10 minutes, rather than an entire day
Avoidance of adding 1 to 2 more staff members to security team
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