Présentation
Smithfield Foods is the world’s largest producer and processor of pork products, with operations and facilities around the globe. In keeping with its role as a forward-thinking industry leader, Smithfield began planning a complete migration of its IT infrastructure to the cloud well before many other large corporations were ready to contemplate such a transition.
Previously, Smithfield had relied upon outsourcing companies to host and manage their datacenter operations. But as their needs evolved, they sought alternatives that would be less costly and more agile, while giving them more ownership of their IT infrastructure and data.
- Jeff Thomas, Chief Technology Officer, Smithfield Foods
"Our broad strategy is a complete transition to a cloud infrastructure,” says Jeff Thomas, Smithfield’s Chief Technology Officer. “We first began using AWS to host our external-facing properties in 2013, including websites and services both for the public and for vendors and other partners. We expect to complete the project sometime in early 2018. It’s a big move, and we want to perform due diligence every step of the way."
Profile
- Based in Smithfield, VA, with facilities across the US and Europe
- $14 billion global food company
- World’s largest pork processor and hog producer
- 52,000 employees worldwide
- Founded in 1936
Challenges
To migrate all external-facing websites and applications to Amazon Web Services (AWS) while ensuring security against cyber threats.
Solution
Barracuda CloudGen WAF on AWS
Résultats
Cloud migration project is proceeding smoothly, with Barracuda CloudGen WAF providing security across all internet- and public-facing applications.
Choosing the Right Application Security
Each step of Smithfield’s transition includes a thorough security review.
"My team is very experienced, and understand security requirements for web properties very well,” Thomas says. “We wanted web security that we could standardize across all our properties, and the Barracuda CloudGen WAF was clearly a good solution for us."
A key consideration in Smithfield’s choice of AWS was the way it automates and simplifies the rapid scaling and provisioning for unpredictable spikes in traffic. Likewise, Smithfield chose Barracuda CloudGen WAF in part because its integration within AWS lets it instantly extend protection across new instances.
Thomas goes on to say, “We’re already very satisfied with the Barracuda solution. As we start to build a more robust e-commerce presence in AWS, we expect to get even more value from it, since that’s where the auto-scaling becomes most important—and it’s where you find a lot of the biggest security risks.
- Jeff Thomas, Chief Technology Officer, Smithfield Foods
A Trusted IT Partner
Another reason Thomas felt confident using the Barracuda CloudGen WAF was that Smithfield was already using Barracuda Backup-as-a-Service to protect data at remote local sites, while duplicating backups to the cloud. As Thomas says, "We were already using that Barracuda product, and we found it to be a very, very good product."
Despite their confidence, Thomas and his team made a thorough comparison of the available CloudGen WAF solutions: “We also looked at Fortinet’s offering, and some of the other WAF vendors, and most of them just didn’t meet our needs. And when you add in the cost of the different solutions, there was just no comparison—Barracuda was clearly the best choice for us."
A Smooth and Easy Deployment
According to Thomas, deployment and configuration was completed in one day. “The Barracuda CloudGen WAF provides the controls we need, but also has a very easy user interface, even for people without a strong technical background. And being able to configure and provision directly through the AWS Marketplace just made it very convenient," he says.
Conclusion
Smithfield Foods is more than a year away from completing its transition to an all-cloud-hosted IT infrastructure, when it will have no more physical datacenters—and complete control over its websites and applications. The Barracuda CloudGen WAF on AWS gives Thomas confidence that the solution will provide effective protection for the foreseeable future.
To learn how you can keep your AWS-hosted sites and applications safe against attacks, while accelerating and simplifying your development cycles, contact your IT solutions provider or visit https://fr.qa.barracuda.com/programs/aws/application-security.
Barracuda en quelques mots
Barracuda (NYSE: CUDA) simplifes IT with cloud-enabled solutions that empower customers to protect their networks, applications, and data, regardless of where they reside. These powerful, easy-to-use and affordable solutions are trusted by more than 150,000 organizations worldwide and are delivered in appliance, virtual appliance, cloud and hybrid deployments. Barracuda’s customer-centric business model focuses on delivering high-value, subscription-based IT solutions that provide end-to-end network and data security. For additional information, please visit barracuda.com.
About Barracuda Security Solutions in AWS Marketplace
Barracuda security solutions are engineered for AWS and allow you to fully leverage the power of the cloud. Barracuda is an APN Technology Partner and has achieved Security Competency certification, which means solutions are well designed and pre-qualified by AWS. As part of the shared security responsibility model, Barracuda products complement existing AWS services by providing a comprehensive security architecture, as well as a more seamless experience across your cloud and on-premises environments—all while providing enhanced security against cyberattacks and advanced threats.