When catering to thousands of cable service and broadband Internet subscribers, keeping connections secure and operational is the number one priority. For Community Home Entertainment (CHE), an Internet and cable service provider in New York, this is not simply a priority but imperative to their success. "We are consistently competing with larger cable and ISP companies, and in order to effectively do that, we need to ensure are customers are getting optimum services," says a senior liaison for the organization.

Community Home Entertainment began providing analog cable services to New York in 1983. Since then they have grown rapidly extending their offerings to broadband Internet and digital cable services. With only 16 employees dynamically servicing thousands of high-speed Internet customers and no IT administrators on staff, CHE needed an Internet and network solution that would provide the perfect blend of security, functionality, and ease of management for their organization and their customers. "We needed a solution that was powerful and would essentially run on its own," says the representative. "It is crucial that we dedicate as much of our resources as possible to our customers and not have to worry how our network is running."

Linux Security, Windows Familiarity, & End User Satisfaction

Searching for a cost-effective solution, CHE opted to look into open source. Without any prior knowledge of Linux, CHE entrusted Guardian Digital to provide a secure Internet platform for their corporate network. The embedded security provided by Guardian Digital products, along with the simplified management capabilities and extensive support options resulted in a decision to purchase two EnGarde Linux servers and corresponding EnGarde WorkGroup Suite. "We very much wanted an affordable system that would meet all our criteria and would offer us a seamless integration," the corporate liaison affirmed. "EnGarde was perfect because it provides us with the security we demand, functionality we need, and provided a flawless transition by still allowing employees to operate Windows at the desktop level.

On top of basic network security functions, EnGarde and the EnGarde WorkGroup Suite also provides CHE with secure emailing and quota applications, customer database functions, web hosting, and an end user interface utilized by the thousands of CHE subscribers. "Guardian Digital has not only provided us with the security we need to protect our internal network but have also given us valuable productivity tools. The user interface Guardian Digital created for CHE subscribers allow our customers to check their email from anywhere. Plus, many of our typical customer service inquires including password and account management can now be handled online, allowing our customer service representatives to concentrate on more critical subscriber issues," said the representative.

Securing Network Confidence

Protecting CHE's network from viruses and other potentially debilitating attacks is the utmost priority and was of constant concern. After the implementation of EnGarde, however, security is still a priority but they are certain their network is fully secure. "EnGarde provides us with the basis to create corporate security policies so that we may fully ensure the safety of our network and that of our customers' connection. We would suffer a great loss of revenue and subscriber dissatisfaction if email and web access was unavailable or was compromised in any way. With Guardian Digital's engineered security we are more confident than ever in our ability to consistently furnish our customers with the Internet protection they require and the premier services they have come to expect from us, giving CHE a distinct competitive edge over many of the larger providers. Furthermore, with EnGarde quietly protecting our network, we have more time to devote to customer service and the development of new offerings which is priceless to the development our company and the steadfast loyalty of our users," the corporate liaison said.

Support: Above and Beyond

Combining rock-solid security with the numerous support options provided by Guardian Digital, CHE is satisfied with the results. "Guardian Digital Master Support Services have been invaluable to us. No one here has experience with Linux and the Guardian Digital technical support team has gone above and beyond to make sure we understand the functionalities of our network and most importantly how to keep it running smoothly. Every time we send an email to technical support our inquiry is answered quickly and professionally" the representative stated.

Continued Security

Already developing a strong partnership, CHE anticipates continually looking to Guardian Digital for upgrades and additional secure solutions as they become necessary. "Our customers are always looking for better protection from their ISP connection. It is our duty to make sure our system is as secure as possible and Guardian Digital offers us the best way to do that," the liaison concluded.

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