SD-WAN Case Study
ProCook

Managed Service Provider Blaze Networks creates a private IT network with SD-WAN, an end-end Security Fabric, and the Blaze Private Core Network delivering a secure, reliable and agile nation-wide network for ProCook Group’s retail branches, distribution centre, and central services.

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Blaze Networks, a leading SD-WAN provider in the UK, have provided retailer ProCook with a co-managed private network, based on Fortinet SD-WAN and Fortinet Security Fabric platforms. ProCook, a leading direct-to-consumer specialist kitchenware brand, designs, sources and sells its own-branded ranges of products through over 60 retail stores across the UK and through an eCommerce / home delivery operation of growing importance. ProCook’s retail operations are supported by a major distribution centre and a Store Support Centre which houses a large support team.

ProCook engaged Blaze to introduce a nation-wide SD-WAN network as a highly cost-effective way of enabling the broader ProCook business to achieve increased operational agility, resilience, and cyber security. In addition to the ProCook retail shops, this included a new high-tech distribution centre with complex wireless needs, and a new head office – all of which needed a high-performance, reliable, and efficient-to-manage network solution.

A co-managed service was required, and it was particularly important to ProCook that the new managed service provider would deliver a higher level of service and technical capability to the ProCook IT team, with better responsiveness than the business had experienced with its previous legacy network.

The co-managed private network was created based on Fortinet’s SD-WAN technology and Security Fabric platform.

A move from the direct connection of branches via public based VPN connections to a Private Network that was not routed over the public internet was key to delivering a higher level of service and improved responsiveness. Blaze use a mixture of MPLS private networking (VRF) technology incorporated with the Fortinet SD-WAN and security fabric layers to reduce ProCook’s cyber-attack surface whilst providing new best of breed technology that allows the business to be agile and reactive to business requirements for change.

The network comprises of a fully integrated technology stack covering firewalls, switches, and wireless infrastructure across ProCook’s retail store, depot and office locations. Professional project management and onsite engineering provided by Blaze ensured a smooth deployment across the retail stores and central sites.

The solution includes:

• A co-managed private network based on Fortinet SD-WAN platform and the Fortinet Security Fabric (an industry-leading cybersecurity mesh architecture / CSMA). This network was designed, implemented, and is fully supported by Blaze.
• Unified Threat Management (UTM) security with antivirus, content filtering, web filtering, BOT Net detection, IPS (Intrusion Prevention Services), Application Control, and Network Automation.
• AI (Artificial Intelligence) is used with FortiGuard firewalls to help combat virus outbreaks or ransomware using IOC (Indications of Compromise) licenses.
• Use of industry-leading Zero-Trust Network Access solutions enables automated actions to be taken based on pre-set triggers which respond in seconds to identified risks.
• Content Filtering integrated with Active Directory provides user-level identification, and co-management access is provided through Blaze Networks’ TACAS platform and change control systems.
• Use of FortiAnalyzer – a powerful log management, analytics, and reporting platform – provides a single console to manage, automate, orchestrate, and respond, thereby enabling simplified security operations, proactive identification and remediation of risks, and the complete visibility of the entire attack landscape.

Overall, through an efficient and secure network design, combined with the enhanced level of service delivered by Blaze, ProCook has been able to improve the reliability and effectiveness of its wide area network whilst bosting cybersecurity and simplifying operations.

Read the full case study on ProCook’s co-managed SD-WAN network:

Partners

We partner with leading manufacturers like Microsoft, Fortinet, Veeam, Bitdefender, Cisco, Lenovo and other industry-leaders.

In doing so, Blaze have access to a vast array of products that allow us to overcome our customers’ business challenges and requirements.

Microsoft

Blaze is a Microsoft Solutions Partner and Tier 1 Microsoft CSP Partner. We specialise in Microsoft 365 (including Teams and Teams Phone System), in Microsoft On-Premise and Hosted / Cloud Infrastructure (including Azure), and enable businesses to continue their digital evolution by fully exploiting the latest capabilities of Microsoft products as they evolve.

As a Microsoft Solutions Partner for Modern Work, Blaze has demonstrated a broad capability to help customers boost productivity and make the shift to hybrid work using Microsoft 365.

Fortinet

Blaze is an Expert Partner of Fortinet, a global industry leader in the supply of secure networking infrastructure systems. Fortinet are our technology partner of choice when building customer-specific Private SD-WANs, and Blaze is one of only a handful of Fortinet SD-WAN Specialization Partners in the UK and a Fortinet top-level Expert Partner. Blaze is also a Fortinet-accredited Managed Secure Solutions Provider (MSSP) and Integrator Fortinet partner. A Leader in several of Gartner’s Magic Quadrants, the Fortinet platform combines excellent performance with advanced security features, superb manageability, and excellent Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) per Mbps.

Veeam

Veeam is a highly respected leader in cloud-based backup and recovery software, data protection and advanced monitoring in the data centre.

Blaze is a Veeam Cloud and Service Provider Silver Partner and we have combined Veeam technology with our highly secure Blaze Cloud™ infrastructure to produce BlazeVault™, a highly dependable, secure, and resource-efficient solution which will keep downtime to an absolute minimum in the event of data loss in operational systems or ransomware attack.

Bitdefender

Blaze is a Bitdefender Gold MSP Partner. Bitdefender is a global cybersecurity leader protecting over 500 million systems through OEM technology partnerships, including with many global IT companies. Tests show it is unmatched in Attack Prevention. Based on Bitdefender technology, Blaze Endpoint Protection hardens endpoints to prevent malware and malicious attacks, and it provides the investigation and remediation capabilities needed to dynamically respond to security incidents when they evade protection controls. Blaze Managed EDR keeps your organisation safe with 24×7 security monitoring, advanced attack prevention, detection and remediation.

Cisco

Cisco has long been the world’s pre-eminent network systems vendor, particularly for technology used at the core of major corporate networks and the internet. In addition to using Cisco equipment within our customers’ private networks, Blaze incorporates Cisco technology into the heart of our own network operations; the Blaze Private Core Network is built utilising Enterprise-class CISCO core routing equipment.