SD-WAN Case Study
Routes Healthcare

Blaze Networks creates a private network with SD-WAN, an end-end Security Fabric, and the Blaze Private Core Network delivering a secure, reliable and agile network for Routes Healthcare’s branches and central services.

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Blaze Networks, a leading SD-WAN provider in the UK, have provided Routes Healthcare with a fully-managed private network, based on Fortinet SD-WAN and Fortinet Security Fabric platforms. Routes Healthcare offers complex care packages for people with long-term health conditions and end of life care in the north of England. Health and Social Care services are provided in people’s own homes and communities, 365 days a year by over 1,000 staff, leveraging 18 service centres and a large recruitment and training hub in Rochdale.

Because of the nature of the services which Routes’ carers provide, considerable importance is placed on the confidentiality of customer information, so comprehensive cybersecurity was a key requirement (Blaze Networks has been certified as Exceeding NHS Digital’s DSTP requirements and is ISO 27001 certified).

Already a Blaze customer, the company needed to update its IT infrastructure to better enable change and growth in the organisation, and to support the increased use of SaaS platforms and cloud services.

Blaze provided a more secure infrastructure which has an enhanced level of cybersecurity and automation, able to keep pace with emerging threats and AI-driven attacks.

Provision of services to remote locations and mobile workers has been made much easier and a secure, capable, and resilient remote access infrastructure has been provided.

Cybersecurity has been enhanced by the network design and by a UTM system providing antivirus, content filtering, multi-factor authentication, and web filtering.

The unified security and SD-WAN technology stack covers all firewalls, switches, and wireless infrastructure, tightly integrated across all Routes Healthcare sites. Professional project management by Blaze ensured a smooth deployment across all locations.

The solution includes:

• A fully managed private network based on Fortinet SD-WAN and Fortinet Security Fabric platforms. This was designed, implemented, and is fully supported by Blaze.
• Secure connection of remote workers is supported into the Blaze Private Core Network infrastructure through use of Fortinet’s ZTNA (Zero Trust Network Access) solution that is incorporated in the Fortinet endpoint management services technology (FortiClient EMS).
• 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.
• The network maintains a directory of all items and devices that are normally connected and other device types which can be allowed (particularly important with a large mobile workforce visiting client’s homes).
• Network automation built into Routes’ SD-WAN enables the network to automatically identify known devices on connection, and to put them into the correct VLAN segment – thereby preventing any crossover or access into unauthorised business-use VLANs or Routes’ wider SD-WAN. This includes protection of key assets from IoT-based attacks.
• 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, Routes Healthcare has been able to improve the reliability and effectiveness of its wide area network whilst boosting cybersecurity and simplifying operations.

Read the full case study on Routes Healthcare’s fully-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.