07/18/2007

Secure Computing Corporation (Nasdaq: SCUR) today announced that Evansville ARC is achieving near constant network uptime thanks to Secure Computing SnapGear(R) appliances. Dave Gilmour, network administrator for Evansville ARC, estimated that his network users experience 99.9 percent uptime, with zero downtime attributable to the 20 SnapGear devices in use. The reliability of the SnapGear appliances has also kept total cost of ownership low, which is imperative to the not-for-profit organization.

ebizQ received the following information:

Used in conjunction with thin-client architecture, the SnapGear appliances have made it possible for Evansville ARC's two-person IT team to serve their staff of 200 workers, in addition to several related and partnering organizations. In all, they have networked together more than 600 users at 16 different locations using SnapGear.

"In our years of using SnapGear appliances, we've never had a major problem and we've never had to replace one of them," reported Gilmour. "They're very flexible, very stable, and the price point is good too."

Before installing SnapGear, Evansville ARC had no real network in place. This situation led to poor communication and high duplication of efforts. In addition, it meant that whenever a user had a problem, the IT staff had to physically travel to their location, increasing time and costs and delaying resolution.

With the SnapGear security solution from Secure Computing, Evansville ARC got a complete, plug-and-play "network-in-a-box," serving at-once as a firewall, a VPN gateway, a UTM security appliance, and a complete networking solution. "SnapGear gives our users anytime, anywhere access to vital application and data resources in the network," Gilmour said. The product links users together, enabling them to connect securely to the Internet and corporate LAN, servicing all of their remote network access requirements. It offers complete threat management, with intrusion detection and prevention (IDS/IPS), gateway anti-virus, spam filtering and more -- all from a high- speed, highly-reliable appliance.

SnapGear also uniquely leverages TrustedSource(TM) reputation-based global intelligence, enabling the system to proactively block malicious Web entities and content, such as spam, spyware, viruses, zombies, phishing scams and Trojans, even before the appliance's anti-malware capabilities kick in. "I made the decision to go with the Secure Computing product because of my past experiences," recalled Gilmour. "I've always been impressed by the wide variety of capabilities SnapGear provides, and it does even more than we thought!"

Gilmour also pointed out that the initial price point for the SnapGear appliances was "very attractive," but the fact that the solution is so stable has made it even more valuable in the long run. Evansville ARC has never needed to spend any money on repair or replacement, and insofar as ongoing maintenance, "I only spend an hour or two every few months maintaining the appliances, and that's just upgrading firmware and reviewing the audit logs," said Gilmour.