As a major player in logistics and a European operator of maritime freight, CLdN turned to Telindus to secure data exchanges to the internet for its employees - on-site and remote - as well as its ships. With the deployment of the solution proposed by Telindus, the company now benefits from a unique tool deployed from the cloud, integrating a suite of security services. This has enabled the flexibility and harmonization of security management across the entire IT perimeter of the group.
The Belgian-Luxembourgish maritime company CLdN is a major operator in goods freight across the English Channel. With a fleet of thirty ships, it transports containers, trailers, and even new vehicles between various terminals managed by the company located in Zeebrugge (Belgium), Rotterdam, and Vlissingen (Netherlands), Killingholme, and London (United Kingdom). "From these installations, we offer our customers a range of integrated logistics services. We are able to take charge of the goods directly from the shipper on the continent, to transport them to one of our terminals, and then to the final recipient. We handle transportation by road, by boat, and the processing of goods at our terminals," describes Bart Coucke, Head of Operations of CLdN IT Systems S.A, the structure responsible for the group's IT management, whose team is located in Luxembourg.
Making it easier to secure a wide-area network
The quality of optimal logistics services requires relying on an IT infrastructure, particularly on a strong and reliable network, ensuring secure information exchange with the internet.
"A few years ago, we had to replace the proxy servers, from which we ensured monitoring and securing exchanges with the internet," explains Bart Coucke. "We then turned to Telindus to see what solutions could meet our needs in this area." Telindus then recommended CLdN to opt for a SASE (Secure Access Service Edge). This security concept had the advantage of guaranteeing secure exchanges, facilitating access management and monitoring, improving the protection of users and digital assets of the company, whether located at the terminals, on the ships, at the group's data center, or in the cloud. "On the recommendation of our partner, we then opted for a solution that would gather all security services at the level of a single cloud instance," comments Bart Coucke.
Consolidated and more flexible management
Thanks to this solution, CLdN has been able to consolidate the security management of exchanges between its various sites and users. "During the health crisis, when solutions were previously hosted on-site or from our data center, we had to resort to cloud solutions. This involved opening up our network. The implemented solution facilitated this opening, ensuring the security of connectivity extended to the public cloud," continues the IT manager. One of the major advantages of the solution lies in increased flexibility in security management. "In the past, it was necessary to deploy one or two firewalls per site, and therefore as many devices that required significant effort in terms of maintenance and supervision," adds Bart Coucke. "The introduction of SASE allowed us to simply install SD-WAN devices, remotely configurable, greatly facilitating the management of these aspects." CLdN, relying on this set of solutions, manages a vast network, spanning 21 remote sites.
A package of integrated security services
As a result, the solution has reduced the number of necessary products to ensure network availability and secure exchanges. "It integrates various security services, such as firewalls, traffic monitoring tools, and a Web Gateway. All these functionalities can be deployed and managed from a single console, accessible in the cloud," Bart Coucke explains. The solution enables the deployment of the same security configuration across all our sites remotely. "Everything is harmonized, and the integration of a new entity within the group occurs much more easily. "In three days, we managed to integrate four new sites into the network. It was enough to connect each of them using an SD-WAN device. The same security policy is thus applied across the entire network," the manager explains.
Improved safety and controlled costs
For Bart Coucke, relying on a solution that continuously evolves allows CLdN to benefit from various features regularly deployed within the solution. "By relying on Telindus's recommendations, a longstanding partner of our company, we have managed to improve the management of our network, in a context of business growth, while reducing the number of products and technologies deployed. Necessary updates can be easily performed remotely, ensuring their impact on production is limited. More flexible, more efficient, the implemented solution also addresses cost control challenges. Maintenance costs have been significantly reduced," he concludes.
"During the health crisis, we had to resort to cloud solutions. This meant opening up our network. The solution we implemented facilitated this opening, guaranteeing the security of connectivity extended to the public cloud."
Bart Coucke, Head of Operations at CLdN IT Systems S.A.
CLdN in brief
A major logistics player and European sea freight operator, CLdN comprises three vertically integrated business activities: CLdN RoRo, CLdN Cargo and CLdN Ports. The group's origins date back to 1929. Headquartered in Luxembourg, the group employs 3,000 people across Europe and offers a wide range of roles and responsibilities at sea and on land.