DCI achieved 90% reduction in support tickets by replacing legacy VPNs

For over 35 years, DCI has been an industry leader in manufacturing dental equipment, components, and replacement parts. Headquartered in Newberg, Oregon, DCI distributes products across the United States and to over 60 countries worldwide. As a global company with employees distributed across North America and Asia, they face complex challenges with networking and security.

Challenges

DCI had VPN issues, which put its remote workers in an extremely difficult position. The VPN connections were unstable and complex, leading to frequent disconnects and authentication failures. These issues required constant user support to assist employees with reconnecting to the VPN, leading to a loss of work time each time a disruption occurred. Disruptions were caused by a range of factors, from local internet issues to problems with the data center appliance malfunctions. Beyond connectivity issues, the client VPNs were also significantly slowing down file transfer rates.

The existing infrastructure lacked support for split tunneling, limiting the performance and flexibility of the VPN. DCI also struggled to effectively utilize their endpoint management solution. Managing the application access in the corporate environment was also complicated, making it difficult to lock down and control access to data center resources.

Solution

Lacework Edge provided a simpler, more efficient solution for remote workers. It eliminated the need for an appliance-based VPN, while the single sign-on (SSO) feature simplified access management, reducing administrative time and effort. With Edge, DCI saw significant performance improvements in their day to day business operations. If there were any network disruptions, the platform would reconnect almost immediately, bypassing potential points of failure that plagued the previous client VPN solution.

Lacework Edge significantly transformed the remote working infrastructure at DCI, making it more robust, secure, and user-friendly. As they explore additional functionalities such as document security and location-based access controls, the benefits achieved thus far have delivered significant value. The company is eager to fully leverage the platform to further enhance its operations and strengthen its cybersecurity posture.

Results

10x network performance improvement

Tackling their connectivity and performance issues plaguing their old VPN setup was effortlessly managed with their Edge deployment. By integrating advanced features like split tunneling, DCI achieved a dramatic increase in performance, with connection speeds accelerating up to ten times faster. The architecture of Lacework Edge facilitated effective use of the entire bandwidth, dramatically improving network performance. Unlike the previous VPN setup, that platform enabled more efficient traffic routing, which unclogged the network and provided remote workers with smoother, more reliable, and faster connections. This was a significant improvement in resolving the challenges inherent in traditional client VPNs

90% reduction in support tickets

Lacework Edge virtually eliminated VPN-related issues, leading to a 90% reduction in support tickets and improved productivity for the entire organization. The reduction in support tickets was especially felt by their lean IT team, which could now divert its time and attention towards high-value work.

Increased security, better access control, and greater visibility

Deploying the Edge solution strengthened the company’s security and access control, transforming their remote work infrastructure by replacing complex VPN setups with a streamlined and effective solution. Lacework Edge also improved visibility and diagnostics. The logs provided were more detailed and informative than those obtained from VPN appliances. In the past, tracking bandwidth or latency was an arduous task that required going to an individual client and conducting tests. Now, diagnostics could be submitted directly to the team, enhancing usability and response times. This level of granular control coupled with improved visibility of user activity and simple dashboards bolstered both security and compliance.