Glatfelter Insurance Group's Transformation with IoT: A Case Study

• Cybersecurity & Privacy - Endpoint Security
• Cybersecurity & Privacy - Network Security

• National Security & Defense
• Telecommunications

• Sales & Marketing

• Tamper Detection
• Usage-Based Insurance

Glatfelter Insurance Group (GIG), a leading insurance broker, faced a significant challenge in supporting its home-based sales executives. The company markets its Volunteer Firefighters Insurance Services (VFIS) products and programs through independent agents and a network of sales executives who work from their homes. To support these sales executives, GIG implemented new customer relationship management (CRM) and imaging applications with a Web interface. However, the remote access via toll-free dialup was slow, and telecommunications costs were soaring as these associates frequently stayed connected all day. GIG needed a faster, more cost-effective, and secure way for sales executives to access sales-support information and communicate with underwriters and claims professionals.

Glatfelter Insurance Group (GIG), founded in 1951, is an all-lines, full-service insurance broker providing property, casualty, life, accident, and health insurance products and services to individuals, businesses, and organizations. Based in York, Penn., this employee-owned organization employs more than 450 associates who serve in excess of 20,000 customers in all 50 states and Canada, placing GIG among the nation’s top 25 privately owned insurance brokers. Central to GIG’s business philosophy is the understanding that prompt and considerate claims service is the organization’s ultimate responsibility to its customers. GIG’s unique culture, operating structure, and strong market relationships enable it to offer an impressive portfolio of value-added products and services designed to help every client manage risk.

GIG implemented Check Point UTM-1 Edge appliances to provide high-speed remote access to all its home-based VFIS sales executives. These devices, ideal for connecting remote offices securely over low-cost, high-bandwidth VPNs, proved to be the cost-effective solution GIG was seeking for home deployment. The UTM-1 Edge appliances extend the company’s network perimeter security, putting a Check Point firewall between the dangers of the Internet and every home office and GIG’s corporate IT resources. Incorporating firewall, VPN, intrusion prevention, and antivirus features in one appliance, UTM-1 Edge gives GIG a complete security solution for its home-based sales executives. For traveling executives who require remote access, Check Point Endpoint Security ensures that their laptops are not chinks in the company’s defenses. It gives GIG laptops an endpoint firewall that can be managed from a console at headquarters and that can ensure the laptops meet antivirus, OS patch, and other requirements before they connect to the network.

• The implementation of Check Point UTM-1 Edge appliances and Check Point Endpoint Security has transformed the way GIG operates. The solution has not only provided a faster, more cost-effective, and secure way for sales executives to access sales-support information and communicate with underwriters and claims professionals, but it has also improved the overall efficiency of the company. The ease of management and the ability to roll out new applications more rapidly have significantly improved the company's operational efficiency. Furthermore, the improved remote technical support has made the process of providing support to VFIS sales executives much more efficient. The company plans to continue leveraging these solutions in the future, with plans to convert more of its UTM-1 Edge devices to UTM-1 Edge W devices for select sales executives and to roll out VPN-1 UTM to its California office for its disaster recovery plan.

• Dramatically reduced costs due to lower-cost dynamic IP addresses for home users.
• More rapid deployment of new applications, saving money on overnight shipping costs.
• Improved remote technical support, making the process more efficient.