La Poste: Improving Governance, Security and Cost with Unified DDI Management

• Application Infrastructure & Middleware - Data Exchange & Integration
• Cybersecurity & Privacy - Network Security

• Retail
• Telecommunications

• Business Operation
• Logistics & Transportation

• Cybersecurity

• Software Design & Engineering Services
• System Integration

i-TEAM, one of the Group’s IT departments, wanted to offer a single solution to all of the Group’s entities as a repository for IP addresses and domain names. It was also to be backed up by internal and external IP address distribution and name resolution services. The idea was also to simplify the global management of the DDI (DNS, DHCP and IPAM), to reduce costs and to improve security and compliance, thus contributing to a better governance of its information system. Previously a user of Infoblox, i-TEAM found this solution too rigid and not user friendly enough for the delegated users, who found it difficult to get to grips with the tool and were making configuration errors. I-TEAM also wanted to easily adapt its new solution to its specific needs to meet some of its requirements. Amongst these, the IT service centre wanted to reinforce the solution’s intrinsic security (partitioning), and to be able to simply deploy personalised management policies for the different entities. One of the challenges faced by this IT department was to adopt a centralised and uniform DDI solution that would allow each of the group’s departments and subsidiaries to manage its DNS zones and addressing plans independently. Although i-TEAM was already responsible for managing part of the group’s DDI infrastructure, several subsidiaries were still using their own solutions. This situation brought about heterogeneity both in terms of general governance and in terms of compliance and security. Each entity also bore the costs of its own solution, both in terms of licences and resources.

La Poste Group is a French multinational postal service and courier company. With its 17,000 retail outlets in France, the group is now present in 63 countries, across 5 continents. This local presence is ensured daily by the 160 different professions exercised by the group’s 238,000 employees. As it looks to evolve and transform, le groupe La Poste has opted for a multi-activity business model with mail, banking, parcels, a network of retail outlets, digital tools, and more. All are guided by a single objective: to make le groupe La Poste the leading provider of local services for everyone, everywhere, every day. Each year, the group distributes more than 17 billion items (letters, printed advertising, parcels) around the world. In 2022, it achieved a turnover of 35.4 billion euros, of which 44% abroad.

i-TEAM commenced the roll-out of the EfficientIP solution within its own infrastructure. Leveraging the flexibility of SOLIDserver, the IT service centre was able to fine-tune the solution to its needs, including the creation of delegated administrator spaces to meet its cyber charter. Several control systems were also added around EfficientIP offering to ensure that the IPAM solution is fully partitioned and cannot be accessed via any unauthorized desktop. i-TEAM was also able to standardise the roll out of DDI resources by applying its naming rules and conventions. For example, for post offices, the IT service centre has implemented identification codes in the EfficientIP solution that automate the setting and roll out of DDI rules that must be applied to new addresses assigned to them. Once the first version of the solution had been implemented, i-TEAM was able to gradually integrate the various subsidiaries and structures of the La Poste Group into the new single IPAM architecture, notably La Banque Postale, the mail section and the entire digital section. Currently almost 100% of the external addressing plan and addresses of the La Poste Group are managed within a single EfficientIP solution, i.e. almost half a million IP addresses with an average of 1000 DHCP requests per second. i-TEAM has taken the decision to segment the different zones for each entity, ensuring that it is not possible to switch from one to another. In all, 28 SOLIDservers manage and provide DNS and DHCP services to 156,175 IPv4 networks for over 10,000 DNS zones.

• Unification of DDI governance across all La Poste Group entities
• Faster deployment of DDI services for the various subsidiaries of La Poste Group
• Improved availability and performance of related services

• Reduced total cost of ownership for all subsidiaries
• Almost 100% of the external addressing plan and addresses of the La Poste Group are managed within a single EfficientIP solution, i.e. almost half a million IP addresses with an average of 1000 DHCP requests per second
• 28 SOLIDservers manage and provide DNS and DHCP services to 156,175 IPv4 networks for over 10,000 DNS zones