Digital transformation strategies and comprehensive cybersecurity go hand in hand
Globe Telecom, the largest mobile operator in the Philippines, set the foundation for robust technology infrastructure in 2014 when its board envisioned the need to take steps to fortify its cybersecurity. Rooted in a customer-first culture, Globe considers customer data protection paramount, and the board had the foresight to invest in cybersecurity to further enhance its promise of providing the best customer experience.
Since 2014, the company has invested heavily in establishing an end-to-end cybersecurity team that has scaled according to the needs of the company. Capital expenditures (capex) have been to the tune of USD$12–15 million annually, with an overall investment of USD$80–90 billion to date. The cybersecurity team has also grown significantly, from 18–20 people to 100 employees today.
“When we began in 2014, we had small and fragmented teams of IT security, network security and infrastructure security, and now we are a full-fledged, end-to-end, captive security team. In fact, we have the distinction of possibly being the largest captive cybersecurity team in the Philippines today,” says Anton Bonifacio, chief information security officer. His team is responsible for the security operations of Globe and its subsidiary companies, looking after governance, security operations, data privacy, signaling, and even operational technology.
In their quest to replace their legacy Layer 4 firewalls and find the best-suited cybersecurity partner for their digital push in 2014, Globe onboarded several vendors briefly. From Day One, it was clear that the company’s growth strategies aligned entirely with the solutions offered by Palo Alto Networks. “With their Layer 7 Firewalls and filtering, Palo Alto Networks was at the forefront in terms of capabilities, but it was their completeness of vision with regard to our technology requirements that won us over,” Anton reiterates. “They offered us world-class, advanced technology solutions, with a keen finger on the pulse for what lay ahead, thereby ensuring they stayed ahead of the curve.”
Since 2014, the company has invested heavily in establishing an end-to-end cybersecurity team that has scaled according to the needs of the company. Capital expenditures (capex) have been to the tune of USD$12–15 million annually, with an overall investment of USD$80–90 billion to date. The cybersecurity team has also grown significantly, from 18–20 people to 100 employees today.
“When we began in 2014, we had small and fragmented teams of IT security, network security and infrastructure security, and now we are a full-fledged, end-to-end, captive security team. In fact, we have the distinction of possibly being the largest captive cybersecurity team in the Philippines today,” says Anton Bonifacio, chief information security officer. His team is responsible for the security operations of Globe and its subsidiary companies, looking after governance, security operations, data privacy, signaling, and even operational technology.
In their quest to replace their legacy Layer 4 firewalls and find the best-suited cybersecurity partner for their digital push in 2014, Globe onboarded several vendors briefly. From Day One, it was clear that the company’s growth strategies aligned entirely with the solutions offered by Palo Alto Networks. “With their Layer 7 Firewalls and filtering, Palo Alto Networks was at the forefront in terms of capabilities, but it was their completeness of vision with regard to our technology requirements that won us over,” Anton reiterates. “They offered us world-class, advanced technology solutions, with a keen finger on the pulse for what lay ahead, thereby ensuring they stayed ahead of the curve.”
Consolidation and progression: a partnership that has grown from strength to strength
Palo Alto Networks was brought on board to secure the digital transformation initiatives at Globe and also to address the complexity of both infrastructure and operations. Anton draws a compelling analogy. Palo Alto Networks, he says, was “one of the many contractors we onboarded to build our house, in this case, our cybersecurity capabilities. While several other contractors have finished their tasks and moved out over the years, Palo Alto Networks has donned the role of our housekeeping crew, whom we have retained to continue upkeep of our house!”
With significant acceleration in cloud adoption with Amazon Web Services (AWS®), Globe needed to boost their private and public cloud security. Besides proven credentials as a leader in the Gartner Magic Quadrant® for Enterprise Firewalls, it was the promise of solution stability from Palo Alto Networks that appealed to the customer. Automatable, scalable, and easy-to-deploy virtual firewalls from Palo Alto Networks helped boost Globe’s cloud security by safeguarding critical systems.
With significant acceleration in cloud adoption with Amazon Web Services (AWS®), Globe needed to boost their private and public cloud security. Besides proven credentials as a leader in the Gartner Magic Quadrant® for Enterprise Firewalls, it was the promise of solution stability from Palo Alto Networks that appealed to the customer. Automatable, scalable, and easy-to-deploy virtual firewalls from Palo Alto Networks helped boost Globe’s cloud security by safeguarding critical systems.
Despite the pandemic, Globe has taken definitive steps to ensure that the 5G rollout and expansion plans have stayed the course. The company is preparing its network architecture to be able to provide next-generation services to its subscribers seamlessly and efficiently. It is also considering emerging use cases for 5G services like cloud gaming, AR/VR, and video streaming analytics.
Globe has diversified into the area of financial technology with its GCash solution that allows customers to pay bills, purchase goods and services, and conduct financial transfers through an app. As of July 2021, GCash has around 46 million registered users and more than 2.5 million partner merchants and social sellers. Being in the telecommunications (telco) and financial technology (fintech) spaces, the company constantly faces cyberthreats. This has been further amplified by the pandemic, as adoption of digital services has increased considerably.
Palo Alto Networks has installed its Next-Generation Firewalls (NGFWs), which are being used as corporate perimeter security, data center perimeter, and radio access network or RAN Layer 7 NGFWs. Deployment of Prisma® Cloud is ongoing, with enhancements being implemented on different modules (Cloud Security Posture Management or CSPM, Cloud Workload Protection, or CWP, and microsegmentation). Prisma Cloud from Palo Alto Networks is the industry’s most comprehensive cloud native security platform (CNSP), catering to the entire cloud native technology stack throughout the development lifecycle across hybrid and multicloud environments.
Additionally, Palo Alto Networks has secured the data center connectivity for GCash (which had 1 trillion pesos worth of transactions in 2020). Palo Alto Networks has 1,000 accounts on Prisma Cloud, approximately 18 physical sites, and 1,000 accounts on AWS public cloud.
As Globe expanded, the relationship with Palo Alto Networks has scaled alongside. Speaking about the long-standing association with Palo Alto Networks, Anton says, “The local team has played a crucial role in fortifying our relationship over the last seven years, with key account leads remaining unchanged. They have supported us and been more of an extension of our team to solve capacity issues, without paying heed to RFPs and other formalities.”
Anton also calls out the personal engagement from the global leadership team, which has also, for the most part, remained unchanged, boosting client confidence. The two companies have scaled simultaneously and grown in an organic manner. Globe embarked on its digital infrastructure framework, and Palo Alto Networks has consistently stayed ahead of the technology curve, ready with a solution when the customer has required an advancement.
Anton sums it up by saying, “What strikes me, in particular, is the completeness of vision that Palo Alto Networks has demonstrated, offering us cloud-ready products along our migration curve. Add to this a clear alignment on customer-centricity and the ease of integration of solutions deployed. As we endure the cycle of leading digital technology in the Philippines, we look forward to moving up the value chain with Palo Alto Networks.”
Globe has diversified into the area of financial technology with its GCash solution that allows customers to pay bills, purchase goods and services, and conduct financial transfers through an app. As of July 2021, GCash has around 46 million registered users and more than 2.5 million partner merchants and social sellers. Being in the telecommunications (telco) and financial technology (fintech) spaces, the company constantly faces cyberthreats. This has been further amplified by the pandemic, as adoption of digital services has increased considerably.
Palo Alto Networks has installed its Next-Generation Firewalls (NGFWs), which are being used as corporate perimeter security, data center perimeter, and radio access network or RAN Layer 7 NGFWs. Deployment of Prisma® Cloud is ongoing, with enhancements being implemented on different modules (Cloud Security Posture Management or CSPM, Cloud Workload Protection, or CWP, and microsegmentation). Prisma Cloud from Palo Alto Networks is the industry’s most comprehensive cloud native security platform (CNSP), catering to the entire cloud native technology stack throughout the development lifecycle across hybrid and multicloud environments.
Additionally, Palo Alto Networks has secured the data center connectivity for GCash (which had 1 trillion pesos worth of transactions in 2020). Palo Alto Networks has 1,000 accounts on Prisma Cloud, approximately 18 physical sites, and 1,000 accounts on AWS public cloud.
As Globe expanded, the relationship with Palo Alto Networks has scaled alongside. Speaking about the long-standing association with Palo Alto Networks, Anton says, “The local team has played a crucial role in fortifying our relationship over the last seven years, with key account leads remaining unchanged. They have supported us and been more of an extension of our team to solve capacity issues, without paying heed to RFPs and other formalities.”
Anton also calls out the personal engagement from the global leadership team, which has also, for the most part, remained unchanged, boosting client confidence. The two companies have scaled simultaneously and grown in an organic manner. Globe embarked on its digital infrastructure framework, and Palo Alto Networks has consistently stayed ahead of the technology curve, ready with a solution when the customer has required an advancement.
Anton sums it up by saying, “What strikes me, in particular, is the completeness of vision that Palo Alto Networks has demonstrated, offering us cloud-ready products along our migration curve. Add to this a clear alignment on customer-centricity and the ease of integration of solutions deployed. As we endure the cycle of leading digital technology in the Philippines, we look forward to moving up the value chain with Palo Alto Networks.”
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