Fortinet enhances retail offering with Presence Analytics as Part of Connect and Secure Solution

Dubai, UAE., September 5, 2014: Fortinet, a world player in high-performance network security, has unveiled six new products aimed at further connecting and integrating Fortinet’s security and wireless platforms for retail, branch offices and distributed enterprises. As part of Fortinet’s broad Connect and Secure solution, Fortinet’s new FortiGateUnified Threat Management (UTM), FortiWiFi and FortiPresence analytics products combine unparalleled threat protection, analytics, wireless connectivity and centralized management capabilities.  This allows distributed organizations to better adhere to compliance regulations and analyze customer behavior to compete more effectively in the marketplace.

Tamir Hardof, vice president of product marketing for Fortinet, said, “The launch of Fortinet’s new UTM appliances accelerates the company’s long-term vision for a secure and connected environment for retailers, and other distributed enterprises. With increased integration between Fortinet’s UTM features, wireless access points and analytics software, distributed enterprises with limited resources can streamlinecomplex network management tasks, improve security, and better understand customer behavior, enabling greater profitability for their businesses.” 

Retail organizations, with up to thousands of branch locations and fewer than 100 users per location,facea myriad of security and networking challenges. Even the smallest of these distributed enterprises struggle to manage a slew of disparate, legacy network security and access appliances, resulting in an array of efficiency issues that bottleneck network functionality. This medley of devices often lack many of the advanced security features found in a more comprehensive solution, leaving distributed organizations susceptible to APTs, WiFiattacks and other threats.

The Connect and Secure Advantage: Easing Retail Complexity

Retailers and other distributed enterprises are looking for a single solution that provides all of the functionality needed to keep their businesses secure, connected and compliant withregulatory mandates such as PCI DSS. Fortinet’s new appliances, which includes the FortiGate-60D-3G4G-VZW, FortiWiFi-60D-3G4G-VZW, FortiGate-70D, FortiGate-80D, and FortiGate-94D-POE, fulfill these needs by integratingadvanced security featureswith WiFi access point control, endpoint management, and policy control into a single, easy-to-manage appliance. This consolidation enhances network visibility andallows organizations to apply consistent policies across both wired and wireless networks, while also lowering management costs.

With simplicity in mind,these new Fortinet devices eliminate the need for a stand-alone network switch or wireless LAN controller by integrating these functions directly into the FortiGate appliance. Furthermore, the platform’s award-winning ASIC architecture and FortiOS operating systemallowmultiple security features to be enabled without impacting network performance. Finally,  the Connect and Secure solution helpsease PCI compliance woes by simplifying network segmentation configurationto separate Cardholder Data Environment from out-of-scope systems. The ability to easily segment the network sets the stage for the secure implementation of new technology initiatives, including digital signage, wireless POS, and kiosk systemsthat help retailers create value and stay competitive. 

Highlights of the new appliances include:

• Embedded Verizon Wireless 4G LTE modem in the FortiGate/FortiWiFi-60D-3G4G-VZW, providing a failover WAN connection, ora primary connection to rapidly deploy new stores
• 48 Ethernet ports including 24 PoE in the FortiGate-94D-POE, eliminating the need for a stand-alone switch and enabling simple deployment of WiFi APs and VoIP phones

FortiPresence analytics: A New Competitive Edge

These days, many retail stores face stiff competition, customer attrition and lost sales to online retailers. To address this challenge, the FortiPresence analytics platform gives brick-and-mortar retailers a leg up over their competition, enabling them to compete more effectively against online retail counterparts.  More than simple analytics technology, FortiPresence is an end-to-end solution that leverages a retailer’s existing in-store Fortinet wireless LAN infrastructure to delivera sophisticated customer influence engine and social Wi-Fi capabilities.  This is aimed at guiding customers to make their purchases in-store, rather than trying the product and then buying it online. For retailers such as box stores, food and restaurant chains, shopping malls, and airports, the platform enables businesses to gain insight and understanding into customer behavior, optimize store hours, staffing and layout, and achieve elevated ROI on marketing investment, paving the way for higher customer retention rates and increased sales.  

Availability:

The new Connect and Secure products: FortiGate-60D-3G4G-VZW, FortiWiFi-60D-3G4G-VZW, FortiGate-70D, FortiGate-80D, and FortiGate-94D-POE, including FortiPresence  are available now from authorized Fortinet channel partners.