Idroelettrica: Improving Network Efficiency and Security with Integrated DDI and DNS Security

Idroelettrica S.p.A. specializes in manufacturing all-in-one water pressure fire-fighting systems complying with standards EN12845 and NFPA20 FM, as well as electric pumps for industrial irrigation. With 140 employees and two sites in mid-Italy, the company operates primarily in Italy and Central Europe but sells its solutions globally. Idroelettrica is a key player in civil, industrial, and fire-fighting pressurization systems. The company is known for its high internal autonomy, large stock of products, quick order processing, and optimized delivery times. Its network integrates both IT and OT systems, ensuring comprehensive operational support and security. Discover how Idroelettrica is improving Network Efficiency.

Project Objectives

• Streamline network management with a centralized, integrated DNS, DHCP, and IPAM (DDI) solution
• Overcome time-consuming Excel processes for management of IP addresses
• Eliminate integration complexities of Microsoft DNS and optimize costs
• Strengthen DNS security to complement existing Palo Alto and Sophos solutions
• Ensure scalability to accommodate business growth and evolving network demands

Main Benefits

• Simplified network management of DNS-DHCP-IPAM services via unified console
• Significant time savings and operational efficiency through automation
• Strengthened network security posture for ensuring business continuity
• Comprehensive network visibility and control, including error-free configurations
• Reduced total cost of ownership plus enhanced scalability

EfficientIP has provided us with a comprehensive solution that simplifies network management and strengthens security. The cost savings and operational efficiency gains have been substantial, enabling our small team to effectively manage a very complex network.
Giacomo Tizzanini, IT Manager, Idroelettrica S.p.A.

Situation and Challenges Being Faced

Idroelettrica faced significant challenges with their previous network infrastructure. A major challenge was the lack of a unified management system for DNS, DHCP, and IPAM, making it difficult for the small IT team to maintain efficiency and security. Before adopting EfficientIP’s solution, they had no IPAM. For IP management, the company relied on manual processes using Excel and MindMapper, which were cumbersome and inefficient. They used Microsoft for DNS management and Infoblox for DNS security, which led to high costs and integration complexities. Infoblox’s BloxOne Threat Defense was not able to offer DDI and DNS Security in a centralized and cost-effective way. This disjointed approach led to poor visibility and control over network operations.

Idroelettrica required a comprehensive solution that could streamline network management, enhance security, and reduce operational costs, all while being manageable by a small team. EfficientIP was introduced to address these needs, offering a unified console that integrates DNS, DHCP, and IPAM, thereby overcoming the limitations of their previous setup and significantly improving their network management capabilities.

The Selected EfficientIP Solution

After evaluating several solutions including Infoblox, Idroelettrica selected EfficientIP’s comprehensive offering to address their network management and security challenges.

The primary component is the SOLIDserver DDI appliance, integrating DNS, DHCP, and IP Address Management (IPAM) into a single, unified console to simplify network management. This consolidation streamlines network operations such as network or device discovery and automated configuration of DNS and DHCP services while aggregating all information, including ICMP, into IPAM to build an accurate and effective Network Source of Truth (NSoT). By automating IPAM and centralizing management tasks, EfficientIP’s solution provides comprehensive visibility and control across Idroelettrica’s network.

In addition, EfficientIP’s DNS Security Solution has become crucial to Idroelettrica’s network architecture, protecting both IT and OT environments, quickly detecting and responding to cyber threats. First, DNS Guardian safeguards data, users, and applications with real-time attack detection using DNS Transaction Inspection (DTI) and behavioral analysis. Granular application access control with advanced Client Query Filtering (CQF) offers rich DNS filtering capability to build extensive user-based security policies, enhance micro-segmentation, and prevent any unauthorized access. Then, DNS Threat Pulse (DTP) provides an AI-driven DNS threat intelligence feed on malicious domains, creating comprehensive protection when combined with DNS Guardian’s end-to-end use of CQF. And finally, DNS Intelligence Center (DNS IC) delivers advanced domain name insights, key DNS analytics such as threat matches, and investigation capabilities.

EfficientIP DNS Security is seen by Idroelettrica as their first line of defense, blocking a wide variety of DNS attacks with its advanced engines before they even reach the firewall and endpoints. This proactive and protective DNS security measure brings an effective layer of DNS security, allowing Palo Alto Networks’ Next-Generation Firewall and Sophos Endpoint Protection to focus on their designated roles. Together, these three solutions complement each other, enhancing the overall security posture and ensuring a robust defense-in-depth strategy.

EfficientIP’s DNS Security Solution provided DNS-centric protection early in the communication flow, which is imperative to fight today’s cyberattacks. As our first line of defense, it offers real-time threat detection and automated countermeasures, effectively complementing the capabilities of Palo Alto and Sophos.
Giacomo Tizzanini, IT Manager, Idroelettrica S.p.A.

Main Results

The implementation of EfficientIP’s solution has led to a reduction in manual administrative workload and configuration errors for Idroelettrica, significantly enhancing their operational efficiency. The unified console for DNS, DHCP, and IPAM allows their small IT team to manage the complex network more effectively. For instance, daily DDI activities such as IPAM discovery, administration, reservation of new IPs, and DNS operations (adding a new resource record, modifying records) become more streamlined and less time-consuming. As a result, the integrated DDI solution simplifies network management and provides comprehensive visibility into network assets for better control. Idroelettrica also appreciates not being bound to Microsoft for services and values the integrated and manageable solution provided by EfficientIP.

Moreover, EfficientIP’s DNS Security solution offers robust end-to-end protection against evolving cyber threats, improves threat visibility, and enables proactive threat management and faster incident response, strengthening the security of both IT and OT environments.

Replacing Infoblox and Microsoft DNS with EfficientIP has dramatically improved our network management and security. The unified platform simplifies operations, enhances security, and provides significant cost savings.
Giacomo Tizzanini, IT Manager, Idroelettrica S.p.A.

Transitioning from Infoblox to EfficientIP has resulted in substantial cost savings, thanks to a more predictable and clear pricing model. The new solution also offers greater flexibility and scalability compared to Infoblox, allowing Idroelettrica to adapt to changing network demands more efficiently.

Overall, EfficientIP has enabled Idroelettrica to manage their complex network more effectively, providing a solid, scalable, and future-proof platform to build upon, ensuring robust se- curity, and imp

In the Future

Looking ahead, Idroelettrica plans to continue leveraging EfficientIP’s solutions to further streamline network management and enhance security. They aim to explore additional features of EfficientIP’s offerings, such as the DDI Observability Center (DDI OC), to improve visibility and monitoring of their network for optimized performance. Idroelettrica is also looking to deepen its knowledge and utilization of DNS Guardian to optimize policy configurations and maximize security posture.

Additionally, Idroelettrica is investigating the integration of EfficientIP’s data with their SIEM system to enhance threat detection, analysis, and incident response capabilities. Syslog events can be directly filtered in SOLIDserver and shared with an external SIEM. This strategic approach underscores Idroelettrica’s commitment to maintaining a resilient, secure, and efficient network infrastructure amidst business growth and evolving technological landscapes.