Infoscript Chooses a Secure and Self-Manageable Network ...



Overview

Country or Region: India

Industry: Healthcare

Customer Profile

Infoscript Services is a leading medical transcription company in Bangalore, India. Established in 1998, Infoscript was profitable within its first two years of operations and today has a turnover of U.S.$1 million.

Business Situation

Infoscript was running its firewall and email servers on Linux and these were managed by an outsourced third-party service provider. Control and manageability of the network was impossible by the internal IT team.

Solution

Infoscript migrated to Microsoft® Internet Security and Acceleration (ISA) Server 2000 and Microsoft Windows Server™ 2003. It also upgraded from existing servers to Windows Server 2003 and Microsoft Windows® XP on client desktops.

Benefits

■ Increased security

■ Ease of manageability

■ Scalability and lower total cost of ownership

■ State-of-the-art network infrastructure

| | |“I have been attending Microsoft seminars regularly; hence we chose Microsoft because their [environment] is reliable, secure, and our internal team can configure and manage the network effortlessly.”

Mr. Narayanasamy, Managing Director, Infoscript Services

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| | | |Infoscript Services Private Limited, based in Bangalore, was established to provide medical |

| | | |transcription services to clients based in the United States. It was profitable within its first two |

| | | |years of operations and today has revenue of U.S.$1 million. Infoscript constantly handles highly |

| | | |confidential customer information and medical records. This requires an infrastructure that will make|

| | | |certain there are no lapses in the confidentiality of healthcare information. Internal control and |

| | | |manageability of its network infrastructure are also crucial to its business. Infoscript wanted an |

| | | |easily manageable and secure technology solution that would empower it to focus on its core business.|

| | | |In February 2004, Infoscript asked Microsoft to provide a solution to meet its requirements for its |

| | | |planned move to a different operating platform to tackle the security and manageability issues it |

| | | |faced. |

| | | | |

|[pic] | | |[pic] |

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Situation

Infoscript Services Private Limited, based in Bangalore, India, started its operations in 1998. It was profitable within its first two years of operations and today has revenue of U.S.$1 million. Infoscript is an associate company of Accord Software and Systems Private Limited, a 13-year-old software company based in Bangalore that has won both national and state awards for excellence. A 100 percent Export-Oriented Unit registered with Software Technology Parks of India (STPI), Infoscript is a member of the Medical Transcription Industry Alliance (MTIA) and of the American Association for Medical Transcription (AAMT).

Infoscript was established to provide medical transcription services to clients based in the United States and today has three major U.S. clients. Each client is a corporation working with several hundred hospitals, clinics, and doctors. Infoscript’s track record has earned it an excellent reputation in the industry, both within India and in the United States.

The company constantly handles customer information and medical records that are highly confidential. Employees log on to the client Web site, listen to audio files of medical transcripts, and transcribe them simultaneously using a customized application. Because this is a Web-based process, it requires very high levels of security. Once these files are worked on, they are uploaded to the customer site in real time for the next step of the process. Security is a major concern and there is a need for a secure firewall and email solution.

When it first began operations, Infoscript outsourced the setting up of its entire IT infrastructure to a third-party service provider. Red Hat Linux 7.1 was installed as the mail server and came with a built-in Red Hat Linux 7.1 firewall. Infoscript also had three Microsoft® Windows NT® version 4.0 operating system servers running Microsoft SQL Server™ 6.5, part of Microsoft Windows Server System™ integrated server software, and Internet Information Services (IIS) 4.0. These were managed by the third-party service provider.

According to Mr. Narayanasamy, Managing Director for Infoscript Services, “We opted for Linux as we perceived it would be a cost-effective operating platform. Our in-house IT team however, did not have expertise in Linux and so we had to take critical third-party service support for our firewall and mail.”

Therefore, the stringent security standards, set by the industry and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) to protect confidential healthcare information, meant that Infoscript had to consider the implications of a third-party external organization having access to its network and needed to rethink its perimeter infrastructure.

Another key issue that Infoscript faced was in manageability of the client desktops. This was becoming problematic because the IT team did not have the expertise to enable desktop restrictions or security updates from the central server.

“We could not effectively check if our employees were installing any unnecessary files or software through the floppy drive unless we went to each desktop individually. This was time consuming,” says Mr. M. Rathan Kumar, Systems Manager for Infoscript Services.

This created a requirement for restrictions on client desktops as well. “The email and firewall were both based on Linux, and network management was also handled by a third party. We were totally dependent on them. We realized the solution lay in managing our systems and network completely ourselves,” says Kumar.

Infoscript planned to move to a different operating platform in June 2003 to tackle the security and manageability issues it faced in Linux. In February 2004, Infoscript approached Microsoft partners Pacer Automation and DreamQuest Infotech Private Limited to provide a solution.

“I have been attending Microsoft seminars regularly; hence we chose Microsoft because their platform is reliable, secure, and our internal team can configure and manage the network effortlessly,” says Narayanasamy.

Solution

Pacer Automation and DreamQuest jointly recommended replacing the Linux mail server and firewall with Microsoft Windows Server™ 2003 and Microsoft Internet Security and Acceleration (ISA) Server 2000, both part of Microsoft Windows Server System integrated server software. The three Windows NT 4.0 servers were replaced with two Windows Server 2003 servers serving as domain controllers. SQL Server 6.5 was upgraded to SQL Server 2000.

NetIQ MailMarshal, supplied by Satcom InfoTech, was installed for email content security and seamlessly integrated with Windows Server 2003. The software also supported File Transfer Protocol (FTP) and can block spam and viruses. NetIQ WebMarshal integrates with ISA Server 2000 and provides content security for HTTP and FTP.

This ensured complete security as no third-party service was constantly required to configure the network. Client desktops were upgraded from Microsoft Windows® 95 and Windows 98 operating systems to Windows Server 2000 and Windows XP operating systems.

With the help of Active Directory® service Infoscript can remotely disable floppy drives on the desktops and ensure the prevention of unauthorized software installations by users.

“We have implemented a solution that not only provides a secure perimeter, but also provides high security for all incoming mail and HTTP-based traffic,” says Balaji, Technical Director for DreamQuest Infotech.

As part of the implementation, DreamQuest trained the Infoscript internal IT team on the Microsoft products.

Benefits

Infoscript has experienced several benefits from its migration from Linux to the Microsoft environment. Its primary concerns of security, manageability, and desktop restrictions have been resolved.

Greater Control over Security Parameters

With the implementation of ISA Server 2000, Infoscript’s major concern about outsourcing its firewall and email server management were addressed. ISA Server 2000 provided secure, fast, and manageable Internet connectivity through an extensible, multilayer enterprise firewall and Web cache.

“Knowing that control of our information security rests solely in our hands provides tremendous relief while conducting our business,” says Narayanasamy.

Ease of Manageability

Server manageability on the Linux platform was extremely complex without in-depth training and had to be outsourced. A simpler and better system was needed immediately.

“The Windows GUI [graphical user interface] environment was much simpler to use and we could manage, maintain, and control the system very effectively without any ongoing third-party intervention,” says Kumar.

In addition, Infoscript could effect desktop restriction centrally through Windows Server 2003 by using Active Directory.

With its familiar Windows interface, Windows Server 2003 was easy to use. Windows Server 2003 provides secure networked computing and also makes provisions for enterprise-class reliability, high availability, and higher performance—all out of the box.

Future-Proof State-of-the-Art Network

With a combination of ISA Server 2000, Windows Server 2003, and client desktops on Windows 2000 and Windows XP, Infoscript now possesses a state-of-the-art, secure IT network that can scale easily as the company grows.

“We have stabilized our operations and there are several possibilities for the future. With our current infrastructure, we can tackle security and manageability concerns that may arise from expansion and scale our operations to service any such increased demands,” says Narayanasamy.

Decreased Total Cost of Ownership in the Future

Although upgrading technology has immediate cost implications, Narayanasamy perceives the long-term benefits.

“Investing in a Microsoft [environment] is an investment for the future. The [environment] is proven and we don’t have [to] worry about compatibility concerns with other vendor systems. The long-term value far outweighs the initial costs,” he remarked.

Future Plans

Infoscript would like to create a dynamic Web site that is interactive and where people can post resumes. The company is also looking at creating an environment where employees can work from home or other remote locations and will look to Microsoft for this implementation.

Microsoft Windows Server System

Microsoft Windows Server System is a line of integrated and manageable server software designed to reduce the complexity and cost of IT. Windows Server System enables you to spend less time and budget on managing your systems so that you can focus your resources on other priorities for you and your business.

 

For more information about Windows Server System, go to:

windowsserversystem

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| |Software and Services

■ Products

− Microsoft Internet Security and Acceleration Server 2000

− Microsoft SQL Server 2000

− Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition |Technologies

− Active Directory

Partners

■ DreamQuest Infotech

■ Pacer Automation | |

© 2006 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. This case study is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY. Microsoft, Active Directory, Windows, the Windows logo, Windows NT, Windows Server, and Windows Server System are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.

Document published June 2004 | | |

For More Information

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For more information about DreamQuest Infotech products and services, call +91-80-2549000 !"+,6I 5 ? ^ ü *jl

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For more information about Infoscript products and services, call +91-80-25355512 or visit the Web site at: script.

“Knowing that control of our information security rests solely in our hands provides tremendous relief while conducting our business,”

Mr. Narayanasamy, Managing Director, Infoscript Services

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“Investing in a Microsoft platform is an investment for the future. …[W]e don’t have [to] worry about compatibility concerns with other vendor systems. The long-term value far outweighs the initial costs.”

Mr. Narayanasamy, Managing Director, Infoscript Services

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