| Case Study |
 | The SpamSentinel Hosted Solution
Eliminates Walworth County’s Spam Worries
A Wisconsin County IT Group Boasts a Huge Reduction in Spam
Using Limited Resources and Receives Exceptional Support for SpamSentinel |
The Challenges
• Spam volume control – Spam traffic load on Walworth servers was at 90% of capacity.
• Solid implementation – Limited IT resources required an easy installation.
• Spam management monopolizing IT resources – The county was limited to only one IT support person.
• Need for superior support – County agencies need 24/7 support and superior spam control.
County Background
Walworth County, located in southeastern Wisconsin, is one of the oldest and wealthiest counties in the state. In 1990, the population grew to 57,000, and it continues to grow. The Walworth County IT supports the county agencies, which have over 600 computer users.
Spam Volume Control
SpamSentinel blocks 99.6%+ of spam, reducing server traffic to 10%.
In July 2005, when Dave Ortin, Supervisor of Network Operations for Walworth County, was looking for an anti-spam and anti-virus solution, the county had nothing in place. At that time, more than 95.5% of inbound email delivered to Walworth was spam.
 | Dave Ortin recalls, “We were inundated with spam on a daily basis. The end-user community complaints were rampant. We had 15 million emails hitting our servers daily.” |  |
Ortin conducted an online search for a spam and virus solution. SpamSentinel quickly rose to the top of the list because few companies offered both an in-house and a hosted solution to support Lotus Notes on an IBM AS/400 platform.
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Dave Ortin states, “The decision was easy after we saw the functionality. We found that moving from the in-house to the hosted version solution, we significantly reduced the load on our email servers along with a decrease of bandwidth for incoming mail. We also found that the ease of administration via the web portal was invaluable as it reduced administration time and streamlined our reporting.” |  |
| Today, Walworth County has exceptional spam-blocking rates.
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Dave Ortin relates, “The numbers speak volumes for SpamSentinel. From January through October of 2009, out of the 15 million emails sent to us, over 14 million were blocked as spam. Not only was the blocking exceptional for the agency users, but not having those 14 million emails hit our servers was outstanding. The hosted solution reduced spam traffic to our servers from 90% to 10%.” |  |
Solid Implementation
SpamSentinel’s hosted solution was simple to implement and runs virtually maintenance free.
One area of contention for any IT group is the installation of a software solution. MayFlower Software recommended its hosted version of SpamSentinel to reduce traffic and overall maintenance given the limited resources in Dave Ortin’s IT department.
Dave Ortin relates, “We are good at what we do. We are lucky to have good staff. Having the installation of SpamSentinel be fast and simple was a bonus. The MayFlower Software team walked us through the process. I am not an AS/400 expert, but it was so easy. I would have let my granddaughter run the install.”
Today, Walworth County seamlessly runs a combination of an in-house and a hosted version of SpamSentinel. |
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The Results
After Implementation of SpamSentinel’s Hosted Solution
• Spam volume control – SpamSentinel blocks 99.6%+ of spam, reducing server traffic to 10%.
• Solid implementation – SpamSentinel’s hosted solution was simple to implement and runs virtually maintenance free.
• Spam management monopolizing IT resources – Weekly, one IT person spends only four hours on spam and virus control since the implementation of SpamSentinel.
• Need for superior support – Walworth is getting the best support it has ever had from a technology company.
Spam Management Monopolizing IT Resources
Weekly, one IT person spends only four hours on spam and virus control since the county implemented SpamSentinel.
Imagine your IT support person spending half of every day supporting spam issues. Walworth County was dealing with this exact problem before installing SpamSentinel. The Walworth County IT support person was spending the vast majority of his time supporting spam monitoring and end-user calls. As with many government agencies, adding resources was not an option.
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Dave Ortin reports, “With SpamSentinel, our one IT support person spends only 10% of his time weekly (about four hours) managing spam and viruses. Before, he was spending 20 to 25 hours a week. We have proved an agency can run an exceptionally accurate spam solution, SpamSentinel, with minimal resources. A big win for a government agency.” | 
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Need for Superior Support
Walworth is getting the best support it has ever had from a technology company
Spam and viruses are changing by the day, the hour, and the minute. The ability of MayFlower Software to support Walworth was of critical
importance.
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Dave Ortin relates a story of his experience with SpamSentinel’s virus control: “I will never forget how, on a holiday, a new virus hit our system. It was 11:00 at night and I was at home. Our sheriff and emergency dispatch needed my support to keep up and running. I called SpamSentinel hoping to have someone call me back. Instead, Customer Support answered the phone, and within minutes, Walworth County was up and running. The virus was brand new, but the SpamSentinel team dealt with it immediately.” | 
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Making the decision to go with MayFlower Software’s SpamSentinel solution has been a key decision for Walworth County over the last four years.
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Dave Ortin states, “Support for SpamSentinel is exceptional. I have been in the industry for 30 years. I have yet to have any software company compare to MayFlower. Their support is phenomenal. You know everyone has a bad day, but MayFlower support has yet to have a bad day with me. On the few times I have called them, they showed they know their solution. They speak to me so I can understand them and make me feel comfortable.” |  |
| The Bottom Line
Walworth County has the same demands as large companies yet the limited resources of a government agency. Does SpamSentinel give Walworth County a real return on investment?
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Dave Ortin relates, “Each month, I am asked to report numbers to county officials on our results. I am always glad to have the results of SpamSentinel to report. Each month, the numbers show a clear ROI for the accuracy rate, time saved versus the money invested for SpamSentinel. Quite frankly, I am not sure what we would do without SpamSentinel.” | 
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About SpamSentinel
SpamSentinel is a native Lotus Notes and Domino anti-spam/anti-virus solution. It uses a dual-engine technology to block 99.6%+ spam accurately with almost NO administration. SpamSentinel blocks 99.6%+ of spam by using a community of over 10 million people in 160 countries who work together to block spam combined
with an advanced reputation engine. Both engines are updated continually, in real time, resulting in excellent blocking with almost no administration effort. There are NO rules to configure, NO lists to manage, and NO blocking via subject, content, or word.
SpamSentinel offers the same great product delivered three ways. Customers can mix and match to fit their individual requirements — with no added fees. SpamSentinel is offered as a native Lotus Notes and Domino server version, a hosted service option that requires an MX redirect and a Notes Client version. The hosted version is platform independent. SpamSentinel has the added option to include traditional anti-virus protection for
inbound email.
About MayFlower Software
MayFlower Software, located near Boston, MA, is a leader in solutions to combat spam and viruses. With over 25 years of experience behind us, we focus on our SpamSentinel solution to help companies reduce spam via our dual-engine technology.
MayFlower Software received a Beacon Award for Sentinel Data Integrator in 1995. Our philosophy is to offer the very best spam protection with the lowest false positive rate and the lowest administration along with the very best support possible. We are not satisfied until you are satisfied.
©Copyright 2010 MayFlower Software Inc. - All rights reserved worldwide. |
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