Senate plays it safe with e-business processes

Berlin’s Senate Department for Economics, Energy and Public Enterprises together with Berlin’s institution for business development are responsible for structural changes, improving the conditions for businesses and strengthening innovation and the export power of local businesses. At the same time it is committed to equal opportunities for men and women in both business and society as a whole.

Delivering Sensitive Data

In the area of inter-state trade, the Senate Department for Economics, Energy and Public Enterprises coordinates the key players at state level and is responsible for the communication with partner organizations in Brandenburg. Within this environment, email plays a central role with sensitive information being transferred on a daily basis. A solution which guarantees the encrypted and signed transmission of email messages is fundamental for the electronic business processes.

Email Encryption made in Berlin

To meet this challenge, the senate department, in agreement with the state technology center (ITDZ) deployed the “Z1 SecureMail” product suite from Zertificon. The decision was strongly influenced by the high performance of the products. The company’s location in Berlin and the projects which it has completed with regional SME’s worked to Zertificon’s advantage. The deployment of Zertificon’s solutions at the Investment Bank of Berlin – one of the senate’s most important communication partners – confirmed the quality of the products to the Senate Department for Economics, Energy and Public Enterprises.

In addition, Zertificon’s support of S/MIME and PGP international standards and thereby the possibility to communicate with partners using other products was considered to be an important plus point.

Z1: One-Stop Solution

Z1 SecureMail Gateway and Z1 CertServer are deployed together on the Z1 SecureMail Appliance and build together a centralized one-stop solution for de-/encryption, signature and certificate management – together delivering a simple and economical all-in-one solution.

Z1 SecureMail Gateway enables the complete certificate management outsourcing. The low administration effort relieves the system administrators. The certificate management is automated by Z1 CertServer thereby providing higher levels of security than manual systems. An external Z1 Server which is connected to world-wide Certificate Authorities is used to perform the complete certificate and key acquisition, management and validity checking.

Z1 Virtual Appliance is a complete solution that significantly simplifies deployment. It also saves resources considerably by reducing operational and maintenance expenses. The solution consists of two elements, an operating system with dedicated Z1 Appliance Management and the Z1 SecureMail component.

Conclusion: Minimum effort – maximal flexibility

The Senate Department for Economics, Energy and Public Enterprises puts special focus on email security and searched for a solution which would enable the confidential communication with diverse partners. The solution from Zertificon offers the necessary flexibility to interface with the wide range of solutions which communication partners use. At the same time the administrative effort is kept to a minimum, allowing employees to concentrate on their core activities.