News without interruption

Whether it’s printing the daily newspaper, working in the newsroom or accessing digital content round the clock: reliability is key in the media industry. Ensuring that local reporting and production work together seamlessly requires more than just well-coordinated teams. It also requires an equally stable and secure IT infrastructure behind the scenes. The LINUS WITTICH Media Group demonstrates how these requirements can be met using modern network technology. By implementing SD-WAN from Vodafone Business, the company has securely connected its media outlets and printing facilities nationwide, thereby laying the foundations for managing business processes reliably and flexibly under a co-managed model.

The Challenge

Reliable infrastructure for media and printing companies

The LINUS WITTICH Media Group’s business combines local roots with a network that spans almost the whole of Germany. For customers and business partners, the relevant media or printing company within the group is usually located nearby. Both the traditional print business and the digital services offered by the LINUS WITTICH Media Group rely on a high-performance, highly available network connecting all sites. Data communication – from accessing editorial systems and transmitting print data to the operation and provision of the digital platforms on offer – is essential to business operations. Any outage would have serious consequences: printing presses would come to a standstill and digital services would be inaccessible to customers. Furthermore, many of the approximately 1,000 employees work remotely or from home and therefore require reliable access to the company network.

To meet these high demands for availability and performance, the media group initially opted for an MPLS solution from a competitor. However, as demands for capacity and flexibility increased, the company decided to switch to an SD-WAN solution to connect its sites and subsidiaries. The LINUS WITTICH Media Group chose Vodafone Business as its partner for the implementation.

The Company

Media company with a long history

The LINUS WITTICH Media Group is a family-run media company that has been in operation for over 60 years. It comprises twelve media companies and four printing works in Germany and Austria, as well as affiliated service providers such as LW Online GmbH. The group’s headquarters are in Höhr-Grenzhausen, Rhineland-Palatinate, and it has a presence in twelve federal states in total. Through its continuous growth, the group has developed into an established partner for local authorities and regions. Its services focus on printed and digital local media such as newsletters, local, community and regional newspapers, as well as information and advertising services. The portfolio also includes digital platforms such as the ‘meinOrt’ web app, job and tourism portals, a bereavement portal and an online print shop. The range of services is complemented by personalised media consultancy and address-specific distribution.

The Solution

High security and performance with a co-managed service

To connect its sites, the LINUS WITTICH Media Group relies on Vodafone Business’s “SD-WAN powered by Fortinet” solution. Fortinet is the world’s most widely used network firewall. It brings first-class security features to the SD-WAN solution. At the same time, it delivers high-performance and exceptionally reliable network connectivity. At each site, multiple data connections – such as fibre-optic, DSL, cable or mobile fallbacks – are intelligently combined. Data traffic is automatically routed via the most suitable physical connection in each case, ensuring it is optimally distributed.

Through the central administration portal, FortiPortal, the IT department at the LINUS WITTICH Media Group keeps track of all network connections across all sites. Real-time analysis of data traffic and rapid adjustments to the network configuration are possible at any time. A next-generation firewall incorporates security features such as an intrusion prevention system (IPS), advanced threat protection (ATP) and unified threat protection (UTP) into the solution. These technologies utilise sandboxing and AI to detect and block threats in real time. In this way, the media group benefits from a scalable, highly secure and exceptionally high-performance SD-WAN infrastructure. The solution is operated as a co-managed service: both the in-house IT department and specialist staff from Vodafone’s business partner Reply are responsible for administration and monitoring.

Thomas Salzer, Head of IT at the LINUS WITTICH Media Group, emphasises: “The SD-WAN solution has made the connectivity between our sites more stable and secure, and is now the backbone of our business. We have become significantly more flexible in terms of network architecture and administration, whilst also benefiting from a noticeable improvement in security. The partnership with Vodafone has won us over in every respect.”

In addition, clear segmentation of the company network contributes to security. This allows, amongst other things, the OT connection of the printing presses, the hosting of the company’s own digital services and the integration of external service providers to be neatly separated from one another. There are also many other systems, such as the company’s accounts department and a dedicated information system for newspaper delivery staff. The network segmentation also helps Thomas Salzer and his team to meet compliance requirements.

The Advantages

A new approach to network management

The LINUS WITTICH Media Group relies on Vodafone Business’s SD-WAN powered by Fortinet to connect its media and printing sites across almost all German federal states as well as in Austria. The company-wide network infrastructure also includes, amongst other things, the data centre at the company’s headquarters, staff working from home, and external service providers and business partners. The solution combines high performance, reliability and security within a centralised network architecture. The co-managed service model takes the strain off the IT department during day-to-day operations, whilst at the same time enabling full transparency and control over the entire network.

Thomas Salzer is responsible for connecting the LINUS WITTICH Media Group’s offices, subsidiaries and service providers. High levels of reliability and security in network connections are essential for business operations. We spoke to him about the benefits of SD-WAN and co-managed services.

Why did you switch your group’s site-to-site connectivity to SD-WAN?

Thomas Salzer: Although we already had a working solution in place using MPLS, it was reaching its limits in terms of capacity and reliability. On top of that, we also wanted to improve our security levels. With SD-WAN powered by Fortinet, we have found a solution that perfectly meets all these requirements whilst offering us greater flexibility.

What specific benefits does SD-WAN offer you?

Thomas Salzer: The interconnection of our sites across Germany – and, in some cases, Austria – forms the backbone of our business, which has a strong regional focus. Thanks to automatic routing, we have been able to significantly improve availability and reliability. At the same time, we now have a much better overview of network traffic across the entire organisation. The options for network segmentation also help to further improve security and enable us to meet compliance requirements.

Why did you opt for a co-managed service model?

Thomas Salzer: In my view, this allows us to combine the best of both worlds. We maintain transparency and control over our network infrastructure at all times, whilst also being able to outsource tasks to specialist experts at Vodafone’s business partner, Reply. This division of responsibilities has proved very effective in our day-to-day operations. Alongside the technical benefits, this model was a key factor in our decision to choose this solution.

How would you rate your collaboration with Vodafone Business and Reply?

Thomas Salzer: The collaboration has been thoroughly positive. Despite the complexity of the project, we have successfully implemented the transition together. We particularly appreciate having dedicated and reliable points of contact who always provide solution-oriented support, even when faced with demanding challenges.

Can you give us a preview of any future joint projects?

Thomas Salzer: The digitalisation of our own products is our top priority. With SD-WAN, we have a solid foundation for this that can be scaled as required.

Site connectivity is now business-critical for many companies, from accessing central applications to connecting production machinery. At the same time, demands for bandwidth, flexibility and security are constantly rising. Traditional network architectures are increasingly reaching their limits.

Modern SD-WAN solutions such as "SD-WAN powered by Fortinet" from Vodafone Business address precisely this issue: multiple data connections per site – such as fibre, DSL, cable or mobile as a fallback – are intelligently combined, with data traffic automatically routed via the best available connection. A next-generation firewall also provides comprehensive protection against cyber threats.

However, a high-performance infrastructure is only half the battle. Anyone wishing to manage and monitor SD-WAN whilst the system is up and running needs expertise and resources that not all IT departments can spare alongside their day-to-day operations. This is precisely where co-managed services come into play. What specific benefits does this model offer?

Success stories such as that of LW Medien show that, in practice, co-managed services enable precisely this balance between reducing the workload and maintaining control – and that choosing an experienced partner is crucial when implementing such a solution.

Would you like to modernise your site connectivity and reduce your IT workload in a targeted way? Speak to the experts at Vodafone Business now for a free, non-binding consultation.