Industrial Giant BASF Discovers 200,000 Network Endpoints in One Day

World’s largest chemicals company uses Auconet BICS for real-time monitoring of global network

BASF is the world’s leading chemical company with more than 110,000 employees, 380 production sites, and sales of nearly $102 billion in 2013. To upgrade security to the IEEE 802.1X standard, BASF needed to detect and categorize every endpoint on its global network.

Auconet passed every proof of concept test convincingly, was implemented in a day, and discovered 260,000 endpoints within four days, 80% of them in the first eight hours.

Challenge: Classify every device on a heterogeneous global network

BASF’s Endpoint Profiling Project was triggered by its planned rollout of IEEE 802.1X-based authentication to enhance access control and network security. To pinpoint the scope and cost of this large-scale project, BASF needed a precise and complete categorization of all devices on its network, to assess how many could upgrade in their current state, and the cost of those that would need to be modified or replaced.

Solution: Lightning-fast detection and classification of endpoint hardware

Most available solutions were locked into a particular hardware vendor. Neither Cisco nor Juniper could detect endpoints connected to network devices made by other manufacturers. Cisco’s solution could not detect older Cisco devices that it no longer supported. To inventory and classify devices manually across the massive BASF network was impractical.

Auconet BICS (Business Infrastructure Control Solution) accurately discovered network devices and endpoints of every make, model, and version – and convincingly passed every BASF test.

Designed for heterogeneous environments, Auconet stood out because it was able to locate and interface with every device on the network, and categorize it correctly. Upon proving this capability and showing its speed, BASF selected the BICS platform to visualize and monitor its network in real time.

Implementation: One day Discovery: 260,000 endpoints in four days

Endpoint profiling projects of this scope often require several days to implement, plus several weeks to detect the endpoints. By contrast, the Auconet BICS installation required less than one day to install and make ready. Then came network discovery, which was 80 percent complete in one day. Within four days, every port, component, and endpoint device on the BASF network had been identified, correctly categorized, and placed under active management.

Outcome

After a rapid integration, detection, and categorization of the myriad devices linked to its network – both in-house and BYOD – BASF continues to rely on Auconet BICS for monitoring over a quarter-million endpoints. BASF leverages the total network visibility that Auconet delivers for both security and as central control over IT infrastructure in real time. BASF is better able to protect its IT assets and base its plans on accurate cost projections.

“This solution created a basis for the implementation of IEEE 802.1X,” commented Rainer Ginsberg, project leader for BASF IT. “It also reduces costs by quickly providing exact information about connected endpoints.”

With Auconet, our network is future-proofed.
Rainer Ginsberg, BASF IT

Benefits: A value sequence that begins with discovery

BICS persistently delivers a complete, granular inventory of all devices and endpoints, including categories
BASF is able to precisely calculate the cost of enterprise-wide security upgrades
Ongoing, central management of Media Access Control (MAC Layer-2) device security
Ability to monitor all BASF network components in real time, detect and block security threats on every port
Administrators can centrally retrieve data on every BASF network resource

Only Auconet could profile more than 200,000 endpoints with the necessary quality and scale.
Rainer Ginsberg, BASF IT