Telefónica Tech Protects Customer Apps with Managed Services Powered by F5
Telefónica Tech created a managed cybersecurity service for its enterprise customers built on the F5 Distributed Cloud Platform. It secures apps deployed across scattered geographies in hybrid and multicloud environments, delivering insight through a single, easy-to-use dashboard so even customers with limited in-house resources can rest assured their apps are protected.
Business Challenge
Telefónica Tech is the digital business unit of the Telefónica Group, one of the world’s largest multinational telecommunications service providers, which is celebrating a century of business in 2024. From headquarters in Madrid and offices around the globe, Telefónica Tech supports enterprise customers undergoing digital transformation. The company provides services and tools ranging from cloud hosting to artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain support.
Telefónica Tech needed to help enterprise customers better protect their business and consumer applications distributed across hybrid and multicloud environments. The company offers a variety of managed cybersecurity services as well as access to security operations center (SOC) expertise, and it wanted to expand that managed service portfolio.
Solutions
Telefónica Tech decided to create a new managed cybersecurity service called Web Application Defense (WAD) built on the F5 Distributed Cloud Platform. The new service includes Distributed Cloud Web Application and API Protection (WAAP) functionality, including DDoS mitigation, web application firewall (WAF) services, API security, and bot defense.
“Telefónica and F5 have a long history together,” says David Martin Lindström, Head of Network Security and Managed Security Service Product Marketing for Telefónica Tech. The company has previously offered services based on F5 load balancing and WAF solutions, so incorporating SaaS-based security for hybrid and multicloud apps seemed like a natural next step. Their WAD service launched in mid-2023.
Results
Enable real-time app security across geographies
The new managed service combines massive volumes of telemetry with programmable rules, advanced AI, and machine learning to secure customers’ web apps in real time. Meanwhile, the solution’s cloud platform makes it easier for Telefónica Tech to keep the applications of its multinational customers secure regardless of where in the world those apps are deployed.
Martin Lindström says, “It was difficult to protect the applications of a customer, let’s say in Latin America, from a host in Spain. One of the big advantages of using Distributed Cloud Services is that we can protect our multinational customers in their specific regions wherever they have applications, which is a huge step in our offerings and also brings a lot of value to our customers.”
Improve and simplify app protection
The new cybersecurity service helps Telefónica Tech customers in several ways. As Juan Campillo, Director of Cybersecurity Product Marketing at Telefónica Tech, says, “The deployment of WAD through the F5 Distributed Cloud Platform adds speed to a critical security layer while providing flexibility for our enterprise customers to deploy, secure, and operate applications in a multicloud environment.”
According to Campillo, the solution simplifies security management for many companies, both by providing a single dashboard and by shifting the burden of daily vigilance to the managed service provider. He says, “The managed services approach is a significant boost for organizations that lack the resources and expertise to address today’s cybersecurity challenges.”
Martin Lindström says these benefits are the result of strong alignment between Telefónica Tech and F5. “We both want the same thing,” he says. “We want to help the customer be more secure in the world, to bring them a better security posture and resilience.”
Increase service provider value and revenues
In addition to helping Telefónica Tech serve its customers better, the launch of WAD represents a new revenue stream for the company. Martin Lindström expects additional collaboration with F5 to add to the potential value of what he calls a “fluent” relationship.
He says, “We need to look into how we can add to our general security value proposition, to complement that with new F5 products and services and thus provide a better overall solution to the market.”
- Enable real-time app security across geographies
- Improve and simplify app protection
- Increase service provider value and revenues
- Effectively secure apps anywhere in the world
- Empower even smaller companies to enhance their cybersecurity
- Add value by expanding a service portfolio