Zscaler > Case Studies > GROWMARK's Successful Transition to Zero Trust Access with Zscaler and AWS

GROWMARK's Successful Transition to Zero Trust Access with Zscaler and AWS

Technology Category

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) - Public Cloud
Platform as a Service (PaaS) - Application Development Platforms

Applicable Industries

Agriculture
Telecommunications

Applicable Functions

Maintenance
Quality Assurance

Use Cases

Traffic Monitoring
Transportation Simulation

Services

Cloud Planning, Design & Implementation Services
Training

About The Customer

GROWMARK is a large agricultural cooperative serving cooperatives, retailers, businesses, and customers in the U.S. and Canada. The company operates in over 500 locations across 40 US states and Ontario. GROWMARK provides customers with fuels, lubricants, crop nutrients, crop protection products, seed, construction services, equipment, and grain marketing assistance. In addition, GROWMARK provides a host of services, from warehousing and logistics to training and marketing support. The company's remote and hybrid workforce operates in rural locations that often have spotty or unreliable internet service.

The Challenge

GROWMARK, a large agricultural cooperative, faced significant challenges in providing zero trust access to hundreds of applications hosted on AWS and on-premises. The company had to upgrade its VPN public interfaces and technology to accommodate its remote and hybrid workforce operating in over 500 rural locations with often unreliable internet service. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic further exacerbated these challenges, necessitating a swift transition to a secure, reliable, and scalable remote work environment. GROWMARK also sought to tie access to identity and multi-factor authentication (MFA) to gain better visibility into online user activities. The company also aimed to replace its legacy VPN technology with a solution that could better support its remote, rural, connectivity-challenged workforce.

The Solution

GROWMARK adopted Zscaler's solutions, including Zscaler Internet Access (ZIA), Zscaler Private Access (ZPA), and Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange platform. ZIA was initially implemented for mobile users to perform inline inspection of all data, including encrypted traffic at scale. ZPA provided secure remote access to internal applications on AWS and GROWMARK’s data centers. The Zscaler Client Connector (ZCC) carried access requests for apps, while the ZPA Public Service Edge controlled user app access rights. ZPA App Connectors sat in front of apps, establishing outbound-only connections. The Zscaler Public Service Edge secured connections between ZPA App Connectors and Zscaler Client Connectors. The joint Zscaler and AWS solution enabled GROWMARK to transition 98% of its employees to zero trust remote network access, significantly reducing the attack surface by minimizing the number of public-facing applications and interfaces.

Operational Impact

The implementation of ZIA and ZPA with AWS allowed GROWMARK to safely accelerate a cloud and mobile-first strategy and deliver dependable, frictionless remote access to key systems on-premise, as well as on the AWS cloud. The company was able to deliver superior security capabilities including SSL decryption, multi-factor authentication, and modern identity management, while simultaneously increasing visibility and administration across its IT environment. The transition to the new system was smooth and transparent to GROWMARK’s users, who appreciated the day-to-day improvements the solution delivered. The ZPA rollout was well-received, with multiple staff members expressing their satisfaction with the ease and effectiveness of the tool.

Quantitative Benefit

Transitioned 98% of employees to zero trust remote network access
Reduced the number of public-facing applications and interfaces, thereby minimizing the attack surface
Traffic through the Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange platform more than doubled over the past year, with 1.8 billion transactions processed through the systems