Solutions : Case Study : Insight

Smarter Solutions

Summary
  • Client - Messagelabe
  • Technologies - COM, ASP, IIS
  • Database - MS SQL Server
  • Budget - Confidential
Company Profile

MessageLabs is an Application Service Provider (ASP) specializing in centralized Internet message services. MessageLabs' flagship product is the Virus Control Center (VCC) that scans millions of emails every day and is sold through Internet Service Providers to an international user base. MessageLabs partners include UUNET, one of the world's largest ISPs, and users include BOC and Manpower.

In November 1999, an investment team led by Lord Rothschild invested £10 million in Star Technology Group, the holding company of MessageLabs, and a significant part of this will contribute towards funding MessageLabs' ambitious expansion plans.

The Problem

MessageLabs have a distributed infrastructure of Virus Control Towers in Internet exchanges spread across the globe. Each tower is populated with Cisco Catalyst servers and load distributors that feed the high performance virus scanning hosts. The system passes every email through 4 Anti-Virus software programs and the signature updates are carried out automatically every 10 minutes across all programs.

Crucial to the success of the Control Towers is the ability to centrally manage them, and allow customers to self-manage their own e-mail. MessageLabs turned to Electrum to solve this problem.

Messagelabs Control Center Towers

The Solution

Electrum developed Insight, a browser based management application, for MessageLabs staff and customers. The browser front end communicates through business objects to an enterprise database cluster.

Insight Screenshot

Using Insight, MessageLabs customers can configure their own virus scanning settings and view real-time virus interception statistics.

MessageLabs staff members use Insight to configure the Virus Control Towers, manage customers and view global operating statistics.


Outcome

MessageLabs was successfully launched in April 2000, three months after commencing the project. The scalable nature of the Virus Control Towers and management system means that the company is already in profit and seeing revenues growing strongly.

MessageLabs Insight