BOWEN Selects F5 to Consolidate, Secure, and Scale Employee Services

Canadian workforce management leader unites firewall, traffic management, and advanced security features with one BIG-IP® solution

CALGARY, Alberta--()--F5 Networks (NASDAQ: FFIV) today announced that BOWEN has chosen an F5® BIG-IP® solution to expand its security and traffic management capabilities. The new deployment, managed by F5 partner Agilisys, enables BOWEN to streamline its IT operations while providing the highest levels of application security and performance to more than 3,000 contingent workers and companies across Western Canada.

BOWEN provides a range of workforce management solutions, among them web-based applications (such as timecard management) that workers can access remotely from smartphones and tablets.

To provide mobile access to its web-based applications along with the level of security needed to host them in house, BOWEN replaced its aging firewall solution with F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager™ (AFM™) and F5 BIG-IP Application Security Manager™ (ASM™). These solutions, together with BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager™ (LTM™), are part of a unified platform, so BOWEN can easily manage the entire solution through a single management interface. As a result, BOWEN has also been able to create efficiencies by consolidating multiple vendors and thereby cutting IT costs.

“We have thousands of people counting on these systems,” said Bryan Gamble, Information Services Manager at BOWEN’s Calgary headquarters. “The F5 BIG-IP platform is definitely the best when it comes to intelligent traffic management, but to have network and application security capabilities built right into the same platform was a great fit for us. We wouldn’t be comfortable hosting our applications in house without the F5 solution.”

Handling sensitive employee data requires the highest levels of security, and BIG-IP ASM gives BOWEN another line of defense for its web-based applications and data beyond that provided by the network firewall. BIG-IP ASM protects BOWEN from malicious web-based attacks and ensures that client information and back-end databases are kept secure.

Availability is another crucial priority for BOWEN and its clients. BIG-IP LTM provides essential services such as intelligent traffic management, acceleration, optimization, compression, and SSL offloading to ensure that BOWEN can consistently deliver applications, wherever and whenever they’re needed, including on mobile devices.

“BOWEN wanted a solution that delivered strong and robust security and management features and that could also scale dramatically to keep pace with its business,” said Preston Hogue, Director of Security Marketing Architecture at F5 Networks. “The BIG-IP solution delivers the power and flexibility BOWEN needs and positions the company to handle future growth.”

Calgary-based Agilisys designed, deployed, and configured the new F5 solution and will continue to provide ongoing management and services through its F5 managed services offering.

About BOWEN

Founded in 1974, BOWEN is a trusted leader in contingent workforce strategies offering a wide spectrum of recruitment services including placement, contract management, payroll, compliance management, and recruitment process outsourcing (RPO). Consistently ranked among Canada’s fastest growing companies on the annual Profit500, BOWEN manages approximately 3,000 contingent workers annually. BOWEN’s focus is on bringing out the best in people by tailoring solutions to help organizations and individuals achieve their goals, providing exceptional experiences and giving back to our community. BOWEN is the only staffing agency in Alberta selected to be part of the Partnerships program with Alberta Human Services, recognizing its commitment to health and safety. BOWEN is a privately held company and is headquartered in Calgary, Alberta.

About F5

F5 (NASDAQ: FFIV) provides solutions for an application world. F5 helps organizations seamlessly scale cloud, data center, and software defined networking (SDN) deployments to successfully deliver applications to anyone, anywhere, at any time. F5 solutions broaden the reach of IT through an open, extensible framework and a rich partner ecosystem of leading technology and data center orchestration vendors. This approach lets customers pursue the infrastructure model that best fits their needs over time. The world’s largest businesses, service providers, government entities, and consumer brands rely on F5 to stay ahead of cloud, security, and mobility trends. For more information, go to f5.com.

You can also follow @f5networks on Twitter or visit us on Facebook for more information about F5, its partners, and technologies.

AFM, ASM, LTM, F5, BIG-IP, Advanced Firewall Manager, Application Security Manager, and Local Traffic Manager are trademarks or service marks of F5 Networks, Inc., in the U.S. and other countries. All other product and company names herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.

This press release may contain forward-looking statements relating to future events or future financial performance that involve risks and uncertainties. Such statements can be identified by terminology such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “expects,” “plans,” “anticipates,” “believes,” “estimates,” “predicts,” “potential,” or “continue,” or the negative of such terms or comparable terms. These statements are only predictions and actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these statements based upon a number of factors including those identified in the company’s filings with the SEC.

Contacts

F5 Networks, Inc.
Alane Moran, 206-272-6850
a.moran@f5.com
or
Waggener Edstrom Communications
Ashley Paula, 415-547-7024
apaula@waggeneredstrom.com

Release Summary

F5 Networks today announced that BOWEN has chosen an F5® BIG-IP® solution to expand its security and traffic management capabilities.

Contacts

F5 Networks, Inc.
Alane Moran, 206-272-6850
a.moran@f5.com
or
Waggener Edstrom Communications
Ashley Paula, 415-547-7024
apaula@waggeneredstrom.com