GuardEra helps businesses gain a competitive advantage through effective IT risk management. It focuses on innovative security and compliance solutions while delivering high-performance infrastructure. GuardEra can assess organizations' IT needs, design secure networks, ensure compliance, and provide ongoing managed services and support. This comprehensive approach helps businesses reduce risks and costs while improving operations.

1. Gaining a competitive advantage
for your business requires effective
management of IT risk. GuardEra’s
professionals focus on driving
innovative solutions.
GuardEra’s IT solutions encompass
security and compliance while
delivering high performance,
robust IT infrastructure platforms.
Let GuardEra help turn IT into a
competitive advantage for your
business.

2. The Problem
It’s no wonder businesses today have difficulty managing risk. Organizations
are beset by layers of regulatory mandates compounded by a daily barrage of
new security threats and a technology landscape that obsoletes an investment
before it’s depreciated. It’s even more difficult to find a way to manage risk
strategically and align risk with business strategy for that elusive competitive
advantage.
With limited budgets and scarce resources, businesses today must manage risk
while keeping a firm hand on operations in a competitive marketplace. Staying
a step ahead of the competition means paying attention to:
• Security as it migrates from the latest vulnerability to the next hacker threat.
How can the organization maintain a clear business focus while identifying high
impact and probable threats requiring considerable
skill and experience to thwart?
• Compliance with evolving regulations and audit guidance for technical infrastructure, business polices
and procedures, in addition to legacy financial statements. What can be done to stay ahead of the
vicious cycle of increasing resources and budgets for never-ending assessments and audits?
• Changing technology as the rate of technology change continues its rapid march, making systems lacking a
flexibility premium obsolete before an upgrade can be applied. Where can investments be made in technology
that remains flexible while increasing efficiency and effectiveness?
The SoluTion
Business today needs a technology partner to protect the investment in critical applications
and data. GuardEra’s proven risk management skills span the risk management lifecycle,
delivering a complete solution starting with compliance assessments for business
policies and procedures and extending through security testing and risk mitigation.
Network infrastructure is a huge investment and a large business risk. GuardEra can
assess your business requirements against workloads and performance, and compliance
regulations for privacy and security. We will design and deploy a secure network
infrastructure tested to be secure against the latest threats and with flexibility built-in.
We have the skills and experience to design multi-purpose switched networks for
servers, multiple types of data and applications, fixed and mobile clients, and other
network infrastructure including:
• Routers to enforce access policies
• Switches to speed throughput
• Cabling to accommodate growth and change
• Network management for maximum performance and reduced failures
Compliance policies and procedures are critical to any regulated organization today. Our
skilled experts can identify and manage your exposure to privacy and security regulations
in financial services (GLBA), healthcare (HIPAA) and public companies (SOX). GuardEra
eliminates the need to keep expensive and specialized skills on your staff by managing:
• Assessments to identify your gaps against critical regulations
• Policies and procedures that document your efforts to protect sensitive information
• Technical safeguards and countermeasures to implement and enforce your
policies and procedures

3. Virtual Virtual Virtual
Servers Desktops Laptops
Control Any
Applications
Security Infrastructure
Type of Application
Web Application Web
Perimeter Access Single Content
Security Control Sign-on Monitoring & Optimizer Applications
Foundation Services
Management Load Balancer
PDA
Presentation
Network Infrastructure Server
Windows
SAN
Client/Server
Laptop
Monitor Compress Network Set and Host Network
Optimize Traffic Monitor
Performance
Virtual Desktop Data Replication
Desktop
Levels
Infrastructure Individual
Network
Hosted
SAN
Windows
Desktop OS
Application Delivery
Terminal
Streaming
Public
Kiosk Infrastructure Applications
To User Devices
DR Site or Load Balanced
Infrastructure
• Security scans and tests to ensure your technical safeguards and
countermeasures are performing properly
• Remediation and forensics for areas needing attention
Security layers to enforce your compliance policies and protect your
critical resources against internal and external threats to networks, servers,
applications and data. GuardEra has deep skills and experience in designing
and deploying security technologies in networks, servers, desktops and
mobile wireless devices, including: The benefiTS
• Firewalls to protect perimeters and content against the increasingly
GuardEra reduces your exposure
hostile universe of threats from spyware, viruses, spam, hostile
to business risk while increasing
material and application attacks
operational efficiency and effectiveness.
• Intrusion detection and prevention systems that identify, stop and
• More cost-effective operations from
remedy network and host-based attacks while capturing critical data
dependable, high performance
for compliance audits and forensics
networks and systems enable
• Access controls for servers and endpoints that automate patches, planning technology investments
enforce secure configurations required by compliance polices and and compliance efforts instead of
securely log events putting out fires
• Protecting your data...at rest, and in motion
• Identity management for strong authentication, user provisioning and • More effective management from
single sign-on from the trusted network or the Internet a proactive compliance posture that
better aligns with business processes
• Security management to manage logs, and capture and correlate
and delivers business agility from
events before the damage is done
planned growth and changes
Managed IT Services insure that your infrastructure is securely operating • Proactive compliance due diligence
at 100% efficiency with on-site and remote operational support. GuardEra’s and due care to reduce legal risk
seasoned and certified professionals can relieve you of the risk of manag- and worries
ing complex IT infrastructure while avoiding making major investments in
changing technologies. GuardEra managed IT services can include: • Stronger security to minimize risk
• Training your staff in the latest technologies to critical and sensitive data and
applications, and reduce threats of
• Managing distributed networks of servers and client devices
technology change and new exploits
• Remote network monitoring
• Outsourced security functions such as web filtering, anti-virus, • Outsourced operations to design,
antispam, e-mail protection and other services implement and manage technology
• Services ranging from contracted operations support up to and while shifting capital budgets to
including a virtual CIO service operating expenses

4. Headquartered in Lombard, IL with offices in downtown Chicago and Cincinnati, OH, GuardEra Access
Solutions, Inc. is an IT solutions provider with the ability to deploy solutions on a local, regional, or national
level. GuardEra was a founding member of THISA, a national network of regional solution providers dedicated to
delivering high-confidence information solutions to healthcare, financial, manufacturing, and other organizations.
GuardEra’s participation in THISA provides our clients with the benefits of a national service delivery footprint,
and the commitment to your success that only a focused, local solution provider can deliver.
GuardEra Access Solutions, Inc.
www.guardera.com
Corporate Office: Cincinnati Office:
200 W. 22nd Street, Suite 220 10999 Reed Hartman Highway, Suite 323
Lombard, IL 60148 Blue Ash, OH 45242
Phone: (847) 348-0600 Phone: (513) 579-1701 Fax: (513) 579-0282
Fax: (847) 934-1100
Downtown Chicago Office:
70 E. Lake Street
Chicago, IL 60601