Xcel Energy secures apps and gains efficiency with F5 ADSP
Xcel Energy protects critical infrastructure and apps while gaining efficiency with hybrid multicloud app security and consolidated visibility from F5 ADSP.
Xcel Energy protects critical infrastructure and apps while gaining efficiency with hybrid multicloud app security and consolidated visibility from F5 ADSP.
Xcel Energy serves millions of electricity and natural gas customers across eight Western and Midwestern U.S. states. With F5 ADSP Platform, the utility secures its complex IT/OT systems while protecting and delivering public-facing applications, increasing visibility, speeding IT operations, and ensuring regulatory compliance.
Xcel Energy, with headquarters in Minneapolis, Minn., is the first major U.S. power company with a vision for providing 100% carbon-free electricity. It manages a complex mix of traditional and renewable energy operations, including nuclear facilities, wind farms, solar generation, and distribution networks.
The company’s multiple divisions and subsidiaries manage numerous operational technology (OT) systems alongside corporate IT systems and public-facing applications. Protecting the company’s critical infrastructure is a top priority. That is not easy in an environment shaped by growing cloud adoption, an expanding portfolio of public-facing applications, and the need to provide secure access for thousands of employees working remotely across dispersed facilities.
“Security is very important to us—and it’s federally mandated—and finding where Xcel Energy is exposed to the Internet is a very hot topic for our security team,” says Jason Backley, Infrastructure Portfolio Architect at Xcel Energy.“We need tried-and-true solutions.”
Xcel Energy must also respond quickly to market conditions, environmental events, and regulatory shifts. “A big challenge for us has always been that we’re a heavily regulated business, and that can mean that we have quick changes in how we need to support our customer base and conform to new regulations,” says Mitch Kaminsen, Senior F5 Network Engineer at Xcel Energy.
Xcel Energy has long relied on F5 BIG-IP products, including BIG-IP Virtual Editions. “We use pretty much all the BIG-IP modules,” Kaminsen says. “They’ve allowed us to secure all portions of our network as well as delivering load balancing and advanced routing.” Those products include BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM), BIG-IP DNS, and BIG-IP Application Policy Manager (APM), which provides secure VPN services for thousands of remote workers.
However, in 2018 the company began a transition from on-premises networks to hybrid cloud deployments. As part of that strategic shift, Xcel Energy needed solutions that worked consistently across cloud, data center, and isolated OT environments without adding administrative burden.
Xcel Energy added F5 Distributed Cloud Services as an important part of its overall F5 Application Delivery and Security Platform (ADSP) strategy. F5 ADSP helps organizations deliver and secure applications across hybrid multicloud environments, regardless of where those applications are deployed. To complement its BIG-IP solutions, Xcel Energy deployed a variety of Distributed Cloud Services, including web application firewall (WAF) services, DNS, routed DDoS protection, API protection, and web app scanning.
Kaminsen says, “Distributed Cloud Services applies all these F5 services globally, supporting our applications through the cloud that would not be as easy to support with an on-prem product. That’s been a great experience for us.”
“We loved the change to Virtual Editions,” agrees Backley. “And then Distributed Cloud Services made everything even easier.”
“WAF onboarding time has gone from a few weeks to a few days.”
Jason Backley, Infrastructure Portfolio Architect, Xcel Energy
F5 ADSP has enabled Xcel Energy to consolidate solutions and technology vendors, reduce costs, and add new functionality. For example, Xcel Energy replaced an existing on-premises DDoS solution with routed F5 DDoS mitigation. That move alone saved more than 50% compared with the alternatives. Backley adds, “We saved money and streamlined while expanding capabilities across the board.”
Xcel Energy saves time as well as money with its F5 solutions. “Our WAF onboarding used to take weeks, but WAF onboarding time has gone from a few weeks to a few days,” says Backley. “We’re calling that a 67% reduction.” As a result, new apps and features can be secured and delivered more quickly.
“In addition to bringing new visibility and insights, working with Distributed Cloud Services has allowed us to enhance our offerings to our internal shareholders.”
Mitch Kaminsen, Senior F5 Network Engineer, Xcel Energy
He says Distributed Cloud Services also speeds troubleshooting, reducing mean time to innocence and resolution by providing insight into problems related to APIs, pool server latency issues, and firewall blocks. He notes, “With Distributed Cloud Services, we can easily get information to our app teams, and that’s been a game changer for us.”
Backley appreciates how much Distributed Cloud Web App Scanning has increased their visibility. “Our security teams love any tool that can provide information about where Xcel Energy is exposed to the Internet,” he explains. “That wasn’t even a feature when we first purchased Distributed Cloud Services, but now it feeds information into our threat intelligence platform. That’s a fantastic bonus win.”
“With Distributed Cloud Services, we can easily get information to our app teams. That’s been a game changer for us.”
Jason Backley, Infrastructure Portfolio Architect, Xcel Energy
“We can now see API calls we could never see before,” adds Kaminsen. “We can give more readouts using the AI assistant inside Distributed Cloud Services.”
The simplified solution stack has also empowered Xcel Energy IT staff to innovate.
“In addition to bringing new visibility and insights, working with Distributed Cloud Services has allowed us to enhance our offerings to our internal shareholders or the company,” says Kaminsen. “The F5 solution has allowed us to fine-tune our offerings to the business as well as unifying our posture.”
Both Backley and Kaminsen praise the support they receive from F5. “It’s not just the F5 product you're buying,” says Kaminsen. “You’re actually buying into a support group—working hand in hand with your sales team, your sales engineers, and the community. There’s always a solution to any challenge.”
He adds, “When we have questions, either on products we’re currently using or looking towards the future, F5 experts are accessible to help us strategize the best solution for our particular situation.”
Backley summarizes by saying that Xcel Energy “could not function” without its F5 solutions. “F5 is very important to Xcel Energy.”
