Success Story: Schmid Industrieholding GmbH
"Using email security based on Check Point Harmony gives us decisive advantages in defending against email-based cyber threats. Since email remains one of the primary attack vectors for phishing, malware, and social engineering, the solution’s AI-driven and behavioral analyses help identify and block threats at an early stage. Harmful links, attachments, and even sophisticated attacks such as account takeovers are reliably prevented. At the same time, centralized management enables straightforward administration and ensures that security does not hinder our workflows. With Check Point Harmony, we significantly enhance the security of our communications and protect our business processes."
About Schmid Industrieholding GmbH
Schmid Industrieholding GmbH is one of Austria’s largest private industrial groups, headquartered in Wopfing. Since its founding in 1970, it has grown into an international player with more than 7,000 employees and annual revenues exceeding EUR 2.6 billion. The group comprises more than 100 companies in the fields of building materials, construction chemicals, insulation, lime and cement production, specialty chemicals, as well as hunting and outdoor equipment. Its well-known brands include Baumit, Austrotherm, Murexin, Calmit, and Kettner. With its broad product portfolio and strong focus on innovation, Schmid Industrieholding is a reliable partner for construction projects in over 20 countries across Europe and Asia.
The Challenge
Schmid Industrieholding (SIH) was looking for a modern, standardized security solution for email and collaboration across its Microsoft 365 environment. The previous solution could no longer meet rising demands—particularly with regard to protection against phishing attacks and compliance with current security standards.
Due to its decentralized corporate structure, SIH operates a Microsoft 365 multi-tenant environment with independent instances. This created specific requirements for the new solution: it needed to be scalable, easy to administer, and efficient for more than 5,000 users—while simultaneously delivering a high level of security and flexibility.
The Solution
After a successful proof of concept and the subsequent deployment of the solution at the subsidiary Baumit—supported by Bacher Systems—Schmid Industrieholding (SIH) decided to roll out Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration (HEC) across the entire group. The solution provides targeted protection against phishing, malware, and data loss in Microsoft 365 environments, integrates quickly and seamlessly, and offers centralized quarantine features as well as extensive support for compliance requirements. An additional benefit is the integrated DMARC management, which ensures the authenticity of emails and significantly reduces the attack surface created by spoofed messages.
Group-wide procurement was carried out under a Check Point Infinity Total Protection (ITP) contract. This allowed licensing and costs to be consolidated centrally and planned over multiple years. The shared licensing model generated potential savings of up to 50%, while each company continues to operate its own instance and remains responsible for its operational management.
At the same time, the ITP contract enables flexible access to the entire Check Point portfolio and provides SIH with additional strategic options for future security needs.
The Implementation
The implementation of Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration within the Microsoft 365 environment proceeded swiftly and with minimal effort, as expected. During a multi-week detect phase, email traffic and the behavior of the new solution were thoroughly analyzed and optimized before the gradual transition to prevent mode began for the first users. The subsequent group-wide rollout was carried out independently by the SIH IT teams, with Bacher Systems providing targeted advisory support as an experienced and reliable partner.
The Key Advantages
- Significantly improved email and collaboration security compared to the legacy solution; modern, AI-driven threat prevention and anomaly detection for all Microsoft 365 workloads.
- AI-powered zero-phishing technology
- Malware and ransomware protection
- URL rewriting and click-time protection
- Protection against account takeovers
- Data Loss Prevention (DLP)
- Centralized quarantine and DMARC management - Fast deployment and low operational effort (“fire & forget”) with decentralized self-administration for each company.
- Reduced administrative workload through consolidation of the security landscape (vendors, partners, and tools)
- Improved volume pricing through group-wide licensing and predictable costs over the entire contract period - with potential savings of up to 50%.
Conclusion
Together with Bacher Systems as a skilled solution partner and through the use of Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration, Schmid Industrieholding has significantly enhanced its email and collaboration security, reduced costs and operational effort, consolidated its security landscape, and is now optimally positioned for future requirements.
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