Enterprise Encryption (Laptops)

Long time since I have been around here, but looking to see if anyone has any input on enterprise whole disk encryption suites. I have a new mandate to encrypt at least all the HR laptops, possibly all laptops, and possibly all machines in our retail locations (at some point.)

Based on my past experience, and research, it appears that Symantec, McAfee, and Sophos lead the arena (SecureDoc is in there but have a contact at the University of Texas that says their implementation has been a nightmare.)

What I really need is anyone that can point to 1 over the other, either from experience, or based on other data. IMO Symantec leads the enterprise arena from a management standpoint, because they have been doing it the longest and they bought the original in PGP enterprise. That said, McAfee looks solid, and we currently use McAfee's Web Gateway product and we are extremely happy with them. Sophos I cant get a feel on.

Our only true requirement is just WDE. Nothing fancy. But management is where the true TCO comes in for us. Using MS EFS is free, but management is a nightmare, and out of the question. BitLocker is an option, but all of our desktop licenses are 7 Pro OEM, so the cost per device to move to Ultimate is greater than the cost per device for a true 3rd party solution.

Any input, even if it is anecdotal evidence is greatly appreciated. Currently the scope is only 15 machines (HR), our entire laptop landscape is closer to 150 nodes, but should we decide to also encrypt all of our retail devices we would be talking in the neighborhood of 5000+ nodes.

 

In the company I work for we use MCAfee Endpoint Encryption.
i do not know the number of laptops encrypted, I am not in IT, but I would guess it's in the range of 4000-5000 units.