Speaker: Shaun Guthrie, Senior Director, Information Technology, AUMA
How was the service on-boarding experience with Stratejm cloud-based security services?
Shaun Guthrie: The onboarding experience was comprehensive and seamless. The team ensured that we were providing them with the right information required to board us efficiently. We were also kept up to date with weekly project status calls to ensure nothing was missed. As part of the on boarding, it's been actually one of the better vendor onboarding, I've ever experienced in my career.
Richard Anderson: I wanted to talk a little bit about our on boarding experience with Stratejm, and certainly early on when we decided to upgrade our systems, we found the experience with Stratejm to be quite simple, very informative. Their team knew what they were doing, came on to our premise as needed to assist us with any and all processes not being overly educated and not having a committed IT person. Certainly their expertise helped us get done what we needed doing.
Overall, how satisfied are you with the level of service/expertise and incident response capabilities provided by Stratejm?
Shaun Guthrie: The service and expertise was one of our primary reasons for selecting Stratejm through a robust procurement process. The team is extremely knowledgeable in all areas of security and we've yet to run into a situation where we had to second guess that. When it comes to incident response, this is where the team really shines. We've had an exist- we have an existing managed IT Partner and the Stratejm and team has been able to seamlessly integrate when it comes to any incidents or problems that arise. Sometimes you find that there can be finger pointing going on with different providers and that has not been the case here.
Richard Anderson: We learned very early on in the process that Stratejm has the expertise that that we needed to respond and help us with our IT changes and our upgrades. Certainly they have some credible capabilities and I had an opportunity to do a site visit, which I would encourage anyone to do to take a look at the response center and in general how they deal with security and cyber security. I think bottom line as they are cutting edge. And we quickly learned that when we reached out to other providers. So I think that Stratejm continues to be top in the industry, cutting edge and certainly is able to keep us up to date on the latest technologies to help us make sure they were efficient and effective in our operation.
How has Stratejm made you feel more confident in your organization's ability to deal with cybersecurity threats (ex. Ransomware)
Shaun Guthrie: Stratejm has made me feel more confident because I know their team is watching over our systems 24 by 7, 365 days of the year. That's not something I could necessarily get out of hiring someone on staff. We've had incidents that have happened while our organization is sleeping and the Stratejm team is, I already acknowledged and taken steps to remediate the issue. Without our intervention. Their ability to leverage automation and execute a multitude of run books is what gives them an advantage over other providers.
Richard Anderson: There's no question that prior to working with Stratejm, I'm not sure I could say that we had a real big confidence in how we dealt with cybersecurity threats. Certainly now with a lot of the services they provide, we feel much more confident and comfortable. I think on top of that, they helped us rewrite our policies and procedures to make sure that we had sound practices in place, which we didn't have in place prior. I think when you put them all together, it certainly puts us at ease and makes us feel more more able to deal with any kind of cyber security threats.
Since partnering with Stratejm, do you feel as if your overall enterprise security posture has improved?
Shaun Guthrie: Without a doubt it has. We are just embarking on another threat risk assessment to measure the progress that we've made over the last couple of years and I'm confident that we've moved the needle in our cybersecurity maturity. We always have work to do, but we know Stratejm will be there to help us on our cybersecurity journey.
Richard Anderson: I think there's no question that since we've partnered with Stratejm that we certainly feel our security posture is improved. We lean on them for their expertise, and certainly they make recommendations regularly to us, not only on how to improve our security posture, but also reasonable recommendations for a company of our size so that we can have the latest technology. I think on top of that, we have regular interactions and reporting and tips to help us improve. So I think it's certainly a learning curve, but we definitely feel better about our posture at this point.
With Stratejm as your Cybersecurity partner, are you satisfied with your ROI?
Shaun Guthrie: We are 100% satisfied with our investment in Stratejm for our organization and area in the country. There is no way that we'd be able to secure a highly skilled cybersecurity professional. I mentioned earlier that strategy and services are 24 x 7, 365 days of the year, and that coverage is just another aspect that continues to add to the overall return on investment We have with Stratejm.
Richard Anderson: I think it's important have a conversation about return on investment. I think if I were to hire a administrator to perform all the tasks that Stratejm provides me, it certainly would cost me more. I also think that when it comes to cyber security and security of data, you really shouldn't be looking in depthly, at the costs as it's incredibly important to protect that data and that is a cost that companies need to bear at all times. So yes, I'm satisfied. I think that we have amazing coverage and services that are provided.
