WatchGuard Helps MSP with Local and International Privacy Compliance Regulations
Challenge
Founded in 1998, Imaginet International Inc is a systems integrator based in Manila. The company employs a team of 30 who specialize in designing, building and managing high availability, secure networks and solutions, particularly in harsh or difficult environments.
Imaginet works with public sector clients in the Philippines, including several defense and essential services agencies, as well as multi-nationals including transport, construction, mining and power industries. Many of their clients have been a customer for more than a decade.
“The majority of the organizations we work with have between 500 and 2,500 users,” Imaginet co-founder and long-time CEO, Blair Duncan, says. “The common thread is a requirement for non-stop, 24/7 processing power. Our clients are typically looking to work with a solution provider which can assure them of the availability and continuity they need to run their enterprises.”
Compliance and data privacy legislation, in the Philippines and other jurisdictions around the globe, is also a priority for Imaginet’s customer base. “Many of the multi-national organizations we support are subject to a range of laws, including the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), as well as the National Data Privacy Act here in the Philippines,” Blair notes.
“The economic and reputational repercussions of a data breach can be material. Our clients want to partner with a service provider which understands the requirements and has the knowledge and technical expertise to protect the enterprise and help them maintain compliance,” remarks Blair.
Solution
Imaginet has been a WatchGuard partner since its inception. The firm sells the full gamut of WatchGuard security products, including its network security, secure Wi-Fi and multi-factor authentication (MFA) solutions.
Services offered include deployment, maintenance, upgrades and troubleshooting. Imaginet also provides a managed security offering that is utilized by around a third of its 250 customers.
“The WatchGuard Firebox is our best-selling hardware line,” Blair notes. “We’ve always found the WatchGuard products extremely reliable. I can count on one hand the number of replacements we’ve had to do over the years. Equally important, no WatchGuard Firebox we’ve installed for a customer has ever experienced a breach. That’s a record we can both be proud of.”
More recently, Imaginet has begun promoting the MFA solution to its customer base and the company anticipates an increase in sales in 2020 when MFA gains widespread market acceptance.
Results
The relationship between Imaginet and WatchGuard has long been cordial and mutually supportive. “They’re our favorite vendor,” Blair reveals. “Their corporate culture is great. They have an extremely flat management structure which means you can talk to the CEO, the CFO, the heads of each of their products. They’re all very accessible. We can send an email and get an answer in a day. We don’t have that with any other vendor. They really do support us and empower us to support our customers.”
With WatchGuard’s help, Imaginet’s website has become a powerful engine for driving growth. It serves the dual function of educating current and prospective customers, as well as generating new business opportunities. “WatchGuard provides us with a consistent stream of content that’s SEO-optimized, and we get very good results from that,” Blair says. “It generates high quality leads which are quite specific. People come through the web pages and quite often they already have an idea of the device or service they need.”
WatchGuard also provides useful advice about selling into key vertical markets. “They have very good people talking at their events who are focused on helping their partners sell more effectively,” Blair remarks.
WatchGuard and Imaginet run marketing events for potential customers each year. In 2018, the two organizations co-funded a series of half-day seminars on privacy legislation, including the EU’s then newly launched GDPR regulation, and its implications for businesses.
“We look for themes that stand out and are relevant to businesses,” Blair says. “WatchGuard always supports us by sending a speaker and helping with the marketing.”