Kuiper Technology Evolved How It Helped Customers with WatchGuard’s Unified Security Platform® Approach
Challenge
When Kuiper Technology was formed in 2017, it set out to find the most robust security solution for its growing customer base. At first, Kuiper turned to well-known competing cybersecurity vendors and their solutions to sell to its customers. Now, Neil Jelley, head of sales at Kuiper Technology, says, “I’ve been really impressed by how WatchGuard has engaged with us and evolved as a security vendor to provide exactly what we need to offer our customers in cybersecurity.”
“Prior to using WatchGuard, we were using a traditional enterprise-level endpoint product that today wouldn’t be enough to combat threats. We needed a more secure endpoint solution. After their Panda acquisition, WatchGuard’s endpoint offering became stronger. And WatchGuard became the endpoint solution we wanted to offer our customers to be more secure and protected from ransomware,” said Ryan Williams, head of IT at Kuiper Technology.
Offering a proven cybersecurity solution was essential for growing the business and building customer trust. Over time the tedium of working with multiple security vendors became an issue when trying to offer the best service and cybersecurity management.
“There were a lot of individual components. It was like a tapestry of you get your firewall here and your authentication from there. Soon you’ve built up a multi-vendor network that’s difficult to manage. You’ve got multiple logins to multiple portals and management consoles, with different phone numbers to ring if you need support and service on anything,” said Stuart Hall, director at Kuiper Technology.
Solution
Fortunately, WatchGuard was building a solution for MSPs to succeed with cybersecurity. “WatchGuard was on the same trajectory as us and offered a unified security solution. We really appreciate the synergy with WatchGuard that’s matching us as we grow,” said Hall.
In today’s world, a state-of-the-art firewall is simply not enough. Every business needs a full arsenal of scanning engines to protect its network. “The adaptation of going from traditional Firebox management and endpoint management and moving to one single platform with WatchGuard Cloud has given us better management capabilities and better visibility into what we’re working with,” explained Williams.
“At first, we only offered cybersecurity to our customers from large, well-known brands with persuasive marketing. But these solutions were not meeting our security expectations. From a user perspective, WatchGuard’s solutions are pretty non-prohibitive. They just work well to get our jobs done so we can better serve our customers,” added Jelley.
In addition to better management and service, WatchGuard’s Unified Security Platform architecture helps Kuiper Technology continue to grow and retain revenue. Williams disclosed, “Because we are predominantly using WatchGuard products, our tech team can support the products, our sales personnel can focus on selling the products, and we have more value as we’re not just selling the hardware or licensing, we’re providing the professional service for installing it. Overall, we can wrap services around WatchGuard because we know the products well.”
Results
Equally important, the resources and training support that Kuiper Technology receives as a WatchGuardONE partner has helped secure their entire business. Williams commented, “From a technical standpoint, we’re a much more secure business using WatchGuard. We absolutely are. WatchGuard’s training gives a great overview of cybersecurity as a whole. Our team has a better understanding of networking, firewalls, and other components which are important. And it’s helped us grow our business because of the unified security capabilities. Our teams know WatchGuard’s products really well, so we can add value to our customers by offering additional services like installation and support.”
Hall added, “The attentiveness of WatchGuard has helped our business, and you have a more personal touch because WatchGuard actually cares about you. WatchGuard listens to us and works with us on a more personal level, and we love that because that’s the same way we approach our customers.”
“We turn to WatchGuard’s solutions first when building cybersecurity for our users,” concluded Jelley.