IT Provider Finds Dynamic Security Solution for Remote End Users with WatchGuard Passport
Challenge
Verus Corporation was founded in 2002 on the values of truth and authenticity–it’s their very name. Starting with telecommunications, over the years they expended their offering into full-scale, comprehensive IT services, offering everything from VoIP, networking, and ISP services to virtual CIO consultancy. They even run two data centers. This broad range of services allows Verus to craft customized solutions for each of their clients, no matter their size, industry vertical, or requirement. Their long-standing partnership with WatchGuard runs deep, with the provider offering solutions featuring WatchGuard products in every category offered: network security, secure Wi-Fi, multi-factor authentication, and most recently, endpoint security. Verus was recognized as one of the select few WatchGuardONE Partners to attain Platinum status, starting in 2015.
“We look at really going deep with the product line. It fits very well with our customer segment that’s looking for a very feature-rich platform that also doesn’t break the bank when it comes to providing them all the security services that they need,” says Kevin Willette, President/CEO of Verus Corporation. Verus has historically been an early adopter of each new product category that WatchGuard released. Starting with network security in the early 2000s, they have grown their partnership with each subsequent WatchGuard product offering. “As WatchGuard has continued to build things out, whether it was Dimension, WatchGuard System Manager (WSM), or WatchGuard Cloud, we like what we see,” says Willette. “As we’ve looked at the wireless intrusion prevention system (WIPS) side of things, the Total Wi-Fi solution has been good in collecting information from the platform.”
However, things change over time, and since Verus’ inception, technology evolved at a staggering pace. Devices under management were changing; laptop usage was increasing, and mobile phones were becoming more powerful. In addition, work was increasingly occurring outside of the office as “work from home” policies became popular, and businesses of all types were becoming more decentralized. Willette noticed these changes in technology usage and user behavior and realized the security market did not yet have comprehensive security solutions to keep up with these new dynamics. He turned to WatchGuard for a new type of solution.
Solution
WatchGuard was able to understand these new requirements and develop a new solution – WatchGuard Passport – a bundle of persistent, always-on, Cloud-delivered solutions aimed at protecting users at work, at home, or on the go. Passport features DNS-level security (DNSWatchGO) to protect against phishing, ransomware, and other attacks without requiring a VPN; multi-factor authentication (AuthPoint) to add a necessary second layer of protection beyond the password; and most recently, next-generation endpoint security (Panda Adaptive Defense 360) to provide maximum protection with the latest endpoint protection and endpoint detection-and-response technologies.
“We discussed how our client base really needed a full feature set that protected them,” Willette explains, “whether they were behind a corporate firewall at an office or whether they were out in the “wild” (mobile, in their homes, travelling, a coffee shop, etc.). We really needed to have a security platform that followed the user, regardless of where the computer asset sat. WatchGuard’s Passport solution meets our needs today to protect the end user in this scenario.”
Results
Through their WatchGuard partnership, Verus has been able to expand its offering to customers and generate more revenue for their business. From the full WatchGuard product portfolio – which now includes endpoint security – Verus can fully customize bundles to meet various customer needs. “Passport has worked out extremely well,” says Willette. “We started very early on with Passport and have been pretty successful with it this year. We were excited at the announcement that WatchGuard had acquired Panda Security, as we knew there was an endpoint security solution on the way for Passport. We had started selling Passport as a good bundled license option when it was just AuthPoint and DNSWatchGO, and when it was announced that an EPP+EDR solution (Panda Adaptive Defense 360) was going to be part of that, customers were pretty happy. It was a natural fit to roll it out, and we’ve started to do that with some of our clients, and they’ve been very pleased with it.”