Secure IT Systems
Enriching Managed Services with a Security-First Approach

2021 was a very trying year for cybersecurity in so many areas. On the one hand, there were some very highprofile breaches, such as Solar Winds and Colonial Pipeline, which had a major economic impact worldwide. On the other, ransomware returned with a vengeance targeting many small and medium businesses (SMB)—especially amid SMBs rising into economic prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Perhaps even more worrisome was the fact presented by a few studies that stated almost half of 2021 cyberattacks globally targeted smaller businesses, since many of them suddenly grew into power via cloud services but did not have strong encryption technology in place to mitigate cyber risks, vulnerabilities, and attacks. To a bad actor, that translated into tons of sensitive data behind a door with an easy lock to pick. Some statistics even showed most SMBs with less than 1000 employees that were hacked didn’t even get the slightest warning bell.

The impact?

Worldwide, SMBs are now projected to grow their spending on remote managed security services to an estimated $21.2 billion by 2022, making it the highest growth area in the managed services providers (MSP) market. However, even though the importance of offering cybersecurity is known, MSPs are shying away from this service’s goldmine because they don’t possess the people, processes, or technology to address increasingly sophisticated cyberattacks. On the flipside, SMBs believe managed service providers are also handling ‘all things security’ as part of their core services. This begs the question: is there a way to mitigate the ambiguity of ‘who owns the risk’?

Secure IT Systems has the answer. For Secure IT Systems, ‘security’ is both a priority and a core competence. The foundation of the company is based on a security-first managed service provider (MSP) business model. By largely differentiating from a traditional MSP services model that prioritizes optimizing IT tools for network, application, and infrastructure, Secure IT Systems lays its base on a foresighted cybersecurity framework.

Security IT Systems, thus, presents the perfect opportunity for companies to shift to a more robust cybersecurity framework and add more enhanced features to their MSP model. “We focus on providing a complete cybersecurity solution, unlike some MSPs that are more focused on tools and different addons. Our default position is that your company will experience a cyber breach, whether it’s because of an employee mistake or an intentional attack by an external party. We don’t view cybersecurity as an a la carte type offering or another basic service, but rather make it central to our offerings,” says Lyle Melnychuk, CEO of Secure IT Systems.

Driven by this ideology, today, Secure IT Systems’ cybersecurity offering “Secure Shield” is based on their controls rather than their tools. That is, the defensibility of the company’s solutions is focused on giving users greater control over their cybersecurity rather than equipping them with complex tools. Melnychuk adds, “We understand the financial consequences of an actual cybersecurity breach. So, we are trying to be more proactive in preparing our clients to avoid or overcome the worst,” opines Melnychuk.

The company’s proactive approach, combined with the effectiveness of the control-based solutions, has encouraged clients from industries like legal, healthcare, banking, and small businesses to opt for Secure IT Systems’ Secure Shield offering. It also helps that the company’s control-based solutions are aligned with industry regulatory requirements for cybersecurity. The solutions also consider the guidelines set by the center for internet security (CIS), the health insurance portability and accountability act (HIPAA), and the personal information protection and electronic documents act (PIPA), a Canadian law relating to data privacy.

Further highlighting their core competencies, Melnychuk explains, the organizations leveraging Secure IT Systems’ services can demonstrate that they are equipped with an industry-standard cybersecurity solution so that they can meet the compliance guidelines for their industries. In fact, the Secure IT Systems’ services give the clients a firm foundation of security from all aspects, from data recovery through to data backup and cloud security to network monitoring.

Further substantiating the company’s prowess, Melnychuk narrates a client success story. One of their clients had a cybersecurity insurance review. They had a zoom conversation with a cyber representative from the insurance company to go over the questionnaire. The conversation lasted approximately 30 minutes, where the cyber representative reviewed the client’s cybersecurity measures through 25 basic surveys. Since Security IT Systems had already implemented the required cybersecurity solutions in place, the client flawlessly passed the insurance review.

We understand the financial consequences of an actual cybersecurity breach. So, we are trying to be more proactive in preparing our clients to avoid or overcome the worst

Now, even amid the COVID-19 pandemic, with remote working and digital data exchange creating more significant and widespread cybersecurity concerns, Secure IT Systems is experiencing a high demand for its robust cybersecurity offerings. Secure IT Systems is prepared to take this challenge head-on, fortified by its rich and extensive experience in the domain. The company is also poised to provide realistic and measurable control-based solutions that prevent security exploitations by considering the human factor and preventing threat actors from finding any loopholes. “Our goal is to become market leaders in the MSP space, equipping our clients with the best cybersecurity and managed IT services to prepare them for the evolving threats,” concludes Melnychuk.