Case Study: Spidernet Selects Zorus

Zorus Partner Case Study
by Howard M. Cohen

Spidernet Technical Consulting, LLC (Spidernet) is a leader in Managed Technology Services for small to mid-sized businesses, focusing primarily on the planning, implementation, and management of cloud security services and appliances, Microsoft server technologies, and desktop, tablet, and mobile technologies.  

Spidernet Solutions Architect Sean Lange had been assigned to revamp the team’s cybersecurity tool stack. As he examined their currently chosen DNS and web management and content filtering tools, he immediately recognized that, beyond being unusually expensive, they were designed more for use by in-house enterprise IT teams, and certainly not managed service providers (MSP) or managed security service providers (MSSP).

As he surveyed available competing platforms, Lange found that most of the endpoint detection &  response (EDR) companies don’t really focus on that. Eventually he worked it down to three providers that might be right for Spidernet, including Zorus.

Lange explains, “I think what stood out about Zorus is how they did it. Easier to manage. A lightweight agent that sits on the endpoint, no need to go in and change any of your DNS forwards, which is just risky in and of itself.”

He continues, “That’s how we decided to go with Zorus. Also, it connects readily with our remote monitoring and management (RMM) system. If someone requires access to a site, they send the request in, we receive it and approve it. It’s close to instantaneous.”

Saving the best for last, Lange adds, “The biggest thing for me, on the security side, though, is being able to geofence the endpoints. These days, the majority of the workforce is either hybrid or remote. You can’t just rely on firewalls to do geofencing and content filtering. With Zorus we’re able to do all of that, plus blocking of specific URLs and much more.”

Lange also appreciated that he no longer had to comb through extensive logs when evaluating an incident. Instead, he was presented with a high level overview of what the involved user was doing within the timeframe. What they clicked on, where that took them, and much more without having to look into their machine.

“That’s the piece of the puzzle that we were missing. Plus their engagement filtering is also really, really nice. They’ve been improving a lot on that. So that’s just kind of an added bonus.”

Primarily Focused on SMB Customers

Spidernet is primarily focused on companies with anywhere from five to fifty seats. They also service several logistics companies that are significantly larger with more extensive needs, including regulatory compliance requirements, and security strong enough to protect them from attacks originated by nation-states they service. Zorus supports both SMB and larger mid-market customers.

Lange also appreciates the ability to integrate Zorus into his larger service offerings as an available service in the bundle. There’s no requirement to advise anyone that the product in use is Zorus. This is an important part of Spidernet’s marketing strategy. They work to provide their customers with a single, comprehensive service package that does everything the customer needs. The customer neither knows nor cares what products are being used to deliver the services, they’re just looking for consistently reliable results.

Support Team “A Pleasure to Deal With”

“Zorus support people are just always like a pleasure to deal with. It’s not like that with the big software players. With them, you open a ticket and prepare to wait a few days. And often that response is fairly useless,” explains Sean Lange. “With Zorus, if I open something, they’re on it and they already know what specifically to ask or what information they need from me to determine root cause.”

“Even when I call in about something they haven’t yet heard about they thank us for letting them know and almost immediately provide a patch. The big software companies just don’t do things like that. They openly tell you that it may take a year for the patch you need today to become available. Not Zorus.”

Staying Ahead of the Technologies to Best Serve the SMB Market

“That’s the job, right?” suggests Sean Lange. “We have to stay ahead of the trends. What’s new, what are these companies working on to address certain issues or new technologies?”

When it comes to software solutions, Sean Lange is not looking for big names. Quite the contrary. He seeks smaller, hungrier providers with whom he can enjoy a much closer relationship that responds much more quickly and thoroughly to his customers’ needs. His major criteria for partner selection focuses on what the culture is like for that company. Do their employees seem happy? Do they seem like they really like being there? Or are they just trying to sell a product they don’t believe in.

“Most important for us,” emphasizes Lange, “is whether or not they’re truly focused on the MSP and SMB market and not just trying to ‘get sales’ there. To me, one of the most important things in a service technology partner is the human element. You must have the right relationship with the people in their company to make everything work.”