Cybersecurity is one of the top demands in every company’s IT department these days. The expansion of the digital world and the services that have sprung up to accompany the digital journey necessitate the protection of a company’s data and other valuable resources on the vast network known as the internet.
Without ensuring the security of your valuable digital resources, you expose your firm to potential risks of getting hacked, piracy, spyware, malware, and virus attacks, as well as other known and unknown online frauds or scams.
In today’s tech world, doing everything possible to meet the cybersecurity requirement is the only viable option for conducting business in a digital environment. Hiring a firm that has the expertise, significant ground hold, and experience in the cybersecurity space is always an effective solution.
One such company which meets all of the above criteria is Alacrinet. The company has been providing significant cybersecurity solutions to its clients across all 50 states of the United States as well as its territories. The company is a well-established player in the cybersecurity arena. Its employees are experts in meeting the client’s cybersecurity and IT requirements. They possess years of vast experience in the industry.
Alacrinet presents the best results in a way that is simple to understand and implement. Whether you are looking for the newest security solution or how to integrate your old systems with new ones, the company offers the best solutions for you.
The Inception Story of Alacrinet
Alacrinet was co-founded by Brian Bouchard (President and CEO) in 2002 to meet the rising demand for technology consulting services and to successfully implement enterprise solutions in businesses across America.
Brian used to work at IBM. He was hired out of college at IBM, from the University of Hawaii. At that time, IBM’s hardware division was very successful. These hardware products were sold through a channel. In 2000, Lou Gerstner, CEO of IBM, announced that they were going to move IBM software to the channel.
Brian thought of this development as an interesting opportunity. He talked with some of his colleagues, convincing them to start a company together that is basically an IBM channel partner focused on selling IBM software through the channel to existing IBM customers—and those new IBM customers that they could bring to IBM as well by selling IBM’s enterprise software solutions.
“Because we were all specialists in a lot of the solutions as global consultants for IBM, and there was not a lot of expertise in the software area. This is kind of when it was all developing and growing, especially web-based software. So, WebSphere was an area we were really focused on,” he adds.
At the beginning journey of the company, the dot-com bubble was bursting in the Bay Area; Brian thought it was not a great time to have the company’s operations there. So, he and his colleagues decided to move the company down to San Diego.
The Early Years
Because of the vacuum that was left by all companies that were operating exclusively in the Bay Area, moving the business to Southern California turned out to be a great opportunity for the team. The company got a lot of customers right away. Brian notes, “Well, that big burst of energy into the Bay Area kind of left a lot of other places in Southern California with needs that weren’t getting fulfilled. So, we quickly got some customers down there.”
The company’s first three customers were Jack in the Box corporation, the US Navy, and the San Diego Zoo. It went really well. “We quickly grew our company during that tough time in the technology sector. But we grew it in another market that was actually wanting to catch up,” he adds.
In 2006, Alacrinet moved its operations to Palo Alto. The majority of the company’s customers, in the beginning, were the Pacific West places like the San Francisco Bay Area, San Diego, Los Angeles, Arizona, Phoenix, and even a little bit of Las Vegas. So that is kind of where the company’s foothold started.
Services and Products
As a leading cybersecurity and information technology consultant, Alacrinet’s goal is to deliver the right services and solutions that meet its clients’ IT security strategies.
Brian says, “The whole idea in our plan is to continue to add more as we see our customers’ needs evolve. But our goal is to be a singular provider for our customers of whatever their cybersecurity needs are that pertain to creating the most effective and protective ability to secure their organizations and create a strong security posture.”
The company offers expert services in below key areas:
- Penetration Testing
It can go by a number of names – Pentest, Penetration Test, Ethical Hacking, Vulnerability Tests – but the goal is consistent: identify areas of risk so that your team can proactively remediate. Engaging a third party to test the strength of your network and applications is the best way to minimize your security risks and meet compliance requirements.
“There are various kinds of pen tests. There are PCI compliance pen tests; there is ransomware readiness and assessment pen tests. We have a whole portfolio of pen tests that we offer to customers based on what type of company they are,” Brian tells us.
- Managed Security Services (MSSP)
Alacrinet gives specialized MSSP services to its clients based on their customers’ demands. The company has automation, orchestration, and methodology for an effective and efficient system to provide clients with the best solutions. It also assigns a dedicated, U.S.-based person to every customer’s account to best address their pain points and provides the best level of customer service that the client expects. The company gives its customers a clear understanding of what goes into the cost.
The company takes a vendor-agnostic approach and customizes its services to client’s business needs. With two levels of service to match client needs, the company handles anything from logging and configuration to response and remediation. Whether fully managed or co-managed, its team of experts is ready to enhance your security posture.
Below are the most-requested security services (MSSP) Alacrinet provides.
- Managed SIEM
Implementing the leading SIEM (Security Intelligence Event Management) solutions makes it possible to view logs of all activity on your network and respond quickly to high-profile events. However, analysts still need to take action to review and resolve each incident. By outsourcing these tasks, you can augment your team and gain the expertise needed to continually tune your SIEM for optimal performance.
- Managed Endpoint
Ensuring all devices that connect to your network are patched and meet policy guidelines involves continuous monitoring and action. Alacrinet works with endpoint security solutions like CarbonBlack and CrowdStrike, as well as endpoint management solutions like BigFix and SCCM.
- Managed Firewall
The firewall is the frontline of any organization’s network’s defense. Beyond keeping it patched and up to date to stop vulnerabilities as they are identified, Alacrinet’s team of analysts provides reporting and analysis of your network to ensure your organization is informed and in control.
- Vulnerability Assessments and Security Reporting
Different projects and compliance regulations require different types of reports. The company understands the intricacies of compliance reporting and has the skills and tools ready to assist the client’s team.
- Integrations and Customizations
Alacrinet assembles great technology to create and integrate customized solutions. Its Cloud, Analytics, Mobile, Social, and Portal offer key solutions for your IT infrastructure. It is critical for each solution to work together and with the security tools you have invested in. With years of expertise executing the leading solutions, Alacrinet’s team of developers is prepared to meet your most complex challenges.
Professional Services and Skills
The Alacrinet team has been delivering advanced solutions and solving complex problems for over 19 years. As the IT industry has expanded, the company has accumulated key skills based on the needs of its customers. With deep skills in security – as well as a proven track record of experience in cloud, analytics, mobile, and social.
It applies that knowledge and expertise to help its clients solve the demanding challenges of their business. The company’s team has deep expertise in areas like development (front end, server-side, and mobile), administration, project management, and UX & UI.
Alacrinet’s Core Values
When asked about core values upon which Alacrinet is running its successful operations, Brian replies that “It is conceptually in the name. The root word of the company’s name is “alacrity.” If you look up the definition of alacrity in the dictionary, you will find out it is joyous promptitude and a willingness and eagerness.”
The company has created a team of individuals that have joyous promptitude to achieve a common goal or to eagerly and with promptness satisfy its customers’ needs. “So, that is our first and foremost core value,” he adds.
The next core value in the list – is customer first. The company makes sure that each employee has an eagerness and a willingness to solve its customers’ problems and provide great service. And it is a very consultative-model type of company. A lot of its previous and past employees have worked at some of the top consulting companies like Accenture and IBM Global Services.
Brian’s Journey in the Industry
When asked about how his journey has shaped up in the IT and cybersecurity industry, Brian says, “If you read my LinkedIn, it will tell you all the different hats I wear. I think one of the largest areas of contribution that I have with the company is in the marketing and in the sales.”
Describing his experience over the years, he further says, “I have learned in the 20 years of being an entrepreneur and running a business is you have to have a great product, yes. That’s a given. Once you have a great product and a great offering, you have to be able to communicate it to your target audience and create effective marketing strategies and sales tools. I think I bring great marketing and sales strategies for the company.”
Advanced Technologies in Cybersecurity
Advanced technologies like artificial intelligence and machine learning are revolutionizing the IT industry’s functions. When asked about how these technologies are being adopted in the cybersecurity industry, Brian said, “AI today is still in its early forms. And the reason I say that is that computing power is not at the point yet where it could do a lot more sophisticated things. But as a discipline and as a sector, what is really interesting is that cybersecurity was one of the first areas that AI could be applied to, and it made a lot of sense.”
He adds, “A lot of these new tools, what I would call second-gen AI on the side of security, is just a lot deeper analytics, and as computing power gets more robust, you will even be able to potentially remove the security analyst from the equation. Now that is where we are going with this, but we are not there yet – but that’s how AI has contributed to cybersecurity so far.”
Next Big Change in The Cyber Security Space
Cybersecurity is not just about protecting your company’s digital assets from hackers from common backgrounds. The conflicts between nation-states could also cause the state-owned agency hackers to attack the other nation’s private and public digital resources. Brian calls this an ‘Arms Race.’
“In cybersecurity, I think that there is going to be a need for more and more solutions; basically solutions built to combat the next vulnerability that is exploited in cyberspace,” Brian notes.
There is going to be the constant need to stay on top of the latest threat landscape and for organizations to purchase and acquire solutions to protect themselves from all the latest threats that are in the marketplace. Otherwise, you leave your organization open to these ransomware attacks and so on and so forth.
“What I see happening is a continued arms race that’s going to go into the future. And I think it is going to propel the marketplace as a whole. For us, as a cybersecurity provider, it is going to be good. For the overall marketplace, it just means that they are going to have to stay focused and vigilant by continuing to stay focused on cybersecurity. I do not think it is going away anytime soon. That is where I see the market heading,” he adds.
Growth of Operations in 2022
Alacrinet’s tremendous success kind of speaks for itself. It is now acquiring record numbers of new customers, and new logos every year. Its revenues are also significantly growing every year. It has established a very successful business model for the current marketplace.
When asked for plans for further growth of the company, Brian states that “Our focus now is going to be on growth. We are going to continue to hire more salespeople and try and expand our capability of offering our services and the products and solutions to more customers.”
“Now that we have built a successful model, the next stage of entrepreneurism is to manage and expand our business. We just need to focus on growth and acquire more customers. New markets are the same markets, but we would like to expand to more geographies. So that is what we are going to be focused on, for 2022 and beyond,” he adds.
The company is also expanding its sales team. It is building out its staff and teams who support its core competencies.
Words of Guidance
Brian has worked in the industry for 20-plus years. He has developed a wide and deep understanding of the sector, the understanding which can be very useful to entrepreneurs who wish to venture into the cybersecurity field.
As a word of advice to such aspirants, Brian says, “I would suggest you gain some experience in cyber security before you just jump in the market. It is a crowded field, and there are a lot of people that have been doing this for a while. It is going to be a tough fight if you don’t have any background or knowledge in the environment.”
For those with experience, he says, “Trust your gut and build something that creates value in the marketplace, and I think that the marketplace is going to be very responsive if you do so. So, if you are an entrepreneur in cyber security, you should know your market, and you should be trying to bring value using the insights you can bring to it.”
