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Startup Nexpertis Doubled in Size with Forcepoint Helping Deliver Secure and Agile Cloud Services

The Polish business process expert leverages Forcepoint Next Generation Firewalls to provide adaptable, GDPR-compliant network security to customers using its hosted cloud services.

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Industry

IT Services

Headquarters

波蘭

Nexpertis is a fast-growing, Warsaw, Poland-based cloud services provider helping customers throughout Central and Eastern Europe integrate Microsoft SharePoint, Office 365, and other cloud-based productivity and collaboration platforms. Nexpertis provides hosted cloud services to customers via VPNs provided by Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall. With a healthy mix of private and public sector clients, the Polish cloud integrator must maintain network security that can both accommodate the fast-paced digital demands of growing businesses as well as comply with strict regulations governing data protection in the EU and individual European countries.

Challenges

  • Provide customers with secure, always-on access to hosted cloud services.
  • Comply with governmental and industry privacy laws and standards.
  • Scale network security cost effectively as needed. Improve internal network security to better counter threats like malware.

Approach

  • Replace existing network security solution with Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall.

Results

  • Achieved secure, compliant provisioning of cloud services to customers.
  • Better visibility and control over internal network security.
  • Doubled in size as a company in just two years, thanks in part to ability to expand networking capabilities cost-effectively with Forcepoint NGFW.

Nexpertis is a company on the upswing. The startup began by providing business process management (BPM) to both public sector organizations and private companies in Poland, advising clients on how to improve their operations with proven platforms, needs analysis, and solution implementation to effectively meet business challenges. From the beginning, Nexpertis focused on building lasting relationships with its clients, helping them increase efficiency, reduce risk, and increase stability. At the same time, the company understood that well-selected and implemented technology could be a powerful source of business acceleration.

So, when Nexpertis decided to offer its own secure, hosted cloud services, it looked for the combination of both the right partner and the right technology to deliver the best, most secure experience to its clients.

“We faced a lot of challenges because we are a very fast-growing company. We first really expanded our customer portfolio when we signed a very important contract with a Polish bank. That forced us to get better in terms of the service levels and of course, in our security capabilities,” explained Piotr Kulicki, Business Development and Infrastructure Services Director at Nexpertis.

“We needed to build up a VPN framework between our data center and our own offices, as well as provide our data center services safely to customers.” Selecting the right partner with the right technology solution would be critical.

Finding the right network security solution takes time

Despite the urgency, Nexpertis didn’t just purchase the first NGFW solution to come along, Kulicki said. “The process of choosing a VPN and firewall took a very long time. Forcepoint became a crucial partner to us in this process as we did our Proof of Concept and worked out the project details. Forcepoint’s flexibility in working with us was a big factor in our decision.”

In terms of technology, the company found that Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall (NGFW) VPN gateways provided the mix of features and capabilities it wanted, including the ability to ensure consistent policy enforcement for compliance with the EU’s GDPR regulations and other governmental and industry data protection standards. Kulicki also praised Forcepoint NGFW’s VPN tunneling, Sidewinder proxies, SD-WAN support, and best-in-class protection against cybersecurity threats.

Nexpertis wanted a firewall it could use for its own security but which would also form the foundation of the network security it provides customers for its hosted cloud services. Kulicki’s team concluded that Forcepoint NGFW offered the best protection available for sensitive customer data like invoices, project documentation, and other forms of IP.

Nexpertis must safeguard that data across the broad range of services it integrates, hosts, and manages for customers, including:

  • Project servers
  • Project and workflow management solutions
  • Invoice management systems
  • Payroll and expensing systems
  • Microsoft SharePoint, Office 365 and Power BI integrations

“We use a reverse proxy authentication gateway for our clients,” Kulicki said, referring to the way Nexpertis configures network-level proxies within Forcepoint NGFW to best protect mission-critical applications. “We experimented with many reverse proxies but only Forcepoint’s solution satisfied our needs.”

Growing side by side with Forcepoint

In the two years since choosing Forcepoint to support its cloud offering the company has doubled in size, and the ability to offer its BPM solutions securely over the cloud has won Nexpertis large new customers in sectors like banking and insurance, as well as a national postal service.

And, the company is on pace to double in size again this year. With further ambitious plans for growth, Kulicki said the company will continue to depend on Forcepoint as a partner and not just a vendor.

“The price-performance levels are nice but what’s really great is that if I have a problem with the technology, Forcepoint gets us an answer and some help really fast. That local support is very important for helping us maintain our business service levels. And our customers like the local connection as well,” he said.

Nexpertis leverages a couple of key NGFW features to assist in business growth. Forcepoint NGFW’s high-availability clustering capabilities reduce the complexity and licenses required to expand network security. SD-WAN support also helps reduce the cost of scaling out the company’s network by connecting different geographical sites via whichever local commodity broadband links are the most price-appropriate and dependable.

Since transitioning to Forcepoint NGFW, Nexpertis has been able to offer its customers a more secure means of using its hosted cloud services, while maintaining full compliance with all governmental regulations and industry standards as required. Nexpertis is also more satisfied with its own internal network security and has more visibility into and control over threats like malware.

Finally, Kulicki said the savings it gains using Forcepoint NGFW’s clustering and SD-WAN capabilities can be put towards growing even faster in the countries where it operates and beyond.

“We would still be able to expand without Forcepoint NGFW. But it would be much more difficult and expensive to do so.”

Piotr Kulicki
,
Business Development and Infrastructure Services Director, Nexpertis
Nexpertis

Cloud services provider delivering BPM solutions to private and public sector customers in Central and Eastern Europe.