Company Chooses Sangoma's Desktop-as-a-Service Solution, saving them from Ransomware Attack
The Customer
West Michigan Technology Services is a Managed Service Provider (MSP) based in Grand Rapids. They function as an IT department agency for small business clients, including title companies, and perform the role that would be fulfilled by a dedicated IT staff in a larger company. West Michigan Technology Services provides a range of IT services including user support, network infrastructure, and organizational security policies and implementation.
Business Challenges
A regional title company, a customer of West Michigan Technology Services, fell victim to a catastrophic ransomware attack that targeted their DaaS (Desktop-as-a-Service) provider. The attack brought down all of their systems including virtual desktops, data, and backups. Despite the crisis, the DaaS provider informed them that all their systems would not be restored in the foreseeable future, leaving them stranded and locked out of all their data. This necessitated that they find and switch to a new DaaS provider that could create a new virtual environment for them quickly, so that they could continue doing business. The client reached out to West Michigan Technology Services to help find a new provider.
Solutions from Sangoma
Among the solutions considered, West Michigan Technology Services found Sangoma’s Connected Workspace. Connected Workspace is a DaaS solution bundled with voice and video collaboration tools, enabling businesses with the complete ‘office’ experience from any device and location. Backed by Citrix, the leader in virtual desktops, and Microsoft Azure, users access all their virtual desktops and SaaS tools, via an optimized experience with exceptional performance and reliability. Security protection is a key aspect of Connected Workspace, from multi-factor authentication (MFA) for the SSO web portal, to the fully dedicated platform engineers taking care of migration, monitoring, and maintenance of the service. A very attractive feature is the built-in ransomware and malware protection. Every file opened on each user’s virtual desktop is scanned and virus definitions are updated every 2 hours. Proprietary policies, procedures, and processes alert the system upon access attempts to unauthorized files, and in the case of a data breach Connected Workspace automatically reacts to restore accounts back into a safe state. Not only was Connected Workspace much more feature-rich than with the previous DaaS solution, it was also much more cost effective, with a price tag just a fourth of the cost. The decision to switch to Sangoma was an easy call, where the dedicated support team had them up and running within 48 hours!
The Results
The Connected Workspace team created a brand new SQL server and worked with the client’s software company, Resware, to create 42 virtual desktop accounts and onboard their applications, all within 48 hours. West Michigan Technology Services was in constant communication with the Sangoma team, and they were extremely satisfied with how Sangoma collaborated with Resware, completed the new system, and sent out detailed, user-friendly instructions to the client, all while keeping them informed with regular updates throughout the entire process. “The experience so far has been nothing short of spectacular” a representative from West Michigan Technology Services said. “Issues that have plagued users for years have disappeared almost overnight on the new system. The ability for us to create, delete, and reset passwords alone cut down immensely on tickets we would open with the previous company. The user desktop experience is also much more streamlined with the users only ever seeing “one” desktop instead of having to manage multiple desktops and email profiles. Thanks to the exceptional response time and support the Sangoma Connected Workspace team provided, the client was able to resume business operations with peace of mind and an overall superior platform. West Michigan Technology Services was also pleased that they were able to handle more issues themselves, such as fixing frozen apps, handling password changes, account creation and so on without relying on the provider. Their relationship with their client was further strengthened by recommending Sangoma for the new DaaS solution and reinforced their reputation as a trusted advisor.