Case Study

Concern Worldwide

What we did for Concern Worldwide

Wingman Firewalls

Industry: Charity

Published: 04/04/2024

Project Overview

SEP2 have been providing and managing Check Point firewalls for Concern Worldwide since 2022. This case study explores the origins of this relationship, what pushed the charity to change from their previous provider, and how working with SEP2 has made a world of difference to their experience.

Concern Worldwide are an international humanitarian organisation that strives for a world free from poverty, fear, and oppression. They implement a range of programmes, designed to address the specific causes of extreme poverty in communities across 25 countries.

The Challenge

Unreliable support
Long wait times for resolution

The Solution

Seamless, positive and proactive support
Assistance outside of business hours
Unquestionable technical skills

The Challenge

Concern Worldwide have been a Check Point customer since 2019, with approximately 70 Check Point security gateways across their head offices in Dublin and worldwide.

Concern didn’t start their Check Point journey with SEP2 but with another provider. They found their experience didn’t match expectations, especially regarding ongoing support. The charity
sometimes had to wait a long time for answers to their queries and they were often referred to the Check Point Technical Assistance Center (TAC) which further prolonged the resolution time. As Damian Tracy, IT Operations Manager at Concern says:

“We believed that we had a solid product in Check Point, so when the support contract came up for renewal, we knew we had to look at our options.”

The Solution

SEP2’s high level of accreditation – being an Elite partner, a Certified Collaborative Support Partner (CCSP), CloudGuard Partner, Certified Professional Services Partner, Maestro Partner and Harmony Endpoint Partner – was a crucial factor in Concern’s decision but wasn’t the only one. As Damian says, “You can have all the badges in the world, but what mattered most to us was to see that knowledge of the product. SEP2 showed that from the get-go.”

A positive point that kept cropping up was how proactive the SEP2 team is in their support, not waiting until there are issues before reaching out. This is part of a wider culture at SEP2 of keeping the customer informed, something that not all Security Providers necessarily do.

In Oliver’s words, “the logic is that knowledge is power, and other Security Providers don’t necessarily empower you as the customer.”

In contrast, SEP2 shares their insights, keeping Oliver informed and allowing him to increase his own knowledge of the security gateways.

This has led to a great working relationship – as Oliver says, “you could say we’ve built up a rapport, and even a bit of banter.” Damian echoes this positive sentiment saying, “Their technical skills are unquestionable, their response is always prompt and courteous, their communication is always clear, and they give us excellent value for money. They have truly changed our experience with our Firewall support.”

Finding SEP2

SEP2 were recommended to Concern Worldwide by Check Point as one of their most accredited and technically accomplished partners in the UK. Damian says that the knowledge of the SEP2 team was apparent from the start.

“During the evaluation process it was clear to me that SEP2 were the strongest candidate from a technical standpoint. During our first meeting, their ability to give immediate solutions to ongoing issues we were experiencing at the time was a breath of fresh air.”

Damian Tracy, IT Operations Manager

Working with SEP2

Concern Worldwide say that their experience with SEP2 has been painless and highly positive. Oliver Brady, Network and Security Engineer at Concern is the main point of contact with the SEP2 team and reports that they have “been really willing to help us anytime we have any issues, even at slightly unusual hours of the day they’ve been happy to help.”

Looking into the furture

Concern Worldwide will be continuing with SEP2 as their chosen partner for Check Point.

“There’s no doubt that the difference that SEP2 have made,” Damian summarises. “Long may our relationship with SEP2 last!”

Testimonials

Hear From Those We Protect

You’re vendor agnostic, which is key for growth, and your team are providing really good insights in terms of the alerts raised. They also provide meaningful context behind them, which is great for us as an organisation,”

When we hit the limits of our knowledge, it’s having SEP2 there to say, ‘Try these things first.’ That expertise on hand is really important to us.

To have people like that around our account that we can pick the phone up to and ask questions was refreshing. Ultimately, we trusted SEP2 and we trust you with our cyber security.

Often the term used is ‘you can’t see the wood for the trees’. Most organisations implement security tooling tools and you’ve got different dashboards. The idea is you put them into a single place, and leverage expert resource such as the SEP2 SOC that actually understands that data and work with it on a daily basis. They can assess it case-by-case and escalate it back to us at Funding Circle only when necessary. And that whole process has been really, really smooth.

They are phenomenal: both personable and very knowledgeable. Our main contact is like a fountain of knowledge. If you ask him a question, he always comes back with ten answers – all the shades of grey, not just a ‘Yes’ or ‘No.’ To me that shows the level of passion he has, and that he really wants to do things properly.

The original group of people who founded SEP2 were very deep in their knowledge of this type of technology, which can be complicated. It’s become the whole field of firewalls, intrusion prevention, antivirus, ransomware, etc. Cyber security as a whole has really ballooned, and there’s lots of dimensions to it, but you’ve managed to keep up.

During the evaluation process it was clear to me that SEP2 were the strongest candidate from a technical standpoint. During our first meeting, their ability to give immediate solutions to ongoing issues we were experiencing at the time was a breath of fresh air.

SEP2 are knowledgeable, motivated and switched on; they take ownership and they have a drive for resolution. They know their stuff! They are not merely a firewall partner, they are a cyber security partner. They take a strategic approach. They are approachable and offer additional value outside of their support contract. Working with SEP2 means we are no longer fire-fighting; rather we can now take a step back and proactively get things sorted. SEP2 say they are tech driven and people powered, and that’s exactly what they are! It all comes down to the people you are dealing with.

They live and breathe the technology. It comes from the top, however, everyone is an expert within SEP2, from sales through to the service desk. We don’t want to wait to be told what more we can get from vendors’ products. SEP2 are great in pro-actively helping us achieve value-add solutions. They aren’t about chasing revenues, they are about providing best possible value.