At Peterborough and the Kawarthas-based Shaw Computer Systems, the customer always comes first. This mindset has informed every aspect of the business and began over 40 years ago when the company first opened its doors. The company prides itself on delivering high-quality, custom services, which has helped establish Shaw Computer Systems’ reputation as a trusted partner and IT solutions provider.
“We’re from a smaller community, so word of mouth is absolutely everything in our business,” says Martin Boruta, President at Shaw Computer Systems. “If we’re not providing that level of service, we don’t get new clients, we lose clients. The number one thing for us is to ensure our customers are happy.”
Over the years, the company has moved away from providing break-fix services to establish itself as a leader in security and business continuity. For Shaw Computer Systems, the job is clear: deliver everything the client needs, before they need it, to keep IT from becoming a hindrance in their day.
With remote and hybrid work models changing the landscape of cybercrime and threat actors shifting their focus towards SMBs, Shaw Computer Systems saw the potential impacts these new threats could have on their clients.
Attackers now employ increasingly aggressive tactics, and Shaw Computer Systems recognized that antivirus and endpoint protection alone were no longer adequate defenses.
The company set about proactively educating and informing their clients about the dangers of cybercrime, including ransomware and data breaches, to help harden defenses. But to better mitigate risk and avoid downtime, the Shaw Computer Systems team knew they would need to introduce a new grade of tooling that would empower them to stay ahead of the latest tactics in the environment.
“If our clients are down, they’re not functioning in their business and making money,” says Carlye Mongraw, Vice President at Shaw Computer Systems. “It’s important to us and our clients that we’re being proactive to drive predictability.”
Beyond this immediate need, Shaw Computer Systems also saw a change in market demand.
“Several clients began to come to us for our cyber audits and insurance requirements,” explains Carlye. “We knew we needed to place ourselves more firmly in the security market to not only continue to give our clients the service they need, but to stay competitive.”
Shaw Computer Systems approached offering cybersecurity as a service as they did with everything else in their business—with a methodical and customer-first approach.
However, they found the market consistently underserved their needs and the needs of their SMB customers. Vendors on the market were either too expensive for their clients, too complex and time-consuming to manage, or too reactive.
“We couldn’t find a security operations center (SOC) that would be cost-effective for our clients while also providing the protection they needed,” says Carlye.
Shaw Computer Systems’ search came to an end when they discovered Field Effect MDR.
The simplicity and breadth of Field Effect MDR’s service immediately stood out to Shaw Computer Systems.
“Field Effect MDR offered better security than any other solution out there that we could compare it to,” says Carlye. “It covered all three threat surfaces [endpoints, network, and cloud services] and included the Suspicious Email Analysis Service (SEAS), which we had not seen offered by any other vendor.”
In addition, Field Effect’s commitment to continuously evolving the platform to stay ahead of the latest threats and vulnerabilities gave Shaw Computer Systems the confidence that they could protect their clients long term.
“As a small MSP, there’s a limit to what we’re able to do alone,” explains Carlye, “so, it was important to us to find a partner that can be proactive about evolving as the threat landscape changes.”
Field Effect MDR seemed like an easy choice for Shaw Computer Systems but before they could offer this solution to their clients, they took it through a rigorous assessment process—which started with trying it out internally.
“If I had a Ford dealership, I wouldn’t drive a Chrysler,” comments Martin. “I’m trying to ensure that this is the product that’s appropriate for my customers, and if it’s appropriate for me and works great for me, then obviously there’s the trust and the faith in the product to offer it as a service. The last thing I want to do is give somebody a product that I wouldn’t use.”
The process of getting up and running with Field Effect MDR was fast and simple for Shaw Computer Systems, with ample support from both the technical and onboarding teams at Field Effect.
“The great thing about it is it was pretty turnkey,” says Carlye. “You just plug it in and there’s not a lot of costly configurations.”
The platform was also easy to monitor thanks to Field Effect MDR’s proprietary threat alerting system (Actions, Recommendations, and Observations, known as AROs) which offered clear visibility into threats so Shaw Computer Systems could act quickly before any impact could be felt by their customers.
With the introduction of Field Effect MDR to their solution suite, Shaw Computer Systems was able to confidently offer an all-in-one powerful cybersecurity service while continuing to deliver the trusted, proactive level of care and consideration their clients had come to expect.
The company can now monitor a wide range of threats, including malware, ransomware, system failures, misconfigurations, business email compromise, and more. Better yet, they can easily stop threats well in advance, improving uptime and customer satisfaction.
“As a managed service provider, it gives us confidence that our customers are protected from all sides,” says Carlye. “If something occurs at 2 a.m., we know we have a full team of experts on-call that will work to solve it while we sleep. Prior to that, it was just us.”
What’s more, with the introduction of Field Effect MDR, Shaw Computer Systems is now attracting new, larger business opportunities, opening a new market for growth.
“With Field Effect MDR, we’re seeing a change in our customer base too,” explains Martin. “As the solutions and our products become more sophisticated, we’re attracting larger customers who have more corporate or enterprise-type requirements.”
Shaw Computer Systems retooled their service stack with Field Effect MDR, providing a superior level of security service at an accessible price for their market. The response has been wildly successful, with Field Effect MDR revenues for 2023 already doubling those from 2022, their first year using the solution.
“If we were trying to come up with the same solution internally, it would be labor-intensive and expensive for our clients,” adds Martin. “It makes more sense from scalability. It’s not just confidence that our customers are protected, but it’s also helping us grow.”