DTS Grows MSP Business With Cybersecurity for Federal Contractors

Resetting the Perimeter Concept

Even before the Covid pandemic, organizations were rethinking the nature of the network perimeter and started to migrate resources to the cloud. Many government agencies and contractors saw the cybersecurity perimeter exactly as they saw a military perimeter: a fixed, physical place surrounded by concertina wire. The onset of the pandemic forced both government contractors and their government customers to “think outside the perimeter” and look for a new approach to networking. 

“If there were a cyberattack, their first instinct would have been to unplug the room from the Internet,” says Derek Kernus, Director of Cybersecurity Operations at DTS. “That might have worked years ago when all of the employees were in the same room, but with resources on the cloud—and remote employees—not today.”

“Contractors may have stopped using government computers or sitting in government offices, but they still need to be able to properly handle, store, and share government information. Our job is to show them how.”

Radically Improving and Simplifying Cybersecurity

DTS needed to encrypt all traffic while increasing the security of remote connections. They wanted a cybersecurity solution that would be easy to implement and require minimal effort or disruption to the employees of multiple clients. In other words, they wanted something radically simple.  

“Over the last 18 months, we’ve been working hard to provide government contractors with the IT security solutions that let them securely work wherever they are located,” says Kernus. “We couldn’t have done it without finding a robust security solution that didn’t have the notorious quirks of hardware VPNs or the time-consuming maintenance.” 

Perimeter 81 was an obvious choice for DTS due to its ease of use for both IT administrators and network users. 
“The backend setup is very intuitive and quick. The roll-out time can also be very quick but may vary from customer to customer since each has its own unique needs. Some want to be trained to manage their cloud on a day-to-day basis, while others prefer our full-service management solution. Perimeter 81’s multi-tenant UI gives us the control to deliver the right level of service for each customer.”

Security For the New World of Work

While DTS’ government clients filter back to work, either full-time in the office or on a hybrid schedule, employees of their defense contracting clients have scattered to the winds. “After about six to eight months of work from home during Covid, people started relocating in search of a better quality of life while keeping their existing jobs.” 

“By using Perimeter 81, Microsoft 365, Azure AD, and multifactor authentication, we can provide secure, NIST 800-171 compliant and CMMC-ready environments that let our clients transition to this new world of work. We offer a 100% cloud solution, with email, data storage, networking—and the highest levels of cybersecurity—wherever their users are located.” 

A Growth Engine for Business

Cybersecurity has been a growth engine for DTS. “The last two years in IT have been marked by a period of rapid and dramatic change, both with people working from home and the growth in ransomware. Adding a strong SASE cybersecurity product to our portfolio lets us generate additional revenue from our existing customers as well as attract new ones.”

Working with Perimeter 81 is also more than just selling products. It’s a true partnership in which the needs of the MSP are heard. “One of the reasons that we value Perimeter 81 is because they take feedback so seriously,” says Kernus. “They worked very hard to update their agents to better meet the needs of some of our clients. Having a vendor that works hard to support MSPs is critical. When we recommend and install Perimeter 81, our reputation is at stake. In a service business, your reputation is everything.”