 "Giving secure access to your cloud, instantly")
The information technology (IT) division of Bengaluru-based real estate and construction player Salarpuria Sattva Group was faced with last-mile connectivity issues of its MPLS (multi-protocol label switching) network. It now uses InstaSafe Secure Access (ISA), a cloud-enabled, secure access solution of Bengaluru-based cloud-based security solutions start-up InstaSafe, and 4G internet dongles, with complete peace of mind.
Salarpuria Sattva Group is one of the growing number of customers, including AV Birla, Koovs.com, DTDC Courier and Cargo, Startrek SpotOn Logistics and Sangeeta Mobiles, which are using InstaSafe's solutions to solve the challenges of securing users beyond their corporate network.
The beginning
"Enterprises and SMB IT organisations face many challenges in managing the network security of their distributed branch locations and remote mobile workers, due to the need to procure expensive security hardware boxes, budget for prohibitive capital expenses, manage operational complexity of upgrade and hardware refresh cycles, and cope with lack of trained technical manpower in remote locations," says InstaSafe co-founder Sandip Kumar Panda.
He says, InstaSafe was founded on the philosophy that the world of IT security was transforming with the rise of the cloud and mobility. InstaSafe wants to enable businesses to embrace innovation, while delivering a flexible security posture for the remote mobile worker. While appliance-based network security solutions were designed for the traditional network, InstaSafe cloud-delivered security service model is flexible and scales to address the modern enterprise, he adds. Panda, who has done a degree in computer science and engineering, and received an MBA from XIMB, Bhubaneswar, founded InstaSafe in November 2012 with Biju George, Prashanth Guruswamy and Deepak Panigrahy. The company was incubated out of Microsoft Ventures Accelerator.
The technology
Unlike appliance-based solutions, InstaSafe offers a hardware-free, zero-configuration, self-service style, security-as-a-service (SaaS), which could be deployed in minutes. It provides users the ability to securely access corporate apps from any location, using any operating system and on any device, from PCs to smartphones and tablet devices. "Our cloud-based service is quick and inexpensive to deploy. At the same time, our solution provides IT departments with enterprise-grade security, sophisticated data encryption technologies and secure delivery networks. InstaSafe also offers an administrative console that allows IT administrators to manage their users, exercise granular security control, apply permission policies and maintain visibility on actions taken within corporate accounts," Panda explains.
Business dynamics
According to technology market research firm Infonetics, the managed security services market is projected to grow 45 per cent annually over the next five years, the driving factors being an increase in the volume, variety and complexity of threats of all types, security product sprawl, a distributed workforce and the proliferation of BYOD (Bring your own device)-erasing network perimeters. As IT infrastructure continues to move to the cloud, security will need to follow. Cloud-based security service revenue is forecast by Infonetics to grow at a 10 per cent compound annual rate from 2012 to 2017 to $9.2 billion.
InstaSafe's ISA solution has a subscription-based annual recurring revenue model. It derives its revenue principally from subscription fees from SMBs, IT service providers and enterprises. The majority of its customers subscribe to services on an annual basis and some via multi-year contracts. Customers can subscribe to one or more of their security solutions based on initial need and expand their subscriptions over time to new areas within their organisation or to additional InstaSafe security services. Bootstrapped and self-funded since inception, InstaSafe has closed an undisclosed round of seed funding from the Indian Angel Network and CIO Angel network.
It will be using this funding to put the infrastructure in place to building a lasting company.
"It includes expanding our sales and marketing teams, raising our visibility in the market and investing in continuing to build out our security offerings, particularly in the area of mobility. We further expect to raise the next round of funding and have started receiving positive responses," Panda says, while keeping his fingers crossed.
Reluctant to disclose revenues and financials, he however says InstaSafe has grown over 300 per cent since last year, and is looking at expanding overseas.
Investor speak
"Instasafe is very uniquely positioned in a space where it merges the SaaS and security together. For long, these things didn't go hand in hand for almost all enterprise businesses. Instasafe offering is highly secure and is scalable on-demand and this offers an exiting value proposition for customers as well as investors like us.This is an areas which will see lot of investments and will continue to grow as more and more enterprise customers continue to look towards cloud," says Vishal Khare, investor at the Indian Angel Network.
EXPERT TAKE: Radhakrishnan G
While running business across multiple platforms and geographies is a business imperative, it is also a source of high anxiety to the chief information officers (CIOs). In this digitally-connected world, ensuring a safe and secure infrastructure across multiple devices and networks is the top concern of most investment heads.
Instasafe scores with its simple and efficient security-as-a-service model delivered from the cloud, removing the need for multiple hardware appliances to be deployed and a crew of skilled personnel to manage the infrastructure. It gives customers the ability to implement an enterprise-grade network security solution in minutes across multiple devices accessing through varied networks, giving remote and mobile workers the ability to connect to enterprise apps, e-mails and web in a secured manner. Customers can also scale the solution up or down, depending on end-users accessing at that point of time. And, all this without the need for a team of skilled personnel. This is truly leveraging the power of cloud to deliver a business-critical security solution as a service. As a SaaS model, Instasafe cannot afford to slip on their deliverables and service-level agreements (SLAs). Constant innovation and customer delight is key to business growth. While Instasafe has the ability to become a global organisation, creating disruption in the cyber security space, their challenge will be to maintain the same quality of service as the business and the number of customers grow.
Instasafe will need to have a clear plan of action from a scalability perspective and focus energy and effort on making their solution more robust, strong and meaningful by investing in their engineering and technology, while at the same time maintaining a focus on customer service and support.
Salarpuria Sattva Group is one of the growing number of customers, including AV Birla, Koovs.com, DTDC Courier and Cargo, Startrek SpotOn Logistics and Sangeeta Mobiles, which are using InstaSafe's solutions to solve the challenges of securing users beyond their corporate network.
The beginning
"Enterprises and SMB IT organisations face many challenges in managing the network security of their distributed branch locations and remote mobile workers, due to the need to procure expensive security hardware boxes, budget for prohibitive capital expenses, manage operational complexity of upgrade and hardware refresh cycles, and cope with lack of trained technical manpower in remote locations," says InstaSafe co-founder Sandip Kumar Panda.
He says, InstaSafe was founded on the philosophy that the world of IT security was transforming with the rise of the cloud and mobility. InstaSafe wants to enable businesses to embrace innovation, while delivering a flexible security posture for the remote mobile worker. While appliance-based network security solutions were designed for the traditional network, InstaSafe cloud-delivered security service model is flexible and scales to address the modern enterprise, he adds. Panda, who has done a degree in computer science and engineering, and received an MBA from XIMB, Bhubaneswar, founded InstaSafe in November 2012 with Biju George, Prashanth Guruswamy and Deepak Panigrahy. The company was incubated out of Microsoft Ventures Accelerator.
The technology
Unlike appliance-based solutions, InstaSafe offers a hardware-free, zero-configuration, self-service style, security-as-a-service (SaaS), which could be deployed in minutes. It provides users the ability to securely access corporate apps from any location, using any operating system and on any device, from PCs to smartphones and tablet devices. "Our cloud-based service is quick and inexpensive to deploy. At the same time, our solution provides IT departments with enterprise-grade security, sophisticated data encryption technologies and secure delivery networks. InstaSafe also offers an administrative console that allows IT administrators to manage their users, exercise granular security control, apply permission policies and maintain visibility on actions taken within corporate accounts," Panda explains.
Business dynamics
According to technology market research firm Infonetics, the managed security services market is projected to grow 45 per cent annually over the next five years, the driving factors being an increase in the volume, variety and complexity of threats of all types, security product sprawl, a distributed workforce and the proliferation of BYOD (Bring your own device)-erasing network perimeters. As IT infrastructure continues to move to the cloud, security will need to follow. Cloud-based security service revenue is forecast by Infonetics to grow at a 10 per cent compound annual rate from 2012 to 2017 to $9.2 billion.
InstaSafe's ISA solution has a subscription-based annual recurring revenue model. It derives its revenue principally from subscription fees from SMBs, IT service providers and enterprises. The majority of its customers subscribe to services on an annual basis and some via multi-year contracts. Customers can subscribe to one or more of their security solutions based on initial need and expand their subscriptions over time to new areas within their organisation or to additional InstaSafe security services. Bootstrapped and self-funded since inception, InstaSafe has closed an undisclosed round of seed funding from the Indian Angel Network and CIO Angel network.
It will be using this funding to put the infrastructure in place to building a lasting company.
"It includes expanding our sales and marketing teams, raising our visibility in the market and investing in continuing to build out our security offerings, particularly in the area of mobility. We further expect to raise the next round of funding and have started receiving positive responses," Panda says, while keeping his fingers crossed.
Reluctant to disclose revenues and financials, he however says InstaSafe has grown over 300 per cent since last year, and is looking at expanding overseas.
Investor speak
"Instasafe is very uniquely positioned in a space where it merges the SaaS and security together. For long, these things didn't go hand in hand for almost all enterprise businesses. Instasafe offering is highly secure and is scalable on-demand and this offers an exiting value proposition for customers as well as investors like us.This is an areas which will see lot of investments and will continue to grow as more and more enterprise customers continue to look towards cloud," says Vishal Khare, investor at the Indian Angel Network.
EXPERT TAKE: Radhakrishnan G
While running business across multiple platforms and geographies is a business imperative, it is also a source of high anxiety to the chief information officers (CIOs). In this digitally-connected world, ensuring a safe and secure infrastructure across multiple devices and networks is the top concern of most investment heads.
Instasafe scores with its simple and efficient security-as-a-service model delivered from the cloud, removing the need for multiple hardware appliances to be deployed and a crew of skilled personnel to manage the infrastructure. It gives customers the ability to implement an enterprise-grade network security solution in minutes across multiple devices accessing through varied networks, giving remote and mobile workers the ability to connect to enterprise apps, e-mails and web in a secured manner. Customers can also scale the solution up or down, depending on end-users accessing at that point of time. And, all this without the need for a team of skilled personnel. This is truly leveraging the power of cloud to deliver a business-critical security solution as a service. As a SaaS model, Instasafe cannot afford to slip on their deliverables and service-level agreements (SLAs). Constant innovation and customer delight is key to business growth. While Instasafe has the ability to become a global organisation, creating disruption in the cyber security space, their challenge will be to maintain the same quality of service as the business and the number of customers grow.
Instasafe will need to have a clear plan of action from a scalability perspective and focus energy and effort on making their solution more robust, strong and meaningful by investing in their engineering and technology, while at the same time maintaining a focus on customer service and support.
Radhakrishnan G is vice-president (systems - India, Asia and Middle East) at Biocon Ltd