A Secure Future: Netrix IT's SOC Certification Is Driving Stellar Sales Growth

When a major insurance provider had millions of dollars in policies put at risk because its IT department did not have a rigorous SOC 2 compliance report, it turned to Netrix IT, one of the top MSPs in the Midwest.

Netrix IT, which has held the prestigious SOC 2 Type 1 status for the past two years, effectively saved the day. It would have taken the insurance company a year or more to meet the SOC 2 requirements, but by teaming with a trusted provider like Netrix IT it was able to guarantee its security policies and procedures were best-in-class.

The Netrix IT SOC 2 success story is a classic example of an MSP raising the bar and differentiating itself from a pack of competitors.

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"We saw the MSP landscape changing and got ahead of it with the SOC 2 compliance," said Nick Olerud, director of technology and security for the MSP. "If we didn't make this change we would be in the same bucket with every other MSP."

The SOC 2 compliance, in fact, has become the centerpiece of a security managed services portfolio driving stellar sales growth, with average deal size doubling and recurring sales growing at a triple-digit rate, said Olerud. "At least half our business is being driven by our SOC 2 compliance," he said.

That business, by the way, is a 100 percent recurring revenue model with Netrix IT doing monthly security reports for customers focusing on everything from system operations to logical and physical access controls.

The SOC 2 compliance has also put Netrix IT into larger enterprises and community banks looking for help in ensuring they have the procedures and policies necessary to keep them from being the next company singled out for a major data breach. "We are supplementing internal IT strategically by injecting our security processes and even interviewing IT staff for them to hire," said Olerud.

Customers also become part of the company's VirtualCIO program, which puts Netrix IT into a trusted business partner position focusing on business outcomes. "We tell everyone at Netrix IT to think like a business owner," said Olerud.

Thinking like a business owner requires long-term planning so Netrix IT maps out a three-year IT road map for every customer. "It makes it clear to the customer that we don't want to be your IT provider, we want to be your business partner," he said.

Olerud said more companies are demanding the SOC 2 compliance to ensure they do not face the fallout from a major data breach. "We are making SOC 2 a checkbox for customers who don't have to lose sleep at night worrying about security compliance," he said. "When you are dealing with cybersecurity, your risk as a business partner is amplified by 10X. We are the ones in control of the customer's reputation. Their revenue falls on our plate. If one of our clients gets hacked not only does their reputation get ruined, so does ours. That is a huge burden to carry. But we are confident we have our customers' back."

That focus on protecting customers as a trusted business partner ensures a bright and secure future for those customers and for Netrix IT.

BACKTALK: Do you have your customers’ back? Contact Steven Burke at [email protected].