Partner Spotlight: Gigamon and ETC Team Up to Protect Highly Critical Infrastructure

ETC Technology Systems Joint Stock Company (ETC for short) is one of the leading IT companies in Vietnam, providing cutting-edge solutions that fit customers’ existing platforms and optimize the efficiency of their operations.

We spoke with Mr. Pham Tien Hung, Chairman and Co-founder of ETC, to find out how the company and Gigamon work together to help secure critical infrastructure and provide customers in sectors like government and banking with full network visibility.

Gigamon: Who is ETC, and what is the company’s history?

ETC: Established in 2004 with a humble beginning of 5 employees, ETC now has more than 900 highly qualified employees who have graduated from prestigious universities around the world, specializing in information and communication technology. The company has gradually accumulated successes in the IT field for the past 20 years, endeavoring to achieve trust and support from our domestic and global customers and partners. We believe that success can only be built from mutual trust, so our products and services aim for customer satisfaction, and we are committed to quality. 

Gigamon: What does your company name stand for?

ETC: ETC stands for “et cetera.” Believing that our brand would provide unlimited innovation, ETC focuses on foundational achievements to continue reaping success in the future. Our logo combines the seed of life and the tree of life, encapsulating the idea of inception, formation, and development. It’s a symbol of the tightly knit six elements that represent the success of our people, culture, strategic vision, core, and practical values. ETC constantly strives to reach new heights, bringing long-term value to ETC itself and all of society.

Gigamon: Describe your company culture. What makes you tick?

ETC: ETC possesses teams of young and dynamic members who work closely with each other and the board of directors to provide customers with the most suitable solutions. This allows for an intergenerational and open space for discussion, paving the way and closing the technology gap among colleagues. ETC takes pride in being responsible for developing and implementing hardware infrastructure, software applications, and integration for highly reputable financial enterprises and state agencies. ETC will continue to closely cooperate with customers on a joint path to success.

Gigamon: When and how did you become a Gigamon partner?

ETC: We became a Gigamon partner in 2019.

Gigamon: If you had to describe Gigamon with just one word, what would it be?

ETC: Forefront. 

Gigamon: What are some of your market’s specifics, advantages, and challenges when it comes to network security and visibility?

ETC: As a leading system integrator in Vietnam, ETC takes pride in providing services to public sectors, enterprises, banking, and financial services that demand the most stringent regulatory requirements. We work with vendors and partners with strong capabilities and proven track records to ensure everything goes right from the beginning. Many of our implementations help protect critical infrastructure, so any compromise is unacceptable. Maintaining airtight protection while having full visibility of network security is a common challenge that we help our customers address.

Gigamon: Which Gigamon features stand out the most and make the product outstrip its competitors?

ETC: There is not one single feature that makes the product stand out. We evaluated multiple top-ranked products and had deep technical discussions with vendors about critical design considerations. We decided that Gigamon was the most suited to protect critical government infrastructures. Ensuring bulletproof, airtight protection and zero downtime impact on critical infrastructure is not easy with many vendors, but Gigamon is capable.

Gigamon: How do ETC and Gigamon work together to solve your customers’ problems?

ETC: The best system integrator uses the best technologies to deliver the best solutions. We use Gigamon network security and visibility to implement the largest and most complicated SOC for critical industrial infrastructure in the country.

Gigamon: Where do you see the trends in network security and visibility in three years’ time?

ETC: People are migrating to cloud technology quickly following recent trends, so network security and visibility demands on cloud tech are going to boom as well. But we cannot forget that valuable treasures will still be on-premises, and the demands there will always increase due to sophisticated attacks, so we must constantly continue to adapt and upgrade.

Gigamon: What’s an anecdote that customers share when they talk about our products and your products and services?

ETC: One of our customers intended to deploy several data diodes to maintain airgap protection compliance for business monitoring applications, and the project could not get through due to the financial cost of the high-performance data diodes. With Gigamon, though, we were able to hit two birds with one stone: supporting both the business monitoring applications and network visibility.

Gigamon: What is the most memorable moment associated with Gigamon as a partner?

ETC: Gigamon has always been very enthusiastic and responsive in providing ETC with the best possible support regarding our projects. Not only that, but the technical knowledge that the Gigamon team possesses has been invaluable; the Gigamon team has never hesitated to share their knowledge with us. The pace at which Gigamon operates and the data they collect allows quick and accurate information to be disseminated to customers –– that is a crucial factor in obtaining projects.

Gigamon: What are the wow moments associated with Gigamon?

ETC: We built a unique solution that can utilize Gigamon network visibility devices to stream business data, which is in huge demand in the classified data protection and critical infrastructure monitoring field.

Gigamon: What are some of the new challenges you see in the market that your partnership with Gigamon can solve?

ETC: Our current society is undergoing constant technological innovation, which comes with challenges, including information leaks, espionage, extortion, and cyberwarfare. Because of this, cybersecurity has become one of the most in-demand intelligent technology services in the market. As a solution provider, ETC must face these security challenges head-on. It’s a crucial part of the service we provide for our customers.

With the release of Gigamon’s latest product, GigaVUE-OS, along with its complementary software series version 5.16.00, Gigamon provides a solution for security challenges. Our members, now qualified with prestigious security certifications, can utilize Gigamon products to the best of their ability and implement them in our projects. 

Gigamon: What are the positive business outcomes as a Gigamon partner?

ETC: With the solutions provided by Gigamon, ETC has been able to reach out to diverse types of customers and expand our capability as a solution provider. Thanks to Gigamon, ETC does not have to worry about the quality of our products and services.

Gigamon: What unique capabilities does this partnership bring to your business?

ETC: Together, we are the market leaders in providing SOC implementation for critical industrial infrastructure.

Gigamon: What are some of the benefits of the Gigamon Partner Program that stand out, such as trainings, incentives, discounts, or co-marketing?

ETC: In the Gigamon Partner Program, co-marketing stands out. Market Development Funds can provide a structured vehicle for vendors and partners to co-invest in activities meant to optimize partner strengths and produce the highest possible returns for everyone. Co-marketing will help Gigamon expand in the Vietnamese market. We also are interested in the Flexible Customer Support Relationship because it allows us to focus on what we do best: provide solutions. 

Gigamon: Thank you, ETC, for making time for us and for being such a wonderful partner.