Partner Spotlight: Atlantic Data Security and Gigamon Help Clients Safeguard Digital Assets

Atlantic Data Security (ADS) started its operations in the basement of a single-family residence in Wethersfield, CT, in the early ’90s. Through dedication and perseverance, it grew to become the industry pioneer, leader, and cybersecurity powerhouse it is today.

We spoke to Eric Anderson, cyber evangelist, architect, and instructor, to learn more about the company and how it works with Gigamon to deliver top-tier cyber protection to clients and their customers.

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

Eric: ADS was formed when two leading cybersecurity organizations in the Northeast decided to merge. Both companies started in the early ’90s and occasionally competed geographically. We finally realized we’d be better able to help our clients if we got together, so in 2018, we combined to form Atlantic Data Security. We complemented each other so well that there was no overlap or job elimination. In fact, we started hiring and expanding almost immediately, playing off our combined strengths.

Gigamon: What does your company name stand for? 
Eric: It stems from our founding along the East Coast of the U.S. While we have a strong physical presence from New England to Florida, we also have personnel and clientele across North America. In actuality, our clients have presence all over the world and we are able to support them anywhere.

Gigamon: Describe your company culture. What makes you tick? 
Eric: We’re a highly skilled and capable solution provider that’s able to punch well above our weight class (at least in terms of traditional head count). By paying close attention to the quality of personnel at all levels, we’ve been able to maintain a friendly, small company culture that keeps us nimble, agile, creative, and fun to work for and with.

Gigamon: When and how did you become a Gigamon partner? 
Eric: It’s been so long that I’m not exactly sure when, but it was driven by clients seeking better network visibility and control. Through our own research, we arrived at a very short list of solutions and Gigamon clearly stood out as best-of-breed. 

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

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

Eric: Like many aspects of cybersecurity, we need involvement and buy-in from multiple departments. In larger organizations, it can sometimes be challenging for the security-focused teams to engage those responsible for switching and routing, never mind infrastructure and development. Showing all involved how we can help maximize visibility and control with minimal or zero disruption is key.

Gigamon: Which Gigamon features stand out the most and make the product outstrip its competitors? 
Eric: I’m a big fan of Gigamon Precryption^™ technology. The ability to deliver unencrypted visibility to an entire security stack without having to deal with multiple layers of proxies or other decryption methods is game-changing.

Gigamon: How do you see ADS fit together with Gigamon to solve your customers’ problems? 

Eric: ADS has frequently leveraged Gigamon to help implement, test, migrate, and upgrade client environments in situations that would otherwise be much more challenging, time-consuming, and costly.  More importantly, with our combined focus on security we are able to leverage Gigamon to avoid gaps during migrations, whether they are on-prem, cloud, or hybrid.

Gigamon: Where do you see the trends in network security and visibility in three years’ time? 
Eric: I expect the practice of tapping into streams at the network level (physical or otherwise) will become more commonplace and essential. Having better, more comprehensive access to the data traversing our environments will result in more effective machine learning and more capable AI.

Gigamon: Provide an anecdote that customers share when they talk about our products and your products and services. 

Eric: Many customers remark on the heightened visibility and insight that comes from the ease of deploying taps and aggregators. They keep wanting to see more, and it’s not difficult to do so.

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

Eric: Gigamon dramatically simplified a multipoint upgrade in a complex, highly sensitive customer environment. We were able to assist with otherwise risky operations, with little to no fear of negative impact.

Gigamon: What are the “wow” moments associated with Gigamon? 

Eric: I think the biggest “wow” comes when we are able to deliver on big promises with no negative impact.  

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

Eric: The continued adoption of the cloud without provider loyalty poses a challenge. As customers embrace multiple cloud providers and move solutions between them, Gigamon enables consistent visibility without re-inventing the wheel.

Gigamon: What are the Positive Business Outcomes as a Gigamon partner? 

Eric: Happier customers! Clients are always happy when we can improve their visibility and security posture while reducing their costs.

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

Eric: The partnership with Gigamon opens up new lines of discussion and helps integrate security into other aspects of our customers’ purview.  We can easily introduce new insights and offerings and not have to dance around re-architecting anything.

Gigamon: What are some of the benefits of the Gigamon Partner Program that stand out? Trainings? Incentives? Discounts? Co-marketing? 

Eric: Honestly, one of the biggest benefits is the Gigamon team we get to work with. From the top to bottom and at every level, they are fantastic folks who genuinely contribute to our mutual success.

Gigamon: Thanks, Eric, for making time for us and for being such a wonderful partner!