Giving secure access to your cloud, instantly
Bengaluru-based InstaSafe helps mobile, remote workers securely access enterprise apps, e-mail and web on a SaaS model, writes K Rajani Kanth
The information technology (IT) division of Bengalurubased real estate and construction player Salarpuria Sattva Group was faced with last-mile connectivity issues of its MPLS (multiprotocol label switching) network. It now uses InstaSafe Secure Access (ISA), a cloud-enabled, secure access solution of Bengaluru-based cloud-based security solutions startup 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.