Technology Associates Adopts OpenDNS for Cloud-Based MSP Security

Managed service provider (MSP) and consultant Technology Associates has adopted Umbrella by OpenDNS to secure their clients’ networks. It’s a move that the company said has reduced deployment and provisioning time from more than 24 hours per customer to less than less than 20 minutes.

Prior to adopting OpenDNS’s managed service provider model, Technology Associates had partnered with Zscaler to roll out Web filtering to its customers. “The relationship with Zscaler placed a heavy toll on Technology Associates’ essential resources,” the company said. “Managing customer accounts involved navigating separate dashboard logins and manually creating separate bills for each customer. In addition, using Zscaler required Technology Associates’ customers to install and maintain a router capable of GRE tunnels. This deployment requirement prevented many of the company’s small and medium businesses from receiving full security protection.”

Umbrella by OpenDNS offers cloud-delivered malware protection and Web filtering services through a Web-based dashboard. It integrates with any existing Internet infrastructure, and doesn’t require any additional hardware or software, eliminating compatibility concerns, the company noted.

“Umbrella by OpenDNS was designed for managed service provider deployments,” said Jeff Doggendorf, director of operations at Technology Associates. “Client provisioning at Zscaler took a call to support, setting up a pricing agreement with sales and a 24-hour turnaround for login credentials.”

He added, “I can easily provision and configure Umbrella by OpenDNS in just 20 minutes. This is huge for us as a managed service provider, as it enables us to show immediate results to our clients.”

Like many managed service providers, Technology Associates charges its customers a flat monthly fee for services, so the company’s goal is to ensure there’s an effective strategy in place to mitigate malware infections and maintain end-user uptime.

Umbrella stops malware both by preventing users from accessing infected Web sites and by stopping communication between a botnet-infected device and its online command and control server. The service is powered by Umbrella Security Labs, which leverages proprietary data mining algorithms to discover and predict Internet threats.

“Because Umbrella’s malware protection proactively blocks malicious sites, we spend less time cleaning up devices that have been infected, and our clients experience less user downtime due to machines that need to be rebuilt,” said Doggendorf. “We have even used the reporting feature to locate and clean up a PC that was infected with malware prior to the Umbrella deployment.”

Technology Associates also leverages the service’s Web filtering to help its customers ensure acceptable Internet use. Doggendorf explained, “A few of our clients were using Barracuda hardware for basic Web filtering, but because we can easily handle that filtering through Umbrella, we were able to save them thousands of dollars by not renewing the support options for those appliances.”

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