Recap of 2022 and Roadmap for 2023
Updated: Jan 4
As we come to the end of 2022 I'd like to share the experience of this year with our valued partners and what is planned for 2023.
Recap of 2022 As the founder of Tech Horse Electronics, 2022 has been an exciting year to say the least. Starting an IT Consultancy for Small to Medium sized enterprises is no easy task. Building this business from scratch is the most engaged I have ever been in any project. There is so much work to be done for so many small to medium enterprises when it comes to technology, especially security. Here are the beliefs that pushed Tech Horse Electronics into fulltime:
There is a serious lack in proper understanding of cyber security in many IT service providers as well as the businesses they support.
Traditional security models are quickly becoming legacy. Current security models are probably best summed up with a phrase coined by Bruce Schneier "Security is a process, not a product". In order to truly improve cyber security in any business it takes effort of both the IT service provider as well as the business engaged with the service provider.
To truly provide enterprise grade security to a business an IT service provider needs to create real partnerships with businesses and learn how they operate.
Coming off the last point this is exactly what we have been doing with our partners. There is something awesome about discovering where a company is on their cyber security journey, engaging with them at that level, and providing support tailored to their unique needs. We are entering 2023 emboldened by very positive feedback from our current partners. We can not thank them enough for taking a chance with a startup that does not have years of reputation to hide behind. We knew they were making the right decision, but it still took some amount of faith on their part I'm sure. Roadmap for 2023 Before we dig into the future let's talk about where we are now. We are about to enter 2023 with:
A much more focused approached to meeting cyber security and compliance needs for Canadian Health Care Providers. While we still support businesses in other industries Health Care Providers have the strongest compliancy regulations and are hit the hardest by cyber threats. Hence they set the bar for what we require of other businesses in terms of security.
Enterprise grade tools and methodology to approach cyber security. Many companies that once only catered to large enterprises are now offering their services to smaller IT service providers and we are embracing this.
A white glove approach to partners. Our success is our partners success. Therefore we handle a much smaller client base per in-house consultant than the industry standards.
Growth
In 2023, the primary focus of Tech Horse Electronics will be growth while maintaining our current clients. We will be heavily invested in marketing and sales this year as we are confident in the stack we are selling. Again we will be focusing on Health Care although any company that is security conscious we are willing to work with. What does our growth mean for our current clients? The larger we grow the more we can offer to our current clients. As we hire professionals with unique knowledge and approaches to the industry we will be able to expand the services we provide to our clients as well as increase the speed in which we provide service. Our commitment is to scale internally at the same rate we scale externally so that clients will never feel under-served.
Strengthening ourselves internally
Security is a process not a product. If you read my posts you are likely to see that phrase often. As we implement Zero Trust in our clients networks we cannot be forgetful of ourselves. While we are confident we have achieved enterprise grade security internally there is always room for improvement. Cyber security is often called a game of cat and mouse which of course means best practices today are likely bad practices tomorrow. We will be continuing to strengthen our current partnerships with security partners: Galactic Advisors, Augmentt, SentinelOne, and of course Microsoft (Do we really need a hyperlink for Microsoft?). There are three more security companies that we are currently prospecting to achieve an even better state of security and this information will likely be disclosed Q1-Q2 2023. Increasing transparency to the public: We also feel it is important to be transparent as possible with the community. We intend to make available on our website in Q1 our internal security policies and how we handle security events. Giving back to the community Tech Horse Electronics undeclared mission is to make Canada the global leader in defending against cyber threats. 99.9% of attacks can be prevented by taking simple security measures. Unfortunately cyber security awareness is extremely lacking still in most SMEs. A cyber security conscious culture is our best defense against cyber criminals, but this culture is at least a decade away. The Canadian Armed Forces has introduced a new type of soldier, the Cyber Operator, and many security experts believe the current state of cyberspace is a battlefield. As with all battles and wars businesses and people in general suffer the effects. In the private sector it is the responsibility of IT Service Providers to defend the businesses that we support. As the founder of Tech Horse Electronics I feel a strong obligation to increase cyber security awareness every chance that I get. There is a war happening right now, but it cannot be seen and much of it's effects are hidden. No business wants to admit it has suffered a data breach so they will keep this as quiet as possible in many cases. So how do you explain to a business that they are in imminent danger of a threat that cannot be seen, and no one they know has been affected by it? I will be the first to say that this is not an easy task, but it can and needs to be done. We feel strongly that cyber security should be in reach of all businesses. For this reason we are continuing our heavily discounted non-profit program into 2023. So long as we can support non-profits at the discounted rate without reducing the quality of our support we will continue adding non-profits to this program. Security conscious startups that do not have the budget yet we are willing to work with you as well. Finally we will be releasing free security content and technical writings to help other security professionals out. Final Words
Well folks it is December 31st of 2022 meaning there is only a few hours of 2022 left in Canada at the time of writing. I hope you're making the best of it!
If there is an event you would like me to speak at about cyber security I will welcome the opportunity. If you know a business that is lacking proper technical support please feel free to tell them about us! We are taking a truly unique, but necessary approach to providing Information Technology services to our partners. What am I doing for New Years you ask? Reading through The Center for Internet Security's Microsoft 365 Foundations Benchmark of course! They say cybercrime doesn't sleep, but I guess I do from time to time! Sincerely, Stuart Alexander, CEO Tech Horse Electronics