2018 North American Managed & Professional Security Services Competitive Strategy Innovation and Leadership Award

Security Solutions Integrator Recognized for Robust Services Portfolio, Customer Impact, Competitive Differentiation, Strategy Innovation and Brand Strength

DENVER – March 28, 2018 – Optiv Security, a leading security solutions integrator, today announced it has earned Frost & Sullivan’s 2018 Competitive Strategy Innovation and Leadership Award in the North American managed and professional security services market.

In a recently published research report about Optiv’s award, Frost & Sullivan states, “As companies are faced with choice on who to partner with in their cyber security journeys, they are justified in asking the variety of providers knocking on their doors, ‘what is your cyber security pedigree, are you committed to cyber security and do your past and planned investments reflect unwavering commitment?’ Optiv has the proof points to stamp those questions with an unequivocal affirmative.”

“The practice of cyber security is challenging and no company is immune from these challenges,” said Michael Suby, Stratecast vice president of research at Frost & Sullivan. “As more security technologies are added, the administrative complexity grows, leading to sub optimized cyber security practices, and protection gaps for attackers to exploit. In addition, as the cost of in-house cyber security continues to rise, personnel churn undermines the ongoing quest to establish, adapt, and maintain best practice operations. And finally, a distributed and dynamic attack surface is placing organizations at greater risk unless their cyber security practices can expand and adapt in equal measure. A trusted partner has become essential, and Optiv’s experience, capabilities and singular focus on cyber security have enabled the company to fill this crucial role.”

“Historically, organizations have taken an ‘outside-in’ approach to cyber security that focuses first on identifying specific threats and then reacting with procurement. The result has been less than optimal for many enterprises, creating wildly expensive and complex security technology infrastructures that are impossible to manage, measure and maintain,” said Peter Evans, Optiv’s chief marketing officer. “Optiv’s ‘inside-out’ approach starts with an organization’s unique business priorities and needs first – building out from there with cyber security strategy, infrastructure, rationalization, operations optimization and ongoing measurement – rather than continuing to run on a never-ending treadmill, a continuous “reaction” approach to every new threat and compliance mandate as it emerges or evolves. We are proud to receive this award from Frost & Sullivan, and believe it underscores our philosophy that everything we do – from our product portfolio and advisory services, to our customer service and partner relationships – brings clarity to the current state of cyber security chaos.”

Optiv’s Best Practice recognition was a result of its strong performance against the following criteria:  

• Competitive Differentiation – Unlike a vast number of managed and professional services companies that make cyber security services one element of their business, Optiv is focused solely on providing solutions that make enterprise security radically stronger, simpler, less costly and more accountable. The company offers a comprehensive technology and services portfolio, and breadth of experience and expertise that spans across all stages of the security program lifecycle. All activities are driven by data analytics, data intelligence and actionable insights to further optimize and rationalize security operations and performance to lower costs and improve efficacy. 
• Strategic Execution – Optiv transforms security from a roadblock to a business enabler through one of the broadest portfolios of service offerings in the industry, including professional security services, managed security services and other solutions that address a variety of pressing client issues, such as cloud security, advanced threats, the internet of things (IoT) and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), among others. 
• Strategy Effectiveness – While Optiv has a broad portfolio of service offerings, Frost & Sullivan recognizes the company’s aggressiveness in identifying areas of distinction, including Identity and Access Management (IAM), Third-Party Risk Management (TPRM) and cyber threat intelligence-as-a-service, and then building on these offers to deepen alignment with clients’ evolving needs.
• Partner Engagement Experience – The more partners a client has in supporting its cyber security endeavors further complicates a likely client scenario of technology and vendor sprawl in deployed security platforms and appliances. Optiv’s lengthy tenure in delivering security services to clients of varied backgrounds, its deep technical expertise, and its broad managed and professional security services portfolio present potential and existing clients the means to consolidate and simplify their partner engagements. 
• Customer Service Experience – Optiv believes in fostering a close physical presence to its client base to support the business relationship, which directly contributes to the company’s ability to demonstrate first-hand technical expertise and customer service passion. In addition, the company employs a number of former CISOs who bring to client engagements real-world and pragmatic experience that drives more successful security programs.
• Brand Equity – Optiv has established a strong brand presence and the company’s investments in offerings, capabilities and geographic expansion are clear indicators that the company is intent on growing rapidly and further solidifying its global brand.

Research Methodology

Frost & Sullivan's industry analyst team benchmarks market participants and measures their performance through independent, primary interviews and secondary industry research to evaluate and identify best practices. The team follows a 10-step process to evaluate award candidates and assess their fit with select best practice criteria.

Frost & Sullivan’s 360° Research Methodology™, which offers a 360° view of industry challenges, trends and issues by integrating all seven of the firm’s research methodologies, provides an evaluation platform for benchmarking industry players and for identifying those performing at best-in-class levels.