Atoro

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Head of Compliance of Heidi Health

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We are a medical technology developer focused on building AI tools to help medical professionals

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Atoro to accomplish?

• Internal Audit
• Gap Assessment
• Obtain ISO 27001 certificate

SOLUTION

How did you find Atoro?

Referral

Why did you select Atoro over others?

• Pricing fit our budget
• Good value for cost
• Referred to me
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Atoro were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

We engaged Atoro to conduct an internal audit of our information management system to prepare us for our ISO27001 accreditation audit and also perform a gap assessment

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Delivery of a gap assessment and internal audit report identification gaps in the information management system. Due to Atoro's report, we were able to prepare for our ISO 27001 accreditation audit and pass with flying colors.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Tom and the team were super responsive and communicated efficiently across all mediums (Video calls, slack etc.). The team were super flexible in organising suitable meeting times for due to the time difference and always made it clear what inputs they needed from us.

What was your primary form of communication with Atoro?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

Their drive and willingness to work with us was a delight and we never once had to chase Tom and team for updates. The quality of the work and experience of all the team members was also exceptional

Are there any areas for improvement or something Atoro could have done differently?

None

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the COO of Silktide

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Help website managers understand and improve there websites

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Atoro to accomplish?

• Penetration Testing

SOLUTION

How did you find Atoro?

Referral

Why did you select Atoro over others?

• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Referred to me

How many teammates from Atoro were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Atoro were hired to do Penetration Testing of the Silktide platform, API and entry network. They consulted with us to learn about what needed testing, then went away and performed analysis over these areas. Silktide then received a detailed document outlining the issues found, severity of these issues, and some remediation guidance.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

We were kept up to date via Slack on the progress, and were provided a timeframe of when the work would be carried out. The key measure was receiving the document at the end that detailed what they had tested and our failures.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Atoro delivered on time, kept me informed throughout via Slack of any major issues they detected (so that I didn't need to wait for the final report. They even performed the re-analsis after I fixed issues quickly and helped to provide me with my clean penetration test report.

What was your primary form of communication with Atoro?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

I loved the more hands-on contact they gave via Slack direct messages. I didn't have to have cold emails, or challenging ways to contact them. Just a simple chat where I could talk to the manager and the team working on my project. 

I also may be mistaken, but I got the feeling they were a smaller company than the bigger corporates I was working with previously. This is a strong reason why I chose them. I want someone that's going to be more hands-on and care about my project. I don't just want to be another number.

Are there any areas for improvement or something Atoro could have done differently?

Not at all. Atoro didn't put a foot wrong and i'll certainly be going back to them annually for our Pen Testing.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Sales & Recruitment Manager of Camera Inspection Services

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Camera Inspection Services (CIS) are leading exponents in Ireland of a vast array of inspection technologies including thermal imaging and boroscopic equipment to name just a couple for domestic, commercial, industrial & construction sectors. We aim to gather valuable usable data for our clients and develop & evolve efficient, bespoke processes to do so. Using only market leading cutting-edge technologies, we identify, pin-point & document data points of concern.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Atoro to accomplish?

• We were in discussions with a major enterprise client who required a comprehensive security risk assessment before finalizing the contract. Given my focus in sales and recruitment, cybersecurity was a field I was less familiar with. We needed an experienced security consulting firm to navigate this task.

SOLUTION

How did you find Atoro?

Referral

Why did you select Atoro over others?

• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Referred to me
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Atoro were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Atoro conducted a thorough security risk assessment for CIS. The process began with two to three workshops to understand our business operations and systems thoroughly. Following this, they carried out an in-depth analysis of potential risks and vulnerabilities associated with our operations. They then compiled their findings, risk analyses, and proposed mitigation strategies into a comprehensive report which they presented to us.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

The most concrete evidence of the engagement's success was our securing of the enterprise contract. Our client was pleased with the thoroughness of the security assessment and our efforts to remediate identified issues, which was instrumental in their decision to finalize the contract.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Atoro's project management was exceptional. Jason kept us well-informed throughout the process, answering any queries and clarifying complex points related to the findings.

What was your primary form of communication with Atoro?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

We were impressed by their responsiveness and ability to communicate cybersecurity issues; everything was easy for us to understand.

Are there any areas for improvement or something Atoro could have done differently?

In our experience, we didn't find any areas that needed improvement

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CTO for StructionSite, a SaaS company that builds web and mobile apps to help construction firms manage their projects. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Apex Privacy?

At the time, we were an early-stage startup acquiring customers in the EU. We needed help bootstrapping a compliance process with the EU’s GDPR. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Apex Privacy first sent a proposal defining the scope of the engagement. Afterward, they audited our web properties, including our website, apps, products, and third-party data processes. They then provided us with written documentation that we could disclose to customers on how we comply with the GDPR. 

What is the team composition?

We primarily worked with a project manager, a technical writer, and a legal expert. 

How did you come to work with Apex Privacy?

One of my partners found Apex Privacy. 

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around $20,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from December 2018–July 2019. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

Apex Privacy’s audit and documentation was of high quality. 

How did Apex Privacy perform from a project management standpoint?

Apex Privacy’s project management was outstanding. They were well organized and communicative every step of the way. We used Google Docs and Google Sheets to collaborate. We communicated through Slack, emails, and Google Meets.  

What did you find most impressive about them?

We were impressed with Apex Privacy’s expertise in EU privacy policies. Their principal had a legal background, so their documentation was well-written. In addition, they worked with us as a partner and took the time to understand our business.  

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Once the project is underway, they will move as fast as you do. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the founder and CEO of Coglide, a customer intelligence platform that helps sales and marketing teams discover, engage, and connect with their ideal customers.

Our AI platform combines deep learning algorithms with natural language processing to optimize and enrich customer data, ensuring the right content is delivered in the right place and at the right time.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire ApexPriv?

We needed business services around our core platform.

What were your goals for this project?

To understand GDPR privacy law and how it applies to the marketing and sales of a product, and to apply privacy by design principles to our product.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We talked to several vendors, but ApexPriv came highly recommended.

Describe the project in detail.

We had an initial discovery call, then they reviewed our legal documents and prepared new ones. They answered all of our questions around GDPR and privacy.

What was the team composition?

Tom (Founder & CEO, ApexPriv) was the lead, while his assistants did some of the analysis.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

We updated our privacy page and related agreements, and we improved our dataflows for privacy compliance.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

It was easy to connect with them.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They’re in the ground-zero of GDPR, with much deeper knowledge than others we’ve talked to, who often used fear tactics to try to win our project.

Are there any areas for improvement?

We would like to see more case studies on their website, which I believe they’re working on.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the chief product officer and co-founder of Merakoi. We’re a digital market research and patient engagement company that primarily works with healthcare and science companies around the world. I’m responsible for developing technologies to support our research efforts.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Spider Guard Data Protection?

Generally, we partner with medical companies that are conducting research with individual patients or working with online influencers. We needed a vendor to help us understand the GDPR framework and any implications the new privacy laws would have on both our business and our clients.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

So far, we’ve completed one project with Spider Guard Data Protection. The main goal for this initial engagement was to better understand how GDPR applied to the market research and social media analytics space. We started with a few surface-level conversations, then dove deeper into the concept. We brainstormed different ways to use and share data while still remaining compliant with the privacy laws. In the end, Spider Guard Protection helped us put together a concrete set of guidelines to implement in our own operations and share with our clients. We’ve since started a second project with them.

What is the team composition?

Tom (Founder & CEO, Spider Guard Data Protection) is my main point of contact.

How did you come to work with Spider Guard Data Protection?

We searched our LinkedIn network for possible partners. We reached out to Spider Guard Data Protection, and I spoke with Tom. After hearing his extensive background in both the data and legal fields, I decided to work with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in March 2018, and it’s an ongoing relationship.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

Feedback from our clients has been largely positive, which is pretty surprising. GDPR is a new and uncomfortable area for many of our clients, so we didn’t really expect such praiseful responses. Our clients appreciate the clarity of our approach, and it’s opened up new business opportunities. Internally, we’re also very happy with their work.

How did Spider Guard Data Protection perform from a project management standpoint?

So far, they’ve been great. We use a combination of online tools and management approaches to transcribe and track our conversations. Because we use so many legal terms, it’s important for us to have clear documentation to reference when there’s any confusion. Overall, it’s been a transparent collaboration. The Spider Guard Data Protection team stays on schedule and comes prepared to our regular progress meetings.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I really appreciate the level of support and personalization in their customer service. They’ve truly been a great partner. They’re in tune to our needs and skillfully adapt to meet our requests, even when we deviate from the initial scope of the project.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, we were happy with the results of the initial project, so we decided to continue to work with them.

Any advice for potential customers?

Treat Spider Guard Data Protection as a partner rather than an outside vendor. Build a connection with their staff to get the best results.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the managing director of a legal training provider. We provide courses for lawyers internationally that are looking to enhance their profile and marketability.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Spider Guard Data Protection?

We needed help with the implementation of the GDPR in the European Union. The issue was that every company, wherever it is registered, must comply with EU privacy laws. We needed to come up with the right strategy to put the right mechanisms in place, which involved developing a lot of documentation.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Thomas (Founder, Spider Guard Data Protection) was responsible for all the work and led the whole thing. We had multiple phone calls to describe what our requirements were and what we needed to do. He developed the documentation as well as the entire process and policies that we needed to implement. Eventually, he was the one that finalized the process for us. They also provided online sessions for training the employees of our company.

What is the team composition?

We worked directly with Tom. There may be other people that worked on the project, but he was our main contact.

How did you come to work with Spider Guard Data Protection?

I was looking for the right solution. I read feedback and reviews online and looked at their previous work before deciding to move forward with them.

How much have you invested in them?

We spent around $5,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from March to June 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

They helped us understand more about GDPR.

How did Spider Guard Data Protection perform from a project management standpoint?

We most often communicated through email, phone, Skype, and Dropbox.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They pay attention to detail. Tom is very devoted to the work and will make sure that it's completed. I didn’t really have to follow up as he delivered what he had to deliver and understood that it was very important to me. He led the whole thing for us.

I didn’t know much about what we needed to do, but they were very open and patient and explained the process. I was very happy. If I will have similar work in the future, I will definitely contact them again.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm a senior manager at Clutch. We're a ratings and reviews platform that is focused on digital development and marketing segments. We have a research arm as well, but we mostly deal with business services.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Spider Guard Data Protection?

We're focused on collecting and providing business data, but we also deal with some personal data. We were looking for a company to help us make sure we're properly processing personal data, particularly any data related to GDPR.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Spider Guard served in a project management capacity, helping us identify certain benchmarks. In addition, they helped us refine and prepare our privacy policy. They worked with us to develop processes regarding any sort of breach of data and define the terms of service, so that users know exactly what they’re signing up for when they log into our website.

What is the team composition?

I mostly interfaced with Tom McNamara (Founder, Spider Guard Data Protection), but he had a team underneath him.

How did you come to work with them?

We came across Tom and his company on Upwork when we were looking for a vendor with expertise in GDPR consulting. After evaluating a few other providers, we decided that Tom was the best fit for us.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent a little less than $10,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in April 2018 and the bulk of the project was completed in July 2018. We still have them on a retainer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

The new policies offer our leadership team and our founder a peace of mind regarding how we interact with citizens and businesses located in European Union. We now have guidance on how to prepare for this type of regulations and operate according to the law, which is important since the impacts of not abiding by GDPR are quite harsh.

How did they perform from a project management standpoint?

Tom is a great communicator. Despite the time difference, he was always available when we needed him–whether it was early morning or late at night. We usually kept in touch via email and Tom was exceptionally responsive.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Tom is very smart and knowledgeable about data protection. Also, he's pleasant to work with. He became a true partner to us.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No. It'd be great if they were local (they're based in Ireland, and we're in Washington, D.C.), but we never had any issues with them being an offshore provider.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-founder of WhatConverts, a lead-tracking analytics platform.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Spider Guard Data Protection?

Since Europe enacted GDPR, all companies collecting data from European Union residents must disclose their data collection procedures. We didn’t have the in-house resources to learn about the complex regulation, so we needed to find a data company that could help us implement a new privacy policy before the May 25 deadline.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Before Spider Guard Data Protection began drafting the policy documents, they met with us to learn about our business and the ways we collect, store, and use data. Once they fully understood our existing data collection process, they started developing new GDPR compliant policies and procedures that were also compatible with our business model. They established a data breach protocol, which outlines security measures to prevent data breaches. The front-end compliance they established requires us to stop tracking individuals upon request and send them an alert after removing their information. Data protection policy procedures, data breach policy procedures, and assessments service catalogs are other documents they produced for us. They also trained our staff on how to secure data, which is another component of GDPR.

What is the team composition?

Our primary contact worked with us throughout the entire project, while the secondary contact occasionally sent us information via email.

How did you come to work with Spider Guard Data Protection?

We received several bids after listing the project on Upwork, but Spider Guard Data Protection was the only company that understood that the SaaS industry collects data differently than other fields.  

How much have you invested with them?

We spent between $4,000--$5,000 for their services.  

What is the status of this engagement?

The project lasted from April 2018 until June 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

We placed a landing page on our website that allows visitors to ask questions or express concerns regarding our new policies. The low response rate indicates that the documents are transparent and GDPR compliant.

How did Spider Guard Data Protection perform from a project management standpoint?

They delivered all of the documents before the deadline, which reflects their high productivity levels. We held biweekly meetings and kept frequent contact via email, phone, and Upwork’s messaging system.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The other data companies wanted to charge us for a blanket policy that wasn’t relevant to our data collection process. Spider Guard Data Protection was the only firm that offered a custom policy to match our unique business model. Most importantly, they followed through on the promises they made during the sales pitch and made an effort to learn about our industry.  

Are there any areas they could improve?

They helped us complete the exhaustive GDPR requirements before the deadline. I wouldn’t change anything about their approach.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the VP Engineering of Upp

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Optimises return on advertising spend for retailers using Google Shopping

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Atoro to accomplish?

• Setup an internal audit program at Upp
• Undertake first audit

SOLUTION

How did you find Atoro?

Referral

Why did you select Atoro over others?

• High ratings
• Close to my geographic location
• Referred to me

How many teammates from Atoro were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Atoro set up our internal auditing programme and undertook our first internal audit as part of our ISO27001:2022 programme.Throughout this engagement they also provided day to day support and advisory on Information security.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

The internal audit was delivered in a timely manner which enabled us to go into our Stage 1 ISO27001 audit.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

All items were delivered on time and according to our needs.

What was your primary form of communication with Atoro?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

They were able to start the engagement at very short notice and their communicate style fit perfectly with our team (Async communication over Slack with periodic scheduled video calls)

Are there any areas for improvement or something Atoro could have done differently?

No