Inquest

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the former head of information security for a global insurance company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Inquest?

We needed a partner to work on a data leakage protection project.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Inquest has a couple of excellent security engineers — there aren’t many highly skilled security personnel here in Serbia, but Inquest has a small base, and they’re a reliable partner.

We did the proof of concept with Inquest, and they based their solution on our requirements. We were sure that the implementation and process establishment would go smoothly with them — it was a massive task that had a high impact on the business and the IT side.

What is the team composition?

There were two people from their team involved in this project.

How did you come to work with Inquest?

I attended one of the largest security summits in Slovenia. We were able to speak to vendors directly, and Inquest had an excellent presentation from a technical perspective.

Inquest’s team was introduced to me; we spoke about vulnerabilities, scanners, and the new technologies in that area. We talked about their policies, and we felt that they were competent to work on this project.

How much have you invested in them?

We spent around €300,000 (approximately $355,000 USD) with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from December 2018–March 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We had risk metrics in an IT risk catalog. During the data leakage protection implementation, we agreed on the risk committee that everything under 100 for false positives would be exemplary, and we got 82–84, which was great.

How did Inquest perform from a project management standpoint?

I had an excellent relationship with them, and it felt like we had known each other for a long time — if I needed something urgent, I could call or email them directly and receive instant help.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They had high-skilled professionals that were beneficial to the project. They acted like family, and colleagues from other banks that worked with them felt the same way.

Are there any areas they could improve?

If they want to be stronger and bigger, they need to have more highly skilled personnel. The base is good, but they won’t have enough workforce to support them if they take on many more contracts.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Prepare all of your needs so that they know what the final target is. It would help if you defined the milestones clearly.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Head of security department

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Inquest?

Implementation of Privilege access management solution, Implementation of sandbox solution for web and e-mail

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

Inquest was selected in RFP process, we required from all participants to perform POC, InQuest was one of the two successful POCs. Afterwards during the bidding process they had most favorable price.

Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.

1. We defined request for the solution implementation
2. Inquest performed analyses and offered us their view
3. At the end of design process we agree on future architecture
4. After concluding architecture we started installation process
5. Installation finished without any particular problem
6. During the pilot phase Inquest performed final adjustment according to client needs

How many resources from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

We had one project manager and one cybersecurity engineer

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We installed and put it in the production solution in very short period of time without affecting production of the Bank. After that all our third parties were transferred to the new platform.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We had weekly progress meetings in case of some problem we had extraordinary escalation meetings.

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

We appreciate their responsiveness and ability to tailor-fit our offered budget.

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

Nothing specific