SyncDog, Inc: The leading ISV for mobile endpoint application security

Continual increases in connectivity have created lagging security in enterprise and government that sooner or later will result in breaches, lost data, and penalties for non-compliance. Oftentimes the push for bottom-line technological efficiencies outpace the security measures of yesteryear, and this has never been more apparent than with enterprise mobility. Mobile devices are no longer toys, as the newest collaboration tools now comprise your organization’s most vulnerable and least considered threat vector.

When Founder and CEO Jonas Gyllensvaan started SyncDog in 2013, he had already been working in mobile technology for years and began noticing growing gaps in the marketplace for mobile security. The large full-service IT vendors had very little competition and this created a mobile security market with bullish business practices – rigid and expensive pricing structures, numerous acquisitions leading to poor or discontinued customer support, endless integration cycles, and mass-produced solutions with breadth of footprint but lacking in depth of function. Ultimately, customers were left with few alternatives. He knew he could leverage his mobile technology subject matter expertise to challenge enterprise IT vendors with flexible, customer-centric solutions and service. This is its mission, and the company is encouraged by the traction it has gained in just a short period of time.

SyncDog’s flagship enterprise mobility security product is Secure.Systems™. This defense-grade mobile app workspace allows organizations to control and manage how employees exchange relevant, time-critical information back and forth between their devices and the organizations’ home networks. Its “containerized” mobility security partition protects organizational data both at rest and in transit by employing FIPS 140-2 certified (cert. #2687), AES 256-bit encryption with simple deployment options via the cloud, hybrid cloud, or on premise, and no impact to end-user functionality.

The standard configuration of Secure.Systems™ comes with a full suite of productivity applications in the secure container that includes SharePoint, Enterprise and Local Chat,

Geo-location Services, DropBox, a Personal Information Management (PIM) suite, Office 365 Enterprise, Secure Mobile App Management & Development, File Sync, and many more. Applications are categorized per these four key workflows: secure communications; secure file management; secure Internet/Intranet access; secure location-based services.

Prior to Secure.Systems™, there were no lightweight, flexible solutions with adequate security. Many customers were left stuck with whatever the biggest players had to offer in an ever-consolidating EMM marketplace. In fact, a customer may spend months or longer researching the correct EMM solution for their specific needs, only to see their solution snatched up via acquisition. This sends customers careening into yet another migration filled with mystery as to what the new, integrated solution will look like – and few alternatives that customers can use to escape. Good Technology’s acquisition by BlackBerry is the perfect example of the rollercoaster customers can go through, as many of Good’s customers left BlackBerry years before just to be roped back in with the acquisition.

SyncDog’s position is noteworthy in the market and it has incredibly close relationships with its customers. Its ears are constantly to the ground to detect market needs, and adds this anticipation to its flexible and secure mobile application workspace. The firm thinks this is the winning approach to product road mapping, and without exception SyncDog has been out in front of the market bringing more focus to customer requirements since its inception in 2013.

This focus prompted SyncDog to offer Secure.Systems™ as a cloud-based managed service or SaaS in its recent ver. 3.0 release – a tremendous differentiator in its industry, as its analysts identify this as missing in the current marketplace. SyncDog’s approach as an ISV challenges the established, enterprise-sized vendors by adapting to customer requirements more quickly, a higher batting average in road mapping by immersing itself in customers and mobility subject matter experts, and a personalized customer service structure.

The future looks promising for the Reston, Virginia-based ISV, including a recent partnership with EBF GmbH that enables SyncDog to now offer iO Intune Onboarder and EBF EMM Migrator in the Americas for snap migrations between leading EMM products. The fear of lengthy and costly EMM migrations no longer needs to be a factor in the decision to switch to a solution more tailored to an organization’s needs.

Additionally, SyncDog is anticipating more customers over the next two years through both organic and partner channels. For example, the ISV has recently partnered with Microsoft to reinforce security for Microsoft Intune, Office 365 Enterprise, SharePoint, and other widely-used enterprise mobile products the tech giant offers.

Most recently, SyncDog expanded options for Secure.Systems™ deployment to include access to the container as a cloud-based managed service. SyncDog customers have the flexibility to deploy Secure.Systems™ as SaaS, on premise with client/server installation, or via hybrid cloud.

The company has also been steadily adding leadership resources and development infrastructure to serve its customers in the most attentive ways possible, including the recent addition of Brian Egenrieder, SyncDog’s new VP of Sales. Brian brings more than 24 years of sales leadership and experience in the software and business solutions industry. SyncDog’s development team is also continually improving the end-user experience for the most productivity and ease-of-use within the Secure.Systems™ container, as well as working hard to increase application offerings that speak to enterprise workflows.

Secure.Systems^™ Use Case

Large Metropolitan Police Department (MPD)

SyncDog is anticipating more customers over the next two years through both organic and partner channels. Background: Crime scene processing is often chaotic and unpredictable. Adherence to workflow and process for the initial assessment of the scene and subsequent information gathering are critical success factors in solving and preventing future criminal activity. The MPD audit determined that the process of uploading data to the secure datacenter was both cumbersome and risky.

Challenges:

• Audited MPDs struggled to transfer data from a crime-scene to the MPD’s datacenter securely, and unsecured SMS texts about investigations were often found on BYOD or COPE devices. Both mobile security insufficiencies presented a high risk of data leaks. 

• It faced the challenge of managing the workflow, managing security intelligence on employees’ mobile devices as they work in the field, and facilitating an efficient transfer of information from mobile devices to the department’s secure network environment.

Results:

• SyncDog’s Secure.Systems™ container provided the typical MPD with dramatically improved workflow and compliance when handling sensitive crime-scene data.
• The solutions was deployed quickly, easily configured, and intuitive to learn, and provided secure data transfer to their network from a FIPS 140-2 certified (#2687), AES 256-bit encrypted container residing within each device. 

• This simplification of crime-scene processing
and security ties up the loose ends of traditional processing such as SD cards and unprotected SMS texts, and allows police and detectives to focus more on investigations than security risks, auditing, and compliance.

Meet the CEO and Founder

Jonas Gyllensvaan is a serial entrepreneur with more than 20 years of experience in mobile IT solution development and software business development. Jonas has founded three successful start-ups and is a current board adviser to several others. Over the past 20 years, Jonas has designed, developed, and implemented technology projects for government agencies and commercial enterprises in more than a dozen countries. Jonas spends a good portion of his time visiting customers and traveling to leading industry conferences learning about client and marketplace needs, using this knowledge to build solutions with a focus on technology architecture, product design, and business management. Across his 20-year career in mobile IT, Jonas has a proven track record of leading-edge product development, building profitable companies while forging beneficial business partnerships for clients.

SyncDog’s specialities are Enterprise Mobility Management, Mobile Application Containerization, and much more.