Delivering innovation that matters

With the initial acquisition of Africa’s largest identity security company, Ubusha Technologies, in 2020, Altron cemented its position as the continent’s leader in identity management. After a year of challenges and uncertainty for many and with the business integration now complete, the recently formed Altron Security division is forging ahead in its growth strategy and is excited to welcome CyberTech into its fold as another step towards that.

CyberTech specialises in managed security services and encryption solutions, having been part of the Altron group of companies for over 17 years. CyberTech looks forward to bringing the benefits of this new integration to its market. “Our existing and new customers can now enjoy 30 years of combined industry-leading experience. Our customers are also buying much broader capabilities in the way of identity, governance and data protection,” says Boland Lithebe, CyberTech’s Managing Executive.

Now in 2021, after a year of challenges and uncertainty for many, Altron Security is forging ahead in establishing its brand identity as a new standalone company, providing existing and new customers with end-to-end solutions from identity security offerings, data protection to managed security solutions such as SOC as a service, firewall management and more.

Managing a transition in a year like no other

Strategically executing a merger of this nature is no easy feat. Marius Agenbag, Managing Director of Altron Security, can certainly attest to this after leading the successful integration of Ubusha into Altron during 2020, an economically turbulent year.

Agenbag believes the result of CyberTech’s integration into Altron Security now will be a combined company portfolio that is “100% unique in the whole digital security environment.

“This opportunity presents a distinct advantage in that there is very little overlap in the services offered by CyberTech and the current Altron Security teams. Additionally, both companies have provided expertise where gaps previously existed for each – as an example, CyberTech is exceptionally skilled at security as a managed service, an area in which we were unfocused as the previous Ubusha team.”

He continues: “Altron Security as a whole will be greater than the sum of our current parts.

“On a less technical level, both teams benefit from shared values and are committed to ensuring clear communication throughout the change process we’re about to embark on,” he adds.

While some companies may have struggled to find their footing in a year of lockdowns and remote working, Altron Security found itself uniquely placed to deal with its customers' most pressing security concerns – virtually.

Explains Andrew Whittaker, Altron Security Sales and Services Executive: “In the past, most companies’ IT infrastructure has been built around a ‘trusted’ area – a controlled internal network, and an ‘untrusted’ area – an uncontrolled, unsecured external environment. When remote work came into play, suddenly everyone was creating and sharing data in an untrusted area – their home network. This left many companies vulnerable to malicious attacks and data breaches, as has often been reported by the media in recent months.

“Luckily, Altron Security customers have had access to our many years of expertise at the most crucial point in the pandemic. In some cases, we were able to provide comprehensive solutions to address the risks associated with remote work and guide our customers through this process without ever having met them in person!

“Our offerings are now expanded to include CyberTech’s best-in-class cyber security services and we look forward to the extending the reach of these uniquely combined assets and skillsets,” Whittaker adds.

Customers stand to benefit

It is clear that Altron Security’s sights were firmly set on its customers when writing its new brand story. “Our customers are at the centre of our strategy, both long- and short-term, as we look to enhance our service offering in accordance with their needs,” says Agenbag.

“We’re also working on developing a plan for the future – what we’ve termed ‘next-generation security offerings’, based on customer feedback and our four key pillars of growth: Identity, data protection, managed services and cloud. Consumer identity and access management (in particular) is highlighted as a current focus for most of our customers. Striking the balance between a positive customer experience and uncompromised security is something we understand well and are able to achieve by leveraging our experience in this space."

With the recently implemented Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) and many South African organisations needing to adhere to stringent international data regulations, the Altron Security team understands that compliance is another key priority for its customers and is well positioned to support organisations in mitigating this risk.

"As long-time members of the Altron Group, CyberTech’s customers were able to rest easy knowing that once they handed over control of their data management to us, the highest standards of compliance would always be adhered to. Those standards continue to be upheld by Altron Security," says Lithebe.

Leveraging assets for recent success

It’s clear that the combined assets of people, technology and experience have enabled Altron Security to fulfil its promise of ‘Delivering Innovation That Matters’ while developing security offerings that address the needs of future generations.

Whittaker emphasises that while the Altron Security brand journey may be relatively new, the faces behind the company are old pros at delivering the innovative solutions that their customers have come to expect. “With the weight of Ubusha Technologies and CyberTech’s reputation behind us, the bar for excellence has certainly been raised – and we look forward to rising to the challenge as the integration of CyberTech into Altron Security commences on 1 March 2021," he concludes.