Since 1940, FORCE Technology has helped companies through major technological transformations. As one of the major GTS institutions in Denmark, the company with its 1,100 employees is also an important part of the backbone of Danish innovation system.

Through its contributions to technological advancement, the organization plays an important role in helping Danish companies gain a competitive edge on the global stage, shaping the country’s future.

Great vendors don’t grow on trees

FORCE Technology’s work has major significance for the Danish business community. Similarly, IT security has great significance for the company’s 2,000 workstations full of invaluable technological knowledge.

As Head of IT Security Ole Nørgaard Nielsen outlines strategic direction, advises top management and ensures that FORCE Technology adheres to company policies. He and his team struggled to get the support they needed from their previous security provider, causing them to look for a more suitable vendor to partner with.

According to Nielsen, changing IT security providers can be extremely challenging. In fact, it can be difficult to even figure out who can provide what the company needs. FORCE Technology would have preferred to avoid vendor switch. Besides the fear of possible considerable additional costs, Nielsen had concerns that the future vendor might not be able to fulfill FORCE Technology’s strict requirements.

“For us, it was crucial that the future vendor had a good reputation in the market, had proof of core capability performance, and had a long-term vision for the product. I feel that product quality sometimes decreases over time, as the providers develop other software that shifts their focus,” says Nielsen.

After an extensive evaluation, two providers with the most relevant offering were selected. Existing reference customers of both candidates were interviewed.

“For us, it was crucial that the future vendor had a good reputation in the market, had proof of core capability performance, and had a long-term vision for the product.”

Ole Nørgaard Nielsen, Head of IT Security

Full focus on priorities

FORCE Technology had previously experienced unseen challenges when implementing new security solutions. To tackle this, there was also a requirement for the new vendor to be responsive to special needs on a timely manner, so that any unexpected issues could be quickly addressed.

It was important to FORCE Technology that new cyber security solutions would not cause inconvenience or affect the efficiency of its hybrid workforce. At the same time, the security team had no desire for exceedingly detailed mandatory configurations as they had previously experienced unnecessary confusion with such a setting.

After a thorough review of potential solutions, FORCE Technology chose WithSecure Elements Endpoint Protection to do the heavy lifting in keeping the company’s computers and servers secured. They extended it with WithSecure Elements Endpoint Detection and Response to bolster detection and response capabilities against advanced attacks. To ensure the best level of support, WithSecure assigned two technical experts to maintain a direct line of communication to its headquarters.

Keeping it simple and secure

WithSecure Elements Endpoint Detection & Response identifies around 10 potential threats on FORCE Technology’s endpoints each day, which are further investigated and classified by in-house IT Security team. The solution is intelligent and becomes more accurate each time the team classifies a threat – forming a better understanding of the behavior in FORCE Technology’s IT environment. This means that in a short time, the solution can learn to classify different threat identifications itself based on the behavior of employees.

WithSecure’s Endpoint solutions are cloud-based, requiring very little maintenance effort. One clear benefit for FORCE Technology was the minimal administrative work required when securing devices of its full personnel – even those working remotely.

“The operational footprint is relatively low, the degree of detection is relatively high, and the configuration options themselves are simple,” says Nielsen.

One of the most essential technological consultancies in Danish business community now feels their cyber security is solid ­– for whatever the future brings.

“The operational footprint is relatively low, the degree of detection is relatively high, and the configuration options themselves are simple,”

Ole Nørgaard Nielsen, Head of IT Security