Packet Pushers Heavy Networking Podcast

Packet Pushers Heavy Networking Podcast

by | Apr 2, 2022 | Automation, Blog Post, Company Culture, MSP, NMIS, opAddress, opCharts, opConfig, Open-AudIT, opEvents, opFlow, opHA, opReports, opTrend, Webinar

NEW Heavy Networking 624 Podcast: Solving Network Problems With NMIS

The latest Packet Pushers Heavy Networking 624 podcast is out, feat. IT Network experts Keith Sinclair, NMIS founder, joining Greg Ferro from Packet Pushers. They’ll discuss; 
  • NMIS capabilities for network management and monitoring
  • How to disaster proof your Network and operate at maximum efficiency
  • Latest Product features incl. Enterprise Service Monitoring
  • Future proofing your business with Operational Process Automation (OPA) against the great resignation
  • The NMIS product pipeline and how the market is changing
  • Real-world cases on how Opmantek’s solutions can save your team time & resources – Hear more below!

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Podcast: (47.52 MB)

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FirstWave Extends and Expands Contract With Telstra

FirstWave Extends and Expands Contract With Telstra

by | Mar 10, 2022 | Blog Post

FirstWave Cloud Technology Limited  (ASX: FCT) (FirstWave), the global cybersecurity technology company, announces the extension and expansion of its contract with key customer Telstra, Australia’s largest telecommunications company.

The contract has been extended for an additional two years with a further two-year option, and the scope has been expanded to include additional cybersecurity services provided through FirstWave’s CyberCision platform.

In FY21 approximately $6.5m revenue was generated from the Telstra agreement with over 95% being recurring revenues.

FirstWave CEO Danny Maher said ”We are pleased to deepen our longstanding relationship with Telstra, our largest customer. The expanded scope of our extended contract reflects Telstra’s increased focus on its cybersecurity offerings and confidence in FirstWave’s capabilities to provide its customers with best-in-class cybersecurity technology.”

Telstra CEO, Andy Penn recently noted the significant increase in malicious cyber activity Telstra has seen across its networks and the deteriorating threat environment being faced by its customers. We look forward to protecting more Telstra customers from cyberattacks and growing our revenues together with Telstra through the wider implementation of our CyberCision platform.

In addition to the extended agreement, FirstWave and Telstra have commenced a collaborative marketing campaign to strengthen the marketing and sales of the contracted products through Telstra’s sales teams and channels. The joint effort, led by FirstWave Chief Marketing Officer Ehsan Jahandarpour, is expected to deliver an enhanced customer experience for Telstra customers and increase revenues for both companies.

Following its recent restructure driven by the acquisition of Opmantek, FirstWave is prioritising Telstra as a key account and is focused on improving its sales enablement process with key account management to open significant new revenue streams.

Download the FirstWave ASX announcement here

 

Supplementary notice – Telstra Contract Renewal FirstWave Cloud Technology Limited (ASX: FCT)

 

 

(FirstWave), the global cybersecurity technology company wishes to provide further information about its extended and expanded contract with key customer Telstra.

Telstra has been a key client for FirstWave throughout FirstWave’s history. Revenues from the contract comprise of recurring fees to FirstWave from Telstra for administrative, support and infrastructure services of around $2m per annum with the remaining revenues being derived on a per-user fee for licensing and support from Telstra’s resale of FirstWave’s security services to Telstra’s end customers.

Telstra’s end customer contracts vary in length from one to five years and hence in some instances are longer than the current FirstWave / Telstra agreement. These contracts would survive termination generating future revenue and requiring continuing licensing and support even if the Telstra agreement was not renewed in the future and these contracts were still current.

Under the terms of the reseller agreement with Telstra, FirstWave retains exclusive rights to FirstWave’s intellectual property. This contract renewal also provided an opportunity to define and agree to additional new security products and services aligned with Telstra’s security product growth strategy.

Download the FirstWave ASX announcement here

FirstWave Contract with Microsoft for Secure IoT Management

FirstWave Contract with Microsoft for Secure IoT Management

by | Feb 10, 2022 | Press Releases

In response to significant interest from shareholders, FirstWave Cloud Technology Limited (ASX: FCT) (FirstWave), the global cybersecurity technology company, wishes to provide further information about a significant contract with Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) signed by Opmantek Limited (Opmantek) shortly before its acquisition by FirstWave, as discussed in the Company’s Q2 FY22 Quarterly shareholder update on Wednesday 9 February 2022.

FirstWave has in place an agreement with Microsoft to monitor and secure the global technology giant’s Internet of Things (IoT) devices. During Q3 FY22, Microsoft will roll out FirstWave’s technology to an initial tranche of 20,000 devices to be enabled on the IoT management platform, with scope to significantly increase over time. The agreement will see FirstWave deploy its proprietary technology across Microsoft’s IoT network, enhancing its security practices and increasing network visibility to manage cybersecurity risk and minimise outages.

The agreement with Microsoft leverages a new capability FirstWave enabled following its recent acquisition of Opmantek. The secure IoT management product is currently being integrated into FirstWave’s proprietary CyberCision Platform and rolled out initially to the North American market.

FirstWave CEO, Danny Maher, said: “The massive number and variety of IoT devices connected to networks creates significant security vulnerabilities and management complexities for IT operations teams globally – even for the world’s largest technology companies. FirstWave’s proprietary CyberCision cybersecurity platform, combined with the intellectual property acquired from Opmantek, enables companies of all sizes to manage and secure their IoT environment, whether they have one device or millions”.

FirstWave’s newly-appointed Chief Revenue Officer, San Francisco-based Craig Nelson (previously Opmantek CEO), said: “To sign this agreement for secure IoT management with Microsoft, one of the world’s largest and most innovative technology companies, is a pleasing validation of the strength of FirstWave’s technology and its application for even the largest global players. We are proud that Microsoft has selected our technology in this emerging area of need and look forward to deepening our already strong relationship with the company.”

Download the FirstWave ASX announcement here

Opmantek Appoints Experienced IT Director Ross Tanner as Head of Customer Success

Opmantek Appoints Experienced IT Director Ross Tanner as Head of Customer Success

by | Dec 16, 2021 | Press Releases

SAN FRANCISCO-Opmantek Software, one of the world’s leading providers of automated network management software, has appointed Ross Tanner as Head of Customer Success, joining the company in December 2021.

Tanner is an Army veteran who brings extensive IT knowledge to the company. In his most recent role at Nextlink Internet, an internet service provider delivering high-speed internet and voice services throughout Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa and Illinois, he managed all information technology and systems from on-premises to the cloud for both internal and external customers.

“Opmantek’s growth has continued into the fourth quarter with our recent acquisition,” said CEO Craig Nelson. “We’re excited to welcome Ross to the team as his experience as an Opmantek customer will help us accommodate this growth and prove valuable in providing outstanding customer support while driving renewals and expansion.”

Opmantek recently received an acquisition offer from FirstWave Cloud Technology, a global cybersecurity company listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX:FCT). Additionally, the company signed contracts to supply their market-leading network management and automation software to Microsoft and NASA. Opmantek is at the forefront of delivering Operational Process Automation to enterprise, telecommunications, and MSP organizations globally.

“I’m thrilled to be joining Opmantek at a pivotal moment in the company’s history,” said Tanner. “I look forward to successfully onboarding customers to the company’s end-to-end solution for network discovery, management and cybersecurity that is globally unique.”

How to stabilise & audit using network configuration and compliance monitoring

How to stabilise & audit using network configuration and compliance monitoring

by | Nov 17, 2021 | Automation, Blog Post, opConfig

What is Network Configuration and Compliance Monitoring

Network Configuration and Compliance Monitoring (or NCCM) is a system that works closely with all devices in a set network, transmitting and receiving data from a wide range of devices to ensure that everything is acting in a compliant manner. In addition to this, NCCM can ensure that your devices are configured correctly, and in the case that they are not, can schedule reconfigurations at a time that is convenient to the user.

Automating NCCM processes is often required because companies often have thousands of devices that cannot be handled manually, making the entire process far simpler and more accurate through automation. One example of an NCCM is Opmantek’s “NMIS”, a network management system designed to offer comprehensive information to network engineers to assist in the diagnosis and resolution of network problems.

Change detection and rectification

When dealing with a device configuration, there are relatively few commands that you need to be aware of to know exactly how it is set up. In theory, by remembering these and applying them to a new device, it should act identically to the previous one. When these configurations change and nobody is informed, however, it can become incredibly difficult to replace the device should it become faulty.

By implementing effective change detection, which discovers any configuration adjustments in a device, you can stay on top of all of your device configurations and replace them with ease. Additionally, you can receive alerts to let you know of every configuration change, and how many times the configuration has changed. This change detection can be used with products such as “opConfig”, which processes and records configuration changes across entire networks.

Device configuration changes

The configuration backups are all saved without restriction, so reverting to any previous configuration is incredibly simple. Your NCCM can keep hourly backups of your configuration settings, allowing you to revert a previous device, router or switch to a previous version when the device was working as intended. This will either resolve the issue or inform you that the issue is likely with the hardware in use (in which case you can simply install new hardware with the successful configuration in place).

Servers and network scanning

In addition to tracking the configuration of your devices, it’s also possible to use an NCCM as a performance tracking tool. By performing automated network management, the system is also taking in significant amounts of data, including the levels of packet loss within servers over a set period of time. This can help you in an audit to establish whether the performance of a particular server is degrading. If the performance declines, you can compare this data with configuration changes to ensure that your network is using the optimal settings, and resolve the issue without having to go through a more thorough investigation of your network. The data is already collected and ready to be analysed.

Try Opmantek’s products

If you’re interested in Opmantek’s range of products and would like to learn more, listen to Packet Pushers’ episode with Keith Sinclair, or contact us today. We are proud to offer effective solutions to IT departments, providing meaningful and actionable data to assist in the troubleshooting process.