Below is a Q&A session with Artur Kane, CMO of GoodAccess, a vendor of cloud VPN with zero-trust access control. Artur oversees the marketing strategy of GoodAccess and is a recognized subject matter expert on network security with 10 years of experience in the field.
First of all, what is GoodAccess and what problems does it solve?
GoodAccess is a SaaS platform that allows businesses to create a secure virtual private network over the public internet. It is used to safeguard remote access to important networks, systems and cloud resources. Simply put, if a business wants to ensure secure “anywhere, anytime” access to the business environment for its remote workers, GoodAccess empowers it to do this with no hassle. Literally in a few clicks.
CMO at GoodAccess
The past two years have shown that remote work does not hinder productivity and contributes to employee well-being. However, the distributed character of remote work poses security challenges that come with the elevated risk of compromise and data exposure.
GoodAccess mitigates such risks and streamlines the way organizations handle remote networking in the world of omnipresent mobility, cloud apps, and distributed workforce.
Where are you from and how long have you been operating on the market?
We are a bunch of technology enthusiasts based in the heart of Europe, in the Czech Republic. With more than a 10-year presence on the market, we try to bring affordable zero-trust networking to small and midsize businesses.
However, GoodAccess is quite a fresh platform. We launched it in mid-2020. Since that time, GoodAccess has earned the trust of more than 1000 business customers from 120 countries worldwide. Last year, the company more than tripled its monthly revenue, tripled the headcount and introduced several new features.
There are a variety of cloud VPNs on the market. How does GoodAccess differ from them?
Compared to most vendors, our business cloud VPN is intended for business usage entirely. So if anyone wants to unblock geo-restricted websites via retail VPN, GoodAccess is not the solution for them. Our organization is committed to developing GoodAccess with the needs of small and midsize businesses in mind. Such businesses usually do not have IT experts, do not want to build an expensive infrastructure and need a service that is easy to understand and “just works” to enable them to focus on their business operations.
I believe that there is no cloud service comparable to GoodAccess that enables small businesses to secure remote access to their systems, clouds and other resources with zero-trust principles.
Our platform is a pure SaaS, no-hardware solution with fully automated deployment and intuitive GUI. Thus, it is easy to use even for businesses lacking skilled experts. As a result, SMBs can enhance security with enterprise-class features in an affordable and effective way. Top-rated customer care and technical support testify to our aim to bring a service with the human touch.
Can you describe where GoodAccess belongs in the IT landscape in general?
Business IT has undergone major changes during the last decade. In the last few years, the concept of IT systems sitting solely in one place has become obsolete. A typical modern enterprise today hosts some critical systems in local LAN, but also uses SaaS services such as Google Workspace or some sort of CRM, benefits from cloud storage, encourages employees to work from home and supports BYOD. It is common for employees to travel, access corporate networks from unsecured wi-fi, at home or at an airport. Simply from wherever it is the most convenient while using a device of their choice.
Omnipresent and secure connectivity has become paramount and it is not easy to interconnect all these systems and people securely. Especially when the public internet has become an inseparable part of business networks. The rising urge to secure remote access is inevitable, and that is where GoodAccess comes into the game.
How do customers typically use GoodAccess?
There are several use cases that range from getting a static IP address, interconnecting branches and enabling remote access, to creating a software-defined perimeter over the public Internet. Generally, GoodAccess enables businesses to:
- Get a private VPN server with a high-speed cloud dedicated static IP.
- Create a resilient business cloud VPN to securely interconnect remote workers, IT systems, clouds and branches.
- Make applications on the public internet undetectable for threat actors and prevent unauthorized access by allowing only trusted IP addresses to connect to the system (so-called IP whitelisting).
- Unify access control to business systems on the network level and implement the least-privilege principle. Instead of trusting that user connections are legitimate, access is assigned on a strictly need-to basis (authorized users are allowed to access only systems they need for their work).
- Reduce the threat surface with DNS filtering and comply with GDPR, SOC2, and HIPAA.
- Encrypt communication from any device accessing company systems from unprotected wi-fi.
What are the benefits of GoodAccess?
Our mission is to bring affordable zero-trust networking to small and midsize businesses so the benefits of our solution naturally reflect this idea. First of all, it is easy to use. Anyone can build a resilient business VPN for their team’s remote access in 10 minutes. Deployment is straightforward and highly automated. This design also reduces costs since customers don’t have to build their own hardware infrastructure – they use GoodAccess global infrastructure as a service.
GoodAccess also improves security since the solution hides systems from the outer world and hence protects from network-based attacks such as DoS, DDoS, IP and port sniffing, man-in-the middle and others by default.
Moreover, thanks to the advanced access control preventing unauthorized access, it minimizes impacts of a successful security breach since it naturally limits lateral movement. GoodAccess also delivers additional visibility and control over who accesses business resources.
Last but not least, I have to mention customer support. We try to satisfy the customers’ needs at every step of their journey. This is why our technical support has earned top ratings.
During the last two years, many businesses had to adapt their operations to the new circumstances caused by the covid-19 pandemic. Does that affect demand for GoodAccess?
Having a suitable solution that allows smooth remote access experience has been an important factor in running a modern business for quite a long time. However, the covid-19 pandemic accelerated the digital transformation of the business environment and nurtured the demand for solutions that enable remote access to business systems. According to our experience, customers now more than ever seek remote access solutions that are reliable, flexible, cost-effective and deliver the desired value.
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