The strategic collaboration between vMind and CRYPTTECH will present an integrated service package that provides high-quality servers from vMind, making management easy for end users, along with a value-added security architecture and cost advantage.
vMind and CRYPTTECH have entered into a strategic collaboration. The aim is to provide CRYPTTECH's Log Management, SIEM, DLP, HotSpot, Security Monitoring, and Cyber Intelligence solutions 'As a Service' through PortvMind's high-performance servers and to enhance the manageable services of these products. The priority is to offer an easier-to-manage service package with increased added value in the security domain and cost advantage to end users through this strategic technology collaboration. Ensuring compliance with legal regulations and ensuring the security of critical infrastructure will be in safe hands. We discussed the details and objectives of the collaboration with vMind General Manager Volkan Duman and CRYPTTECH Founder Alper Cem Yılmaz.
Could you tell us about vMind/PortvMind? In which areas do you operate?
Volkan Duman: vMind, founded in 2013 with the aim of becoming a domestic cloud computing brand first in the region and then globally, continues its operations with data centers in three different locations, with its main center being Yıldız Technical University Technopark since 2018. Since its establishment, vMind has been creating significant potential in cloud computing and managed services in the region under the PortvMind brand, achieving steady growth. In 2020, vMind established its first overseas subsidiary, vMindJV, continuing its growth abroad, and became a pioneer in the cloud concept for SMEs with its strategic growth plans and new channel structure in our country. vMind has been among the top 3 in the "Cloud" category of the local service provider "Bilişim 500" research for the past three years, and in the evaluation conducted in 2021, it ranked first.
vMind and portVmind, which provide secure and high-performance environments to their customers with solutions such as remote office working platforms, disaster prevention systems, service-based ERP, and business intelligence applications in response to the increased demand due to the pandemic, have enriched these solutions with the portvMind express brand, a cost-effective and easily accessible platform specially designed for SMEs. Particularly during the pandemic period, vMind has largely met the sector's needs, such as remote working and the associated security requirements, through the PortvMind brand, and continues to achieve its growth goals steadily thanks to its professional team and deep technical expertise.
What are the short and medium-term plans of vMind/PortvMind?
Volkan Duman: vMind, continuing its investments and subsidiaries, plans to make its 5th data center investment within the borders of the European Union (EU) in the medium term. Before discussing medium and long-term plans, it is necessary to provide a brief overview: With the proliferation of digitalization, information technology has become the driving force behind rapid transformation in business operations worldwide. Despite consumers demanding various solutions and services and requesting new services, the current landscape requires not only IT teams but also various business units to understand technology at least as well as IT professionals and for IT personnel to develop their expertise to understand the details of strategic business units. To ensure the continuity of the benefits that digitalization brings to organizations, it is essential to closely monitor and adapt to evolving technology in IT and continue investing in IT without slowing down. Recently, the main transformative factors affecting all sectors include data privacy, artificial intelligence, Internet of Things (IoT), edge computing, Industry 4.0, and container architectures. This new order, alongside developments in cybersecurity and data privacy, has highlighted the importance of privacy, security, and risk management practices in laws. As a result of all these realities, it has become increasingly challenging for each institution to be its own doctor. Experiencing, researching, or learning all of this is almost impossible. However, finding the right solution through trial and error or emulation is also not as easy as it used to be. Similarly to global trends, companies in our country are rapidly moving away from the notion of "if everything is in my server room, I am safe and fast!" Seeking on-premise solutions, researching solutions that meet their needs, knowing them, and then buying them, they are shifting towards service-based commitments; towards Public, Private, or Hybrid (On-Premise + Public/Private Cloud) architectures. In light of this information, as vMind, we will strengthen our market leadership in high-quality, optimum solutions offered to our large-scale local and global customers in the short and medium term. We will also expand our cloud service, especially targeting SMEs who want to improve service quality but require consultancy and have not fully addressed their needs, by offering unique, cost-effective yet high-quality services through our PortvMind express brand, enabling them easy access to cloud services globally.
CRYPTTECH operates in which areas?
Alper Cem Yılmaz: CRYPTTECH has been a technology company developing products in the field of cybersecurity since 2006, and our focus has always been on developing innovative, domestic, and national cybersecurity solutions. Under the umbrella of cybersecurity, we conduct research in areas such as SIEM (Security Information and Event Management), vulnerability analysis, cyber-attacks, advanced persistent threats, advanced correlation engines, compliance, big data solutions, and artificial intelligence. We provide an integrated cybersecurity intelligence infrastructure with our products and services such as SIEM, Security Monitoring, Log Management, HotSpot, and DLP (Data Loss Prevention). Additionally, CRYPTTECH operates offices in Istanbul's Yıldız Technopark as our headquarters/management office, FlatOfis Haliç for Sales-Technical Support office, and Ankara Hacettepe Technopolis for our Defense office. Furthermore, we have opened overseas offices in Silicon Valley, USA, and the capital city of Pakistan, Islamabad. CRYPTTECH continues to contribute to the cybersecurity ecosystem with its next-generation cybersecurity products, artificial intelligence solutions, technical support, sales strength, sustainable services, and all research and development (R&D) investments worldwide.
Could you tell me about the main purpose of this collaboration?
Volkan Duman: Due to our strategic growth plans, vMind aims to quickly provide cloud services, which we refer to simply as cloud services but are based on reliable, cost-effective, high-performance servers, with the quality of PortvMind. One of the biggest challenges that remains hidden beneath the surface when providing these services is the ability to offer a security system that fully complies with regulations and laws seamlessly. Just as we may be misled as consumers if we only look at the dish in front of us without knowing what's going on in the kitchen, this applies to cloud services used without fully understanding what's behind them... The issue of security rules of service providers acting as digital banks and how they ensure these rules is very critical. Collaborating with CRYPTTECH, a leading domestic manufacturer in its sector that also operates within the technopark, allows us to combine our solutions with theirs to make them easily accessible to our customers from a single point. Whether they are our existing customers or not, an agreement has been made with Crypttech to offer services such as 5651 as a Service (CRYPTOLOG), SIEM as a Service (CRYPTOSIM), HotSpot as a Service (CRYPTOSPOT), and Cyber Intelligence as a Service (UNITMON) to institutions in need of them as a service.
Alper Cem Yılmaz: The primary purpose of the collaboration between vMind and CRYPTTECH is to provide CRYPTTECH's Log Management, SIEM, DLP, HotSpot, Security Monitoring, and Cyber Intelligence solutions 'As a Service' through PortvMind's high-performance servers and to enhance the manageable services of these products. The aim of this strategic technology collaboration is to offer end users an easier-to-manage service package with increased added value in the security domain and cost advantage. Thus, ensuring compliance with legal regulations while also providing enhanced security for critical infrastructure and preventing vulnerabilities will be possible by accessing next-generation cybersecurity solutions from a single point.
What will be the greatest benefit to your customers with this collaboration?
Volkan Duman: While PortvMind continues its operations in the region, it also needs to navigate through intense competition that includes many global giants. In the industry we are in, factors such as cost, sustainability, and performance, which are both critical and strategically important, are just as significant as the quality of the solution offered. Being within the Technopark, their ability to compete with giant rivals worldwide and yet exhibit a proactive and customer satisfaction-oriented approach are, in our view, shared qualities of the two brands. Their ability to rapidly meet evolving technological needs and their customers' solution expectations in response to local regulations and rapidly changing regulations can be considered as common ground.
Alper Cem Yılmaz: Data security stands out as one of the most crucial issues for companies in their digital transformation processes. Especially in the context of the PDPL (Personal Data Protection Law) restructuring processes, we know that middle-market customers need cybersecurity solutions to protect their data and workflows end-to-end and to prevent cyber threats and potential security vulnerabilities. In this context, our goal is to provide our cybersecurity products 'As a Service' through the reliable cloud services and high-performance servers of PortvMind. Platform as a Service systems, integrated with the interface provided by PortvMind's cloud-based systems, offer easy and quick access to the required corporate cybersecurity solutions for customers. As a manufacturer contributing to our country's cyber defense and the cybersecurity of both public institutions and private sector organizations through our years of experience in product development, technical support, sales/marketing, and managed services, this collaboration agreement with vMind, one of the leading companies in cloud technology, is highly valuable for us. As two companies with a vision to deliver their products and services to users through the most reliable platforms and current technologies, our collaboration will ensure that customers receive sustainable, cost-effective, high-quality services.
What are the advantages that the PortvMind and CRYPTTECH collaboration will offer to your customers?
Volkan Duman: PortvMind, in line with its vision, prefers to meet the needs of its existing or potential customers optimally. This is also the case with cybersecurity, one of today's most important issues. While providing solutions for customer security needs, PortvMind aims to offer them a solution that they can quickly access and use only as much as they need through leasing, rather than high initial investment costs.
The ease and speed of meeting their needs, easy manageability from a single point, consolidation of needs, and the cost advantage provided not only benefit the customers of both PortvMind and Crypttech but also contribute to the growth of these two companies' market shares. Additionally, the additional services that PortvMind and Crypttech will offer to their customers will become more advantageous in terms of price-performance.
Alper Cem Yılmaz: The most significant advantage provided to end users through our collaboration is the easy and quick access to cybersecurity products and managed services needed in every sector and segment, presented as a single package. The expertise and quality of both organizations in their respective fields will maximize the quality of service received by customers. Additionally, within the framework of our collaboration, users will be promptly informed of all new developments carried out by both companies.
Where do you believe this collaboration will go in the future?
Volkan Duman: When we look at both companies, we see that they are quite strong in their respective fields and hold leading positions in the Turkish market. We believe it is crucial for Turkish companies to be as successful abroad as they are in our country. Especially in the areas we serve, we must compete with very large companies. This can be managed through collaborations. As Turkish companies, we should come together to quickly establish a presence in global markets by forming clusters and ecosystems. Of course, in the meantime, we should be able to securely store our own data and content in our country. It's a fact that the two companies involved in the collaboration sometimes independently develop their markets and strategic goals without necessarily being aware of each other. This means that in the future, when targeting potential customers and working together, they can also offer independent solutions and products developed in joint projects, providing them with a broader scope of action.
Having the parties complement each other's sales and technical strengths when offering joint products and services provides a competitive advantage for both companies. This will actually provide their customers with a significant marginal benefit that is not easily attainable. In this regard, we believe that this collaboration has the potential to bring about a variety of different products and services in the future.
Alper Cem Yılmaz: We anticipate that this collaboration, which offers significant advantages for end users, will enable both organizations to benefit from interactions within their existing customer groups and will create new opportunities, especially for the development of cloud-based projects tailored to customer needs. In this context, we aim to double the joint customer portfolio within one year through our strategic technology collaboration with PortvMind. Collaborations between companies working in different areas of technology in the rapidly changing digital transformation process are contributing significantly to strengthening our position in both the domestic and global arenas, fostering the emergence of value-added projects, developing innovative products, and contributing to the evolving ecosystem.
vMind/PortvMind anticipates what contribution such collaborations will make to the industry?
vMind/PortvMind Business Ecosystem Manager, Gökhan Erzurumluoğlu: Collaborations in information technologies have a significant impact on the industry and the development of industry players. It should be viewed as an ecosystem or a living space. Just like in our lives, when we enrich it with different beauties, we not only make our lives more beautiful, peaceful, and quality but also create the necessary infrastructure for life to exist and be sustainable. We believe that collaborations are important to make work and living spaces more comfortable in the industry.
