Sarenet focuses on cybersecurity across its connectivity, voice and hosting services

The Sarenet Foundation is set up, with 13 professionals dedicated to R&D&I projects, and the Security Operation Center (SOC) is set up to monitor customer infrastructures and prevent or stop possible attacks

The company expects to increase its business by 5% in 2022 and its workforce by 10%, to 113 employees

Sarenet (https://www.sarenet.es), the operator of voice and data and hosting services for businesses, considers cybersecurity a priority requirement in the solutions it offers its customers to protect their data and, ultimately, their businesses. The unstoppable increase in cyber-attacks, together with the growing need for connectivity and digitalisation in the business world, make SMEs especially vulnerable, as they do not have the necessary resources to be able to defend themselves.

In this context, the company has launched two important initiatives: the creation of the Sarenet Foundation and the Security Operation Center (SOC). The Foundation has 13 professionals -there will be 16 at the end of the year- dedicated exclusively to the development of R&D&I projects, especially in the automation of processes with artificial intelligence (AI). Already in this first year, it has meant an investment of more than one million euros and will increase by 10% by 2023. The SOC is part of the Cybersecurity and Customer Engineering Department (CIC), which is offered as a transversal service for all of the operator’s solutions: voice, data and hosting services. It consists of monitoring and surveillance by certified personnel of the different assets and infrastructure of customers, who do not have specialised resources or material or human resources to protect themselves, and to alert in the event of incidents and act proactively if necessary, and may even manage some of the assets involved. All this with the corresponding compliance with different standards such as the National Security Scheme and ISO 27001.

Sarenet, in addition to very sophisticated solutions for companies that have the necessary cybersecurity resources, also offers other tools for smaller companies that cannot invest in security in order to defend themselves against possible attacks. As a result of this growing demand for risk avoidance, the company recently launched Fibra Segura+, a complete fibre-optic solution to protect corporate networks with high-capacity symmetrical fibre, 4G backup and cloud firewalls.

“The continuous changes in the forms of attack and from different fronts force us to permanently modify cybersecurity models and strategies in order to be protected,” acknowledges Jon Arberas, CEO of Sarenet. To achieve the best cyber defence, the company relies on leading manufacturers in the sector, both in network segmentation and access control, the application of AI in network flow control and advanced endpoint solutions. “We like to feel part of our customers’ IT staff so that they can focus on their business,” concludes Arberas.

Growth in all areas

Sarenet is optimistic about the results expected for 2022, with an estimated growth of 5% compared to 2021, up to 23.5 million euros, of which approximately 47% comes from outside the Basque Country. Turnover from projects related to the CIC area, meanwhile, will be around 1.3 million euros, of which 45% comes from projects with industrial clients and 20% from the retail world. For Roberto Beitia, president of Sarenet, “the results we expect to obtain this year are more than acceptable, especially considering the current situation, immersed in great uncertainty. Our idea is to grow at the same rate next year, reinforcing our commitment to providing quality services, especially in the world of SMEs. We want to be their trusted strategic partner in everything to do with their online activity.

It is also worth highlighting the good performance of indirect sales, which currently has a large network of partners among wholesalers, integrators and distributors spread throughout the country and which generate around 38% of the total volume of business. According to Jon Arberas, “we are very satisfied with the activity and business generated by our partners and our intention is to continue expanding the channel, approaching the world of developers familiar with Big Data and industrial IoT projects that use technologies such as Kubernetes and containers”.

At the same time, the company has experienced significant growth in human resources, from 103 employees in 2021 to 113 at the end of the current financial year. A large part of this increase in the workforce has been aimed at reinforcing the CIC department, with technical profiles that are currently in high demand and require continuous retraining. On the other hand, a Business Development Director has been incorporated to promote new business plans, as well as a PhD in mathematics at the Sarenet Foundation to promote the use of AI through the development of algorithms that improve traffic analysis tools to detect any anomaly.

With more than 25 years of experience in providing IT services to companies, Sarenet has the widest range of solutions to comprehensively manage all the IT service needs of any organisation.