In this in-depth interview with Avenue Insights & Analytics, we learn about their journey to develop a more strategic approach to security.
Avenu Insights & Analytics has a long history of helping state and local governments adapt to the changing needs for information management and their impact on service delivery. Avenu’s software solutions for administration and revenue enhancement enable jurisdictions to provide truly digital government that meets expectations of citizens, employees and elected officials. The company’s focus and resources give customers more predictable revenue and costs, and allow governments to sustain a high quality of life.
When the need around security arose for Avenu, it actually felt very natural for Johan Milbrink, Vice President of Technology, to reach out and start a partnership with GuidePoint Security. Avenu began with performing a security architecture review, a security program review, a firewall assessment and ended up creating a large set of security policies for the company.
But when Milbrink first came into his role, it was a challenge to add the cost of those assessments to the budget. Yet with GuidePoint’s advice, he was able to convince leadership of the value the assessments would have and that’s how he was able to get started. Milbrink understood that if he had a reputable firm like GuidePoint to confirm that Avenu had critical security gaps and vulnerabilities, it would bolster his case.
Milbrink was eager to establish a stronger posture front by taking a programmatic approach to their security program. He worked very closely with GuidePoint to create a long-range roadmap that they could execute on given the resources available. Milbrink said, “You can either do it piecemeal, but in our case, we had space substantial gaps, and we had gaps on the control side, technical controls, and we had gaps on the on the program side. So we needed something more encompassing something more holistic, that addresses both sides.”
Johan Milbrink remarks:
“In my case, I tend to go with companies and people that that I trust. And it happens that many people that I know from working together at prior companies went to GuidePoint Security. And then I also knew [that GuidePoint Security had a very strong reputation in the market]. So, when the need around security arose for us, it actually felt very natural to reach out and start a partnership.”
