Alxtel Provides IT Discovery, Enhances Cybersecurity for Enterprise Customers with Lansweeper
Reduced human error and increased efficiency through automated discovery and inventory of IT, IoT and OT assets
Headquartered in Silver Springs, Maryland, AlxTel, Inc. is an advanced technology and telecom service provider that delivers consistent and cost-effective IT solutions to public and private sector customers. Since its inception in 2008, the company has strived to build robust, lasting relationships with its clients, with a creative approach to technology, outstanding customer service and competitive pricing structures.
“We are very focused on digital transformation and cybersecurity,” said Alaa Negeda, CTO at AlxTel. “We are always in search of software that can help our customers retire their old workflows, and bring new, automated workflows and solutions that support these initiatives.”
About three years ago, AlxTel was looking for a solution to help customers with IT discovery and inventory. Manual methods such as spreadsheets and logs are no longer a viable way to build and maintain an inventory of IT assets across an organization, particularly in highly regulated public sector industries. At the time, AlxTel’s customers were using a mix of in-house software and off-the-shelf solutions to automate asset management, but these tools were not purpose-built for IT discovery.
Results
- Reduced human error and increased efficiency through automated discovery and inventory of IT, IoT and OT assets
- Enabled holistic view of IT asset data within ServiceNow
- Leveraged Lansweeper partnership and support to secure new opportunities
The Need for a Unified View
According to Negeda, one of the biggest challenges AlxTel’s customers face is not having a unified, holistic view of their IT infrastructure. “Optimizing and securing the IT infrastructure often requires navigating between multiple dashboards and reading various reports, which makes it difficult to really understand the environment,” he said. The problem has escalated as customers’ IT environments continue to expand to accommodate trends like digital transformation and hybrid work environments.
“I started researching IT discovery and inventory solutions that integrated with ServiceNow, which most of our customers use,” Negeda said. Key requirements included a high level of automation, intuitive dashboards, and vulnerability scanning. “Aside from IT discovery, we were also interested in a solution that could help our clients boost their cybersecurity strategy,” he said.
Another key requirement was flexible deployment options, to provide customers the choice of deploying the solution on-premises or in the cloud. Lansweeper met all of Negeda’s requirements. “After spending only 30 minutes on Lansweeper’s website learning about the platform, I was convinced it was the best choice.”
Seamless Integration with ServiceNow
Lansweeper leverages CI Synchronizer (Enterprise Edition), powered by Syncfish, to seamlessly integrate with ServiceNow, making complete and accurate IT asset data instantly available within the ServiceNow CMDB. The integration enables AlxTel customers to gain a holistic view of detailed IT asset data alongside CI data in the CMDB to support numerous IT use cases and business scenarios.
Keeping the CMDB up-to-date with the latest and most complete IT asset inventory data helps simplify and accelerate issue resolution, saving time and money, and increasing customer satisfaction. “Lansweeper changes the game by making complete and accurate IT asset data available within ServiceNow through a seamless integration, and we have been eager to present the option to our customers,” Negeda said.
Cybersecurity and Multiple Use Cases
For AxlTel’s public sector customers, compliance with a variety of regulations that safeguard sensitive information is critical.
For example, IT teams in governmental organizations must follow the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) cybersecurity framework, which provides guidelines, best practices and standards for enhancing the security and privacy of information systems. Lansweeper scans IT environments for vulnerabilities and delivers a Security Insights report, which draws from the NIST Vulnerability Database to provide a complete overview of all known vulnerabilities that could pose a threat. “With this information, our customers can track what assets may be at risk and prioritize their efforts to resolve issues based on the severity of the vulnerability,” Negeda said.
In addition to enhancing cybersecurity, Negeda said Lansweeper will add value in numerous ways for AxlTel’s customers, which span numerous industries and verticals. “Every industry is different, so there are different use cases, but every company needs to build and maintain a complete and accurate IT asset inventory.”
“Lansweeper’s support is unbelievably amazing.”
According to Negeda, one of the biggest benefits of partnering with Lansweeper to deliver IT discovery capabilities to customers is the partnership itself and the support Lansweeper provides. “The folks at Lansweeper are like an extension of the AlxTel team,” he said. “They are very knowledgeable and professional, and they work closely with us to help secure new opportunities. Not only do they provide us with training, but they work with our customers, as well, to help them get the most value from the platform.”
For instance, one AlxTel customer had to delay his Lansweeper renewal recently due to issues in his procurement department, and Lansweeper granted an extension without additional fees so that he could continue using the platform without interruption. “The client was very happy, because he said that a day without Lansweeper means he’s not sleeping at night!” Negeda said.
The Road Ahead
As an IT solutions provider, AlxTel gains competitive advantage by offering the integration between Lansweeper and ServiceNow to customers, and has already rolled out large-scale deployments for multiple enterprise customers. To that end, Negeda’s goal is to get as many of his team members trained and certified on Lansweeper as possible. “The training provided by Lansweeper Academy will be a big asset to our team,” he said.
Negeda’s advice for Lansweeper? “Please keep doing what you’re doing! You are empowering our ecosystem and we are so fortunate to have you as a partner.”
