MSSP achieves 1,000% improvement in alert fidelity

Avalon Cyber needed a more scalable, cost-effective, and responsive security information and event management (SIEM) solution to support their growing business and deliver greater value to their clients.

As a full-service managed security service provider (MSSP), Avalon Cyber was experiencing rapid growth and attracting new clients. As the company expanded its reach, it became clear its legacy SIEM solution was struggling to scale proportionally with the organization, creating several hurdles for the MSSP.

Slow SIEM deployments made it difficult to onboard new clients, while manual efforts bogged down Avalon Cyber’s processes reducing efficiency in managing security infrastructure. The SIEM solution also required constant upkeep to prevent breakdowns during upgrades, and ongoing support was difficult to manage. As a result, the MSSP had to continually “throw more bodies at the problem” to keep up with the growing demand, which stretched their resources thin. Additionally, poor vendor support left them without the actionable recommendations they needed to stay ahead of threats, and the SIEM vendor’s rigid licensing model made it hard to remain cost-competitive.

Avalon Cyber knew they needed a change to continue delivering top-tier security services to their clients without compromising on efficiency or effectiveness. The time had come to find an alternative SIEM that could grow with them and provide the robust, scalable support they required.

Avalon Cyber kicked off a multi-vendor evaluation, chosing Sumo Logic as their vendor of choice. Reflecting on the SIEM partnership decision, Kyle Cavalieri, Avalon Cyber's President, explained: "The biggest piece of our vendor selection analysis was time-to-value. We needed to get our clients up and running quickly with instant visibility and rapid configurations. Sumo Logic offered a level of support and scalability that was unmatched by other vendors we evaluated.”

Avalon Cyber’s top reasons for choosing to partner with Sumo Logic included:

• Competitive licensing model
  Sumo Logic's tiered analytics and credit system offered flexible and competitive pricing, enhancing Avalon Cyber’s ability to deliver cost-effective services.

• True multi-tenancy
  With Sumo Logic Cloud SIEM, Avalon Cyber gained a genuine multi-tenant, cloud-native solution that minimized maintenance and operational headaches.

• Comprehensive support
  High-quality, self-learning training platforms and responsive support ensured Avalon Cyber’s team could quickly get up to speed and effectively use the platform.

• Free client proof of concepts
  The ability to offer prospective clients a free proof of concept (POC) empowered the MSSP to showcase the platform's value without heavy lifting.

Achieving rapid proficiency and efficiency

With Sumo Logic Cloud SIEM’s ease of use and pre-built security content, Avalon Cyber swiftly ramped up and became highly skilled with the solution. Cavalieri highlighted their rapid progress, "Within 30 days, our team reached a level of proficiency with Cloud SIEM where we could effectively onboard customers, build out customizations and dashboards, and create the necessary logic—all the things required to deliver value to our clients."

The time savings and efficiency gains for Avalon Cyber’s managed detection and response (MDR) services were transformative.

Cavalieri noted, "Our alert efficacy improved by 1,000% and we slashed deployment times from over a month to just one week." These improvements empowered Avalon Cyber to swiftly onboard clients and consistently deliver valuable insights, which enhanced their service delivery and customer satisfaction.

Differentiating with high-quality POCs

Avalon Cyber's partnership with Sumo Logic has been a game-changer, setting their MDR services apart in a competitive market. Supported by a powerful SIEM solution, Avalon Cyber can effectively offer POCs that showcase their expertise and the tangible benefits of their services.

Cavalieri emphasized the transformative impact of this collaboration: “I’m confident in offering free proofs of concept because of the robust capabilities Sumo Logic provides. Offering free evaluations gives us a strategic advantage in the MDR market by allowing us to establish trust with clients and demonstrate value early on. This approach has been key to differentiating our services and successfully winning new customers.”

Driving revenue growth

Avalon Cyber’s collaboration with Sumo Logic has become a key driver of their revenue growth, demonstrating the powerful impact of the strategic partnership. The efficiency gains from using Sumo Logic's solution empowered Avalon Cyber to proactively manage client security while avoiding the need for additional labor. This streamlined approach was instrumental in achieving their financial goals.

As Cavalieri explains, “Since adopting Sumo Logic, we’ve increased our annual recurring revenue by over 40%. The platform has opened doors for us to expand our client portfolio and reach our financial targets. Sumo Logic is not just a tool for us; it's a strategic partner that enables us to package and deliver our services more effectively.”