Virtua Consulting Supercharges Their Clients’ Security and Productivity

Virtua Consulting, an IT consulting firm and member of the Egnyte Partner Program with clients across the United States, had a good thing going. They had set up their largely Mac-based clientele with a file-sharing system that was perfectly suited to on-site workflows, and were able to make quick adjustments, without any disruption, when Apple changed their product offering.

Enter COVID, and on-site workflows suddenly felt like a thing of the past. “When the pandemic forced us to switch everyone to a work-from-home model, we knew we would need a cloud-based solution to keep things running smoothly,” explains Justin Esgar, Chief Executive Officer of Virtua Consulting.

That cloud-based solution arrived in the form of Egnyte. With Egnyte as their partner, Virtua was able to switch their clients to remote workflows without losing any of the speed, security, or file-sharing capabilities they relied upon. Along the way, Egnyte allowed them to strengthen their relationships with their clients and grow their revenue.

"With Egnyte, we’re giving our clients a tool that empowers them to work from anywhere while still maintaining top-notch security. That’s an amazing combination of power."

Justin Esgar

Chief Executive Officer • Virtua Consulting

Challenges: VPN Hinders Universal Work-from-Home

When Virtua’s clients switched to remote workflows after the pandemic began, Virtua initially kept their existing VPN in place – and for a time, it worked. “The system had its own built-in operating system, and our clients were able to keep working after they switched to work-from-home with no major disruption, at least at first,” Esgar explains.

Soon enough, however, the solution began to show signs of strain. “We started hearing complaints about the system not being fast enough,” Esgar says. “Our clients were dealing with a lot of lag time – and to be honest, this wasn’t much of a surprise. The VPN had a pipeline that was built for maybe three or four users to work from home at the same time. But our clients didn’t have just three or four remote users. They had up to a hundred, or even more.”

It was clear that VPN access could not meet the demand for remote functionality that the pandemic had produced. Esgar knew he would need a cloud solution that could enable remote collaboration at a large scale – while simultaneously ensuring security and access governance.

Solution: Faster, More Secure Workflows Through the Cloud

When Esgar considered Egnyte as an alternative to their VPN, he immediately recognized it as the ideal solution. “Egnyte was the only solution we pitched to our clients,” he explains. “For one thing, it’s cloud-based, which we knew would help with the remote-work issue. It also has so many great features built in that I knew would make productivity and security top-notch for my clients.”

For Esgar, the most valuable features of the Egnyte system are:

• Speed. Using Egnyte, entire companies can access their network remotely, without lag time. Esgar comments: “Our clients don’t have to VPN into the office and worry about how fast the internet is there. Everyone can work from home, or from anywhere, and easily connect to Egnyte in the cloud.”
• Security and Governance. Egnyte alerts admins to any usual behavior that may pose a security or compliance risk. “With Egnyte, our clients can make sure nothing is happening from an issues standpoint,” Esgar says. “For example, no one wants to find out the person who quit yesterday deleted a bunch of files on the way out. This helps our clients strengthen their security, as well as their regulatory compliance.”

Esgar also points to the ease of sharing and requesting files, the flexibility to access the system via web or mobile app, and the many available integrations as features that made Egnyte the best solution for Virtua’s clients. “All of these bundled together made Egnyte the clear choice,” he explains. “It was really easy for us to tell our clients: ‘Egnyte is the best solution for you moving forward, whether you stay remote, go back to the office full-time, or adopt a hybrid model.’”

When Virtua set up their clients with Egnyte, the ease of implementation enabled them to get up and running quickly. As Esgar says: “Switching to a new system involves renaming and uploading a plethora of files stored in the previous system. This is normally very time-consuming. But with Egnyte, we were typically able to get our clients set up in about two and a half weeks.”

Benefits: Happy Clients, Repeat Business, and Great Support

Since Virtua standardized on Egnyte, clients have reported myriad benefits spanning security, compliance, productivity, and ease of use. “With Egnyte, our clients don’t have to worry about their data. It’s secure and protected,” says Esgar. “The security and governance functionality allows our clients to scan for sensitive data and make sure nobody is doing something they shouldn’t be. And they love being able to access all their data from one central, secure location. It’s super easy.”

Esgar also speaks to the benefits of Egnyte’s Partner Program. “Being an Egnyte Partner gives me next-level access to Egnyte’s outstanding support team,” he explains. “It also allows me to resell the product to my clients.”

All of this has strengthened Virtua’s relationships with their clients, leading to repeat business and increased revenue. “Egnyte makes us look good to our clients, so they keep coming back,” Esgar says. “We’re giving them a tool that empowers them to work from anywhere while still maintaining top-notch security. That’s an amazing combination of power. And for us, providing them with that power means longer client relationships and more money for our business.”

How would Esgar sum up the impact Egnyte has had on his clients in one sentence? “Egnyte allows us to standardize security and productivity for our clients. What more could you possibly ask for?”