Bridging Security and IT Operations

JumpCloud’s MSP partners are at the forefront of providing essential IT services to small and medium-sized businesses globally. In our interview series, we delve into conversations with these partners, exploring the dynamics of their MSPs and how JumpCloud plays a pivotal role in their operations.

About Stephen Doty

Stephen Doty is an information technology and information security expert. He is the founder and CEO of Defensible Technology, a security-first managed service provider, specializing in cybersecurity risk management and IT operations consulting. Mr. Doty has more than twenty years of experience in building, managing, and implementing complex information technology and cybersecurity strategies and solutions. Prior to building Defensible, Mr. Doty served as the Chief Technology Officer for The Juilliard School, where he was the first security expert hired by the school, leading the university through a global IT transformation inclusive of technology modernization, organizational restructuring, and expansion into a second campus in China. He also created the school’s information security strategy, and today remains as Juilliard’s acting vCISO.  As a Managing Director for a leading forensics and incident response firm, Stroz Friedberg, Steve functioned as an outsourced CISO for numerous organizations across multiple industries. In that capacity, he led incident response efforts, managed post-breach and ransomware remediation programs, and delivered risk assessments, penetration tests, and other cybersecurity consulting services.

Early in his career, Steve was a senior network engineer and Big 4 consulting firm manager. His work included projects related to high profile security initiatives, national security events, critical

infrastructure security, fintech, legal, regulatory compliance, and industry-specific applications for cybersecurity. 

Mr. Doty earned an MBA from the Zicklin School of Business (Baruch College) and a B.A. in Communications from the State University of New York at Buffalo.

In today’s feature, we had the opportunity to speak again with Stephen Doty or Defensible Technology

Here are my key takeaways:

1.  It’s the IT “Swiss Army Knife”

I asked Stephen what advice he would give other MSPs when looking at JumpCloud and he explained he sees the solution as a “Swiss Army Knife” for MSPs. There is a full feature set to be able to manage identities, user provisioning and de-provisioning and this is a great starting point. Then add on a Password Manager as an extra layer, the ability to push our device policies etc. He explained that JumpCloud really gives them a great platform to totally manage their clients, that includes the user identity, devices and applications.

2.  Defensible have different types of clients

We discussed how Defensible manages their clients and like lots of MSPs currently they operate in a variety of ways. In some cases they take control of the entire client and offer a full managed service, in some they augment an existing IT team and the final scenario is where Defensible offers security services to MSPs who don’t have the full skillset. 

They also have a mix of Windows, Mac, iOS and Android systems under management and JumpCloud helps protect them all, even adding a layer of protection for employee owned (BYOD) devices. 

Defensible work with both Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace when working with their clients.  JumpCloud offers an enhanced Directory Service for Google Workspace clients. 

3.  Cyber insurance is the driver

This will continue to be the driver for SMEs to up their security game, the insurance companies are asking better questions when pricing premiums and this requires the MSP to work with the client to be able to provide evidence of good practice. The NIST CSF 2.0 framework provides a great starting point for MSPs to work with on their clients. 

4. It began with an SSO/MFA requirement for one client

Stephen had previously a lot of experience with OKTA for Single Sign On but he felt it wasn’t the right fit for a new client when looking for a SSO solution and after exploring the market he found JumpCloud. 

After beginning to use JumpCloud for one client it soon became apparent that it would be beneficial to roll out to their other clients and this is the plan as Defensible goes into 2024.  They are looking to consolidate lots of separate products into a single solution with JumpCloud – Single Sign on, Patching, software distribution, remote desktop support etc

About Stephen Doty

Stephen Doty is an information technology and information security expert. He is the founder and CEO of Defensible Technology, a security-first managed service provider, specializing in cybersecurity risk management and IT operations consulting. Mr. Doty has more than twenty years of experience in building, managing, and implementing complex information technology and cybersecurity strategies and solutions.  Prior to building Defensible, Mr. Doty served as the Chief Technology Officer for The Juilliard School, where he was the first security expert hired by the school, leading the university through a global IT transformation inclusive of technology modernization, organizational restructuring, and expansion into a second campus in China. He also created the school’s information security strategy, and today remains as Juilliard’s acting vCISO.  As a Managing Director for a leading forensics and incident response firm, Stroz Friedberg, Steve functioned as an outsourced CISO for numerous organizations across multiple industries. In that capacity, he led incident response efforts, managed post-breach and ransomware remediation programs, and delivered risk assessments, penetration tests, and other cybersecurity consulting services.

Early in his career, Steve was a senior network engineer and Big 4 consulting firm manager. His work included projects related to high profile security initiatives, national security events, critical

infrastructure security, fintech, legal, regulatory compliance, and industry-specific applications for cybersecurity. 

Mr. Doty earned an MBA from the Zicklin School of Business (Baruch College) and a B.A. in Communications from the State University of New York at Buffalo.

Thanks to Stephen for taking part in this chat.

To find out more about JumpCloud and how it can help your MSP you can email us or read more about our MSP offering.