Josh Dinneen, CEO of Blue Mantis – Interview Collection

Blue Mantis serves mid-market and enterprise organizations by serving to them determine and implement enterprise software program options from companies like AWS, Arctic Wolf, Acronis, Cisco, Dell, HPE, Microsoft, and lots of others.  Main clients embody Cole Haan, the Jacksonville Jaguars, Liberty Mutual, Woodforest Nationwide Financial institution, and Boston Medical Middle.

Are you able to share the journey of Blue Mantis from its inception to changing into a number one managed companies supplier in cloud, cybersecurity, AI, and digital transformation?

Blue Mantis has a 30+ 12 months historical past of delivering modern and confirmed know-how options to mid-market and enterprise purchasers. We’ve been an integral a part of their digital transformation journeys and, as your query suggests, we now have additionally been on our personal modernization journey, one marked by a dramatic growth in the kind of options we provide and the style by which we assist purchasers obtain optimistic enterprise outcomes.

We have now remodeled from our roots as a small, regional reseller of {hardware} and software program merchandise to a nationwide and now a world supplier of next-generation companies in what we name three core enterprise “pillars” – cybersecurity, cloud and managed companies.

As we now have scaled our group, we now have additionally efficiently attracted a number of new blue-chip executives to increase our management group. In doing so, we now have strengthened our technical acumen, broadened our companies choices, refined our gross sales execution, and sharpened our go-to market methods.  These key leaders embody Chief Working Officer (and former CISO and CIO) Jay Pasteris; Chief Providers Officer Steven DeMaayer; Chief Income Officer Terry Richardson, and our Chief Advertising Officer, Sarah Foote.

As a supplier of next-generation options, we now have additionally expanded our consulting capabilities and we’re more and more serving as a strategic advisor for our purchasers, surveying the hyper-dynamic know-how panorama and creating the blueprint to assist purchasers harness these applied sciences to help their companies and attain measurable and optimistic outcomes. We have now additionally constantly broadened our portfolio of product bundles and companies, which embody cybersecurity and danger administration, cloud, networking, information heart modernization, trendy workspace, service companies, useful resource administration and the flexibility to supply any of these options as managed companies.

Previously often called Inexperienced Pages till our new model id and title change have been unveiled in July 2023, the title Blue Mantis signifies our position as a strategic advisor, one able to main our purchasers into the longer term. In actual fact, the phrase mantis actually means a “seer, a prophet and one who divines.” This actually captures our mission and our ethos.

What are the important thing components that contributed to Blue Mantis’ spectacular development charges in cybersecurity, cloud service practices, and managed companies?

First, was our potential to stay keenly centered available on the market alternatives we noticed proper in entrance of us. Second, was holding our purchasers on the forefront of every little thing we do was crucial. Third, we felt it was crucial to undertake the transformation that has moved Blue Mantis from a gross revenue, value of products offered mannequin to a strategic services-led enterprise geared toward driving enterprise outcomes for purchasers. That dramatically modified the expansion trajectory of Blue Mantis. To enhance our natural development, we even have made a number of acquisitions and added technical expertise in these three key development segments.  These investments have paid sturdy dividends; we now have achieved a five-year development price of 405 % for cybersecurity, 119 % for cloud service practices and 495 % for managed service. We have now additionally elevated our headcount by 127 % throughout that point.

Are you able to elaborate on the twin position of AI at Blue Mantis, each internally for operational efficiencies and externally for shopper companies?

We have now gone all in on GenAI for each inside and exterior makes use of. To achieve success in AI, Knowledge Administration takes on heightened significance.  We’re persevering with to put money into our Knowledge Enablement capabilities at our basis.  Additionally, a Microsoft accomplice, we had early entry to Copilot and we’re on the vanguard of Managed Providers Suppliers who’re harnessing the ability of AI for enterprise clients. This level has been validated by clients, companions and market observers within the IT channel.

For our purchasers, we started providing Managed AI Copilot Options in Q2 2024, a custom-made turnkey providing powered by Microsoft. We seamlessly and securely combine AI into purchasers’ present Microsoft Cloud setting with govt schooling, strategic planning, and managed companies. Our GTM relies on an Assess, Modernize, Handle framework. By way of our consultative strategy, we now have helped clients determine excessive worth use-cases for GenAI, determine and remediate safety points related to their information property, and modernize information processing in help of GenAI use-cases.  Internally, we’re leveraging AI throughout many capabilities inside Blue Mantis.  Whether or not it’s Microsoft Copilot or one other AI know-how, we’re seeing vital productiveness enhancements as extra use instances are recognized and other people turn out to be acquainted with the know-how.

What are some particular AI-driven initiatives or tasks which have had a major impression in your purchasers?

We’re nonetheless within the preliminary phases of this know-how wave and many consumers are nonetheless formulating their technique referring to utilized GenAI for his or her enterprise.  The market is clearly within the schooling part as purchasers are “the artwork of the potential” as they appear to make the most of this rising know-how.  Essentially the most vital impression we’ve seen is on two fronts.  First, as purchasers start to discover their information property, this has revealed the expansive scope and magnitude of their information property and brought about them to revisit their information governance processes and expose new menace vectors for information leakage and information loss.  Many purchasers have been shocked to search out out simply how a lot information they’ve and who has entry to it.  Second, when purchasers make investments the effort and time to coach their employees, time-to-productivity is vastly enhanced.  Establishing command and belief of this new know-how is crucial to driving the kind of impression that purchasers count on to see from their GenAI investments. Naysayers and detractors have been transformed to champions and advocates when given the appropriate baseline and this has had vital impression with purchasers as they roll out GenAI options.

How does Blue Mantis keep forward of rising threats and handle danger for its purchasers?

We’re a security-first agency, and we contemplate safety to be the bedrock of every little thing we architect, construct and help. As a supplier of managed companies, we’re relied upon closely by purchasers to be their eyes and ears and their first line of protection in opposition to their adversaries – whether or not insider or exterior threats.  We keep forward of those threats and assist not solely handle however cut back danger by providing an entire suite of cloud safety, community and programs safety and governance, danger and compliance options to satisfy all their wants. We put a excessive premium on safety consciousness coaching each internally and with purchasers to make sure we keep updated on the most recent vulnerabilities and assault strategies. This includes menace intelligence feeds, safety conferences, and trade greatest observe analysis. We additionally supply complete safety assessments to determine weaknesses in a shopper’s present safety posture. This helps them prioritize potential dangers and implement options tailor-made to their setting, trade and price range. For a lot of purchasers we offer managed safety companies and 24/7 monitoring by way of Managed Detection and Response (MDR) options by way of companions like Arctic Wolf, in addition to steerage and implementation companies to help them on their Zero Belief journeys.

By combining these approaches, we offer purchasers with a complete safety technique that adapts to the evolving menace panorama and will increase their vigilance in opposition to cyberattacks.

Are you able to talk about any latest cybersecurity traits or challenges that mid-market and enterprise organizations ought to pay attention to?

Whether or not we’re speaking about mid-market or enterprises, the organizations we’re working with face most of the identical challenges. On the high of the record is the necessity for higher and extra holistic information administration and privateness assurance from a regulatory perspective. The brand new SEC mandate to reveal information breaches extra shortly and transparently intensifies our shopper’s already complicated environments.

Knowledge resiliency is one other main problem for the midmarket. It’s not ok to be ok. For the straightforward purpose that once more, no matter measurement or vertical trade, our purchasers’ buyer information is underneath steady assault by an more and more refined universe of adversaries. Shoppers’ danger profiles are increasing, and defenses should turn out to be stronger, extra vigilant and extra refined to make sure steady safety.

Lastly, regardless of the elevated threats they face, many organizations are anticipated to “Do extra with much less.” That is the place Blue Mantis has shined. We assist purchasers who’re grappling with these points by delivering steerage and path on how greatest to prioritize tasks within the areas of cloud, cybersecurity and digital transformation. Nevertheless, we now have additionally expanded our capabilities and scale within the space of strategic useful resource administration in cyber safety as all as IT. We have now expanded a complete expertise pool that enables Blue Mantis to seamlessly combine assets into shopper groups, filling particular talent gaps and guaranteeing venture success.

How does Blue Mantis information purchasers by way of their cloud journey, and what are the important thing elements of a profitable cloud technique?

Blue Mantis helps information clients by way of their cloud journey with a practical strategy. We work carefully with clients to grasp the true drivers behind their cloud transformations and work collectively collaboratively to construct a roadmap.

As with most transformation initiatives, transferring to the cloud doesn’t imply clients could have parity with their present operations and this creates challenges inside their companies. Whether or not it’s a skillset hole, experience wanted, coaching, or capability for work, we assist our clients envision their future state and guarantee they’re supported in any manner wanted to achieve success.

We have now recognized 4 main insights about leveraging the cloud:

First, is alignment to the enterprise.  Any cloud transformation must have clearly outlined goals. And not using a clear demarcation for ‘what attractiveness like’ and the enterprise outcomes outlined, it’s simple to get misplaced in your cloud journey.

Second, is knowing workloads and assessing their fit-for-use in cloud. .  We excel at framing the choice factors for our clients and offering insights into what we’ve seen work and never work.  It is extremely frequent for us to see a hybrid strategy to cloud, particularly for legacy functions.  Many functions weren’t constructed for the cloud and they don’t seem to be cloud prepared. Deciding how a lot to speculate with a view to make them slot in a cloud setting might be very difficult (and probably not definitely worth the funding).

Third, prioritizing migration is crucial.  As with all transformation initiative, you will need to see some early wins.  For business-critical functions and infrastructure, nothing will kill your cloud transformation sooner than giant, lengthy operating, tasks that don’t return some worth again to the enterprise.  We search to keep away from this example and work along with purchasers to search out stability.

Lastly, as purchasers migrate to the cloud they might want to put some kind of governance course of in place.  This may be very difficult for any group that’s experimenting with new know-how, whereas attempting to run their enterprise.  Prospects might want to handle their prices (as that’s one thing that may get uncontrolled shortly, in case you are not ready), make certain the prices are successfully communicated to their enterprise stakeholders, and in the end optimize that spend over time.  Following this blueprint and making some good selections has made lots of our clients profitable of their cloud journey.

What differentiates Blue Mantis’ managed companies from different suppliers out there?

Once more, I’d return to the purpose made earlier about reinvention. What separates Blue Mantis from the numerous know-how answer suppliers out there is that many have did not reinvent themselves. We have now had a transparent imaginative and prescient and a centered technique that has been embraced by a terrific, gifted and constant base of staff who stay dedicated to the mission. We have now not tried to develop too massive too quick or to tackle greater than we may efficiently handle. And that may be a temptation, imagine me.  Our steadfast devotion to resilience and skill to adapt and alter is very large based mostly available on the market we’re in. I’m extraordinarily proud and appreciative of the gifted folks we now have grown and retained right here at Blue Mantis and the brand new leaders and group members we now have efficiently added. This has been large in serving to us develop, diversify and differentiate. They’ve embraced change, been versatile and proceed to drive our purchasers into the longer term. Shoppers inform us repeatedly – “this makes you stand out.”

What are the most recent traits in information heart modernization, and the way is Blue Mantis getting ready its purchasers for future alternatives?

The info heart trade is actually witnessing a transformative period marked by the extremely speedy and broad adoption of Generative Synthetic Intelligence (GenAI). This know-how, which incorporates superior fashions like GPT-4, is reshaping the panorama of knowledge processing and administration. We’re working carefully with CIOS, CISOs and even CEOs inside our shopper base to assist them totally perceive the implications of this seismic shift. As vital, we’re getting ready present information heart assets – whether or not these are on-prem, in a personal or public cloud or consumed in a hybrid mannequin. Blue Mantis companions with all the key information heart {hardware} suppliers to make sure your modernization answer is future-proof and energy-efficient. We are able to additionally optimize for value by integrating the companies of our FinOps group, which has been confirmed to scale back our clients’ annual cloud prices by 30% or extra.

Are you able to present insights into how Blue Mantis approaches complicated networking challenges for its purchasers?

We remedy complicated networking challenges for purchasers by way of a number of key methods:

1. Blue Mantis companions with purchasers to grasp their enterprise targets and communication wants, guaranteeing that the community infrastructure helps these goals successfully.
2. We provide custom-made options to satisfy the particular wants of every shopper, contemplating components like their measurement, trade, and precise community necessities.
3. We apply superior applied sciences together with software-defined networking (SDN), community perform virtualization (NFV), and superior community monitoring instruments.
4. Shoppers’ networking initiatives are supported by way of our group of extremely expert networking specialists who’ve in depth expertise in coping with complicated community environments. This group can diagnose and resolve intricate community points effectively.
5. We’re not some extent options supplier; we provide complete end-to-end companies that handle every little thing from community design and implementation to ongoing administration and optimization.
6. We apply proactive monitoring and upkeep to each shopper engagement to constantly monitor community efficiency and determine potential points earlier than they turn out to be crucial issues. We conduct common upkeep and updates to make sure community reliability.
7. By combining better of breed and emergent know-how, we guarantee our clients are totally conscious of the choices they’ve.  Combining a consultative strategy, extremely expert specialists, and a portfolio of market main companions we’re in a position to ship the appropriate answer on the proper time.

By combining these approaches, Blue Mantis successfully addresses the complicated networking challenges confronted by its purchasers, guaranteeing safe, environment friendly, and dependable community efficiency.