During Inspire 2022, Microsoft’s global partner conference, Corporate Vice President of Security Vasu Jakkal recorded her keynote address from our security operations center (SOC), Mission Control, at the Open Systems offices in Redwood City, Calif., in the heart of Silicon Valley.

Vasu noted that Open Systems team talks to customers every day about the increasing volume, sophistication and rate and pace of cyberattacks. Vasu mentioned there are 921 password attacks per second – double from a year ago – and a 650% increase year over year in supply chain attacks. Not only that, but the average cost total cost of a data breach is now $4.2 million per incident. Organizations need strong, comprehensive solutions across their platforms and clouds – that is where Microsoft’s security solutions come in.

Chief Product Officer Tom Corn noted the demand for managed detection and response services has skyrocketed, not just because of the global talent shortage, but because of the sheer complexity of operationalizing cybersecurity. For that reason, Open Systems designed Mission Control. It's staffed with experts in security and data science, and with experts in Microsoft, who can optimize the Microsoft security suite and Azure cloud.

“This partnership with Microsoft has been core to our strategy,” Tom said. “It’s enabled us to fully leverage the security technology at Microsoft, to leverage the security suite as a multi-cloud multi-device control plane.” And, this relationship has enabled Open Systems to leverage Azure Cloud both to scale our security operations and to create a more secure environment for our customers’ workloads.

Open Systems Named 2022 Microsoft Swiss Partner of the Year

Open Systems was also recognized at Inspire as winner of the 2022 Microsoft Swiss Partner of the Year Award. We were honored among a global field of top Microsoft partners for demonstrating excellence in innovation and implementation of customer solutions based on Microsoft technology.

As CEO Geoff Haydon, noted in our press release, “Winning the Microsoft Swiss Partner of the Year Award is a tremendous honor for us, especially as it comes so soon after we won Security MSSP of the Year in the Microsoft Security Excellence Awards at RSAC 2022. These awards recognize how well both companies work together and our shared commitment to excellence in protecting our joint customers from cyber threats.”

The Microsoft Partner of the Year Awards recognize Microsoft partners that have developed and delivered outstanding Microsoft-based applications, services, and devices during the past year. Awards were classified in various categories, with honorees chosen from more than 3,900 submitted nominations from more than 100 countries worldwide. Open Systems was recognized for providing outstanding solutions and services in Switzerland.

In addition to winning Swiss Partner of the Year, Open Systems was also named a finalist for NGO Partner of the Year, in recognition of its efforts to substantially improve the cyber defenses of a leading, global NGO.

“Open Systems has helped its Swiss customers protect their sensitive customer data, save up to 30% on overhead costs, and operate their businesses in the most securely protected IT environments possible,” says Andrew Reid, Partner Lead ad interim at Microsoft Switzerland. “Having personally followed Open Systems over the past 3 years and watched their growth, we are happy to award Open Systems as Swiss Microsoft Country Partner of the Year. We thank the whole Open Systems team for their dedication to ensuring our joint customers realize the full potential of their Microsoft security investments and we look forward to working closely together to continue this success.”

“I am honored to announce the winners and finalists of the 2022 Microsoft Partner of the Year Awards,” said Nick Parker, corporate vice president of Global Partner Solutions at Microsoft. “These partners were outstanding among the exceptional pool of nominees, and I’m continuously impressed by their innovative use of Microsoft Cloud technologies and the impact for their customers.”

Microsoft Partner of the Year Awards are announced annually prior to the company’s global partner conference, Microsoft Inspire, which took place on July 19-20.

Additional details on the 2022 awards are available on the Microsoft Partner Network blog. The complete list of categories, winners and finalists can be found at https://partner.microsoft.com/en-us/inspire/awards.

History With Microsoft

Open Systems is a five-time Microsoft Gold Partner and one of a handful of companies that have received the Microsoft Cloud Security Advanced Specialization and Microsoft Threat Protection Advanced Specialization certifications. These achievements ensure the company’s continued place in MISA’s MSSP program, which Open Systems was invited to join when it launched in 2020.