Government contracts require high security.

NIST compliance is a key business driver for this Detroit-area company.

A firm known for accuracy, precision, and quality needed a data security partner who could match their high standards and help them meet strict data security requirements of military contractors.

The National Institutes of Standards and Technology (NIST) has defined cybersecurity standards to protect data like manufacturing processes and specifications throughout the defense supply chain. Firms who meet these extensive requirements have a big leg up on winning valuable contracts. Variation Reduction Solutions knew this several years ago, and knew they needed a network infrastructure that could scale with their growth.

About Variation Reduction Solutions, Inc. (VRSI)

Variation Reduction Solutions, Inc. (VRSI), based in Plymouth, Michigan, was founded in 1988 and now employs over 75 people. They provide state-of-the-art vision solutions for metrology, industrial robot guidance, and inspection to customers in automotive, aerospace, medical, and general manufacturing industries.

See The Solution
The Solution

Updates over time make a big difference

VRSI engaged with Safety Net to take stock of what they had, define a plan, and identify priorities for the hardware, software solutions, configuration changes, ongoing monitoring and administration it would take to secure their systems at this level.

Projects and updates included (Note: Nothing listed in this overview exposes vulnerabilities or provides a level of detail that could empower the bad guys.):

  • Government-compliant data replication
  • Firewall and VPN updates
  • Server virtualization
  • Two Factor authentication updates (using Michigan-based solution Duo Security)
  • Deeper network monitoring, logging and reporting capabilities
  • Group Policy/user administration changes
  • Alignment with other, best-in-class toolsets and processes for ongoing anti-virus, web content filtering, and patching, also known as Security as a Service

We rest easy knowing our systems are protected by their continuous monitoring.

Michael Kleeman – Engineering Manager, Aerospace Division, Variation Reduction Solutions

See The Results
The Results

Highly secure with evidence to prove it

Safety Net has helped VRSI become aligned with industry standards and best practices. They are in an excellent position to retain the contracts they currently have with the U.S. Government, which makes their business results more certain and predictable. They are confident they will be able to win additional contracts because of their improved IT security posture.

A newly built and deployed second network for their Ohio office is securely connected to their main office, allowing for the safe sharing of information between both locations. Overall, their computing environment is more secure and customer data is always protected.

Several areas on the annually conducted Technical Health Assessment are NIST-specific. Through the tools provided by Safety Net, VRSI has access to the evidence they’ll need to pass detailed audits required when bidding for some projects.

Michael Kleeman, Engineering Manager in the Aerospace Division at Variation Reduction Solutions, emphasized how much he values their relationship with their Safety Net Network Administrator, the “very awesome Jason Martin!”

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