Summary
Altair IT, a New Zealand-based MSP, delivers enterprise-grade IT and cybersecurity solutions to small and medium-sized businesses across New Zealand. As the business grew, the team needed a cybersecurity platform that was easy to manage, scalable, cost-effective and purpose-built for MSPs.
After evaluating multiple cybersecurity vendors, Altair IT selected Guardz due to its streamlined onboarding, simplified management experience, strong integrations, and competitive commercial model. The platform significantly reduced administrative overhead, improved operational efficiency and enables the business to deliver enterprise-grade protection to SMB customers with less complexity.
Business Challenge
“We were spending 10 to 20 hours a week managing the old solution.”
Prior to adopting Guardz, Altair IT was managing a cybersecurity solution that had become increasingly difficult and time-consuming to operate. The existing platform required extensive manual administration, particularly around integrations with Microsoft 365 and MDR services. The team regularly spent hours troubleshooting portal issues, reconnecting services and managing per-user configuration problems.
At the same time, costs continued to increase as additional features were introduced with separate pricing structures. For a business focused on serving SMBs, these rising costs created significant pressure.
Altair IT needed a solution that integrated effectively with its existing PSA and RMM platform, SuperOps. Chris Thomas, Managing Director of Altair IT, explained that the company evaluated multiple cybersecurity vendors including Huntress, Sophos, WatchGuard, SentinelOne, and Blackpoint. However, many solutions either lacked operational simplicity or were priced for larger enterprise environments.
Solution
Guardz stood out during the evaluation process because of its ease of use, fast onboarding, and MSP-focused approach.
During live demonstrations, the Altair IT team found that Guardz dramatically simplified common workflows. Tasks that previously required navigating through multiple portals and layers of menus could now be completed within one or two clicks from a single dashboard. The platform’s centralised visibility also made it easier to train staff and reduce operational complexity.
The seamless integration with SuperOps was another major advantage. Altair IT was able to configure ticketing thresholds to minimise unnecessary alerts and reduce operational noise, ensuring technicians focused only on actionable security events.
From a cybersecurity perspective, the layered security architecture of Guardz also aligned strongly with the company’s philosophy around defence-in-depth security. The platform’s integration of technologies such as SentinelOne and Check Point provided enterprise-grade protection while maintaining a unified operational experience.
“A lot of things that we were having to click through menus and menus to get, we are now finding in one or two clicks.”
Result
Since deploying Guardz, Altair IT has achieved substantial operational efficiencies and improved visibility across customer environments.
The team now starts each day in the central dashboard with a single-pane-of-glass overview of security incidents, risks, and alerts across all managed customers. Many incidents are automatically remediated before technicians even begin work for the day.
“It’s a good start to my day. I come in, look at the dashboard, and I can see everything at once.”
One of the most significant outcomes has been the reduction in administrative overhead, reducing 10 and 20 hours per week managing and troubleshooting its cybersecurity stack down significantly, moving focus to billable work and customer service.
Altair IT also reported improved confidence in day-to-day cybersecurity operations. Automated incident remediation, simplified reporting, and clear visibility into security events reduced operational stress while enhancing customer protection.
Chris Thomas summarised the experience by highlighting the importance of evaluating cybersecurity solutions not only on security capabilities, but also on usability, integrations, staff training requirements, and operational efficiency.
Future Directions
Altair IT plans to continue expanding its use of Guardz as part of its broader cybersecurity strategy for SMB customers.
The business sees ongoing opportunities to further streamline incident reporting, automate security operations, and improve customer communication around cybersecurity events. The ability to leverage built-in reporting, dark web monitoring, MDR capabilities, and centralised visibility positions the company to continue scaling its managed security services efficiently.
As Guardz continues to evolve its platform based on MSP feedback, Altair IT values the vendor’s responsiveness and willingness to collaborate with partners to improve the product experience. This MSP-focused approach has reinforced confidence in the platform as a long-term cybersecurity solution for the business and its customers.
“I can go about my day knowing that, hey, it’s sorted.”