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Let’s kick off 2022 with a word from our COO on the new challenges that await Radio IP Software

2022 is here! And as life may soon return to normal after two years of pandemic disruption due to the Covid-19, we are experiencing one of the biggest turning points of the digital transition. Technology and IT companies are redoubling their efforts to manage the global crisis internally and externally, while seeking increasingly innovative solutions to growing challenges that are developing in this context as data privacy, data protection or cyberthreats.

Roch TREMBLAY, our COO at Radio IP Software, takes stock of the past year and shares his vision of the many new challenges that will be faced tomorrow.

 

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Kindly brief us about Radio IP Software, its specialization, your vision and your core values?

Roch T., COO – “Radio IP’s mission is to provide mobile workers with sophisticated solutions for secure, real-time access to a wide range of applications and wireless networks seamlessly, uninterruptedly, from anywhere and on any device. 

With over 20 years of experience in the field, we are proud to say that we have become a reference in providing MVPN software in our industry. From small to large companies, we are trusted by many mission-critical industries, public safety, military, utility, transportation, government agencies around the world, and very soon education.

Today, we continue to pursue our mission as we move toward our vision of redefining the future of secure mobility. Our core values, focused on innovation, transparency, respect and teamwork, truly are the 4 pillars on how we operate and on which our vision is based.

In essence, it means exploring, thinking and acting differently, while always looking forward.

Being confident in ourselves first, aware of our own value, and in others, staying open-minded and recognizing the value of others and their opinions. It also means having integrity and transparency in our management style and in our internal and external relations. 

Finally, it means collaborating, listening to oneself and to others, supporting and relying on each other’s strengths to create a beautiful synergy to reach our common goal.

For us, these values are definitely the key to Radio IP’s efficiency and performance.”

 

The last two years have been particularly difficult with the pandemic due to Covid-19 and this, for all companies. In your case, have any unexpected opportunities arisen from the pandemic?

Roch T., COO – “2020 and 2021 have been two difficult years for sure. Yet, we have seen an increase in demand for our software in various parts of the world. Some of this demand can certainly be attributed to working from home which has accompanied some of the mitigation approaches by many governments to tackle Covid-19.

The pandemic crisis has pushed many workers to use their personal devices and unsecured networks to work remotely. Such a shift from the physical to the virtual environment is both a real opportunity, as it takes part of a global digital transformation, and a threat, as it significantly exposes any organization to a growing cyberthreat landscape, making it an ideal target for cyberattacks, as it is a goldmine of information that is unfortunately rarely protected as it should be.

All this to explain that from Radio IP’s perspective, with the next level of technological transformation happening in today’s digital era,  cyber security has become a very important factor. From small to large, all kinds of companies are inclined to implement cybersecurity solutions in their operations as well as in data storage.

This is happening, we have seen many organizations using this time to review, revamp and restructure their cybersecurity policies. It appears that as people might spend less time traveling and much more time using their electronic devices, there’s a tendency in the market to invest more and put in place new programs, such as ours to ensure stronger security policies.”

 

It seems that cybersecurity is increasingly at the heart of every organization’s news, no matter what the sector is, public or private. What do you think is the biggest cyberthreat we face ?

Roch T., COO – “Ok, first, I think that all kinds of cyberthreats need to be taken very seriously!

Because in the end and regardless of the sector, the consequences of a digital attack go far beyond the simple financial issue. It is the whole functioning, the strategy and the image of your company which are affected in rebound.

If I were to make a comparison, who would leave their business door wide open and leave their keys, personal, business or bank details on the counter?

No one would do that, and yet that’s what’s still happening in the virtual world today.

But if I had to choose one, I would say ransomware attacks. It infects your network and holds your data and computer systems hostage until a ransom is paid. The monetary damages from lost productivity and data loss are often the most destructive to a business and is a popular way for attackers to target businesses. This won’t change any time soon; according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security ransomware attacks have been unfortunately increasing across the globe.

Anyway, you have to know that nobody is ever 100% immune from daily evolving cyber threats, from ransomware attacks to data breaches. But with awareness of the issues and with our technologies at the helm, organizations can rest assured that the risks they face can be reduced. The need for security to strengthen data protection across various devices, networks, and other collaboration tools has never been greater.”

 

The public is still not very knowledgeable about cybersecurity. What is the most common misconception when it comes to it?

Roch T., COO – “Most people think mobile carriers provide security because its mobile data when in fact they don’t. It gives a false sense of security. Building a virtual hotspot that mimics a carrier Wi-Fi point in a public place is fairly easy. Once in, any hacker has access to a significant array of information on your device. From location tracking, to web browsing history, stored passwords, payment information, and so on. It’s all there, and most of the time, it’s not encrypted. 

We often hear about large-scale attacks, ransomware, and such. But there are hundreds of thousands of single users that get hacked yearly through free Wi-Fi access points, and other connectivity offers worldwide.

It is therefore imperative to work properly with a secure partner to map all paths and connections to ensure that it is 100% secure from A to Z. Adding VPN software such as Armada is one of the main defense someone can use as a mean to better protect their private, and sensitive information.”

 

Cybersecurity is becoming a central part of the global strategy of all types of organizations. Undeniably, it’s therefore many companies specialized in cybersecurity that are also emerging. What differentiates Radio IP Software from your competitors and marks you out as the best possible option for your clients?

Roch T., COO – “I see three points that really differentiate us from competitors and I will take the time to define them well here below:

• Our patents in cybersecurity and our qualified R&D experts in software development
• Our certifications, a lot of work but a notable recognition of quality for the customer
• Our vision which always pulls us up, reminding us to look at the big picture and get a sense of perspective

First of all, there’s one thing that we have as a company and that sets us apart from others: we hold our own patents. According to me, when you treat your software as intellectual property, you have more control over who gets to use it and how it gets to the public. Otherwise, people might use it without permission, and you’ll lose the chance to get paid when people use your software. Customers recognize brands from these factors and IPRs help businesses differentiate their products and promote innovation and support progress in technology that gives consumers access to new goods.

On the other hand, we are fortunate to have high-quality resources. Our R&D experts are always on the lookout for new trends and are extremely talented when it comes to developing new products.

Secondly, the importance of always being on the lookout for new products and our certifications undoubtedly positions us as a supplier of choice: Radio IP has CJIS certifications and for our public safety customers, CJIS compliance is perhaps one of the most important compliance standards of all. This compliance is what keeps criminal justice and law enforcement professionals (local, state, and federal) in agreement on data security and encryption standards.

This, for sure, positions us as a preferred option for some of our customers in the public safety community!

Also, we just achieved a new certification in 2021 that is RHEL 8 (Red Hat) for our Armada solution. That is something we are really proud of!

Last but not least, in a continuous process of improvement, our company is always searching to expand its scope and become the privileged interlocutor counterpart when it comes to securing the entire professional environment of public safety workers. We take care of massive projects from A to Z and we offer turnkey solutions to secure our customers’ data transmissions the best way, anytime, anywhere and on any device. This is clearly one of our added values compared to our competitors.”

 

Can you tell us more about your new certification and positioning? Are there any other novelties you want to highlight?

Roch T., COO – “As I just mentioned, one of the most noteworthy advancement of the year is our positioning evolution from MVPN software provider to technological solutions integrator.

Radio IP now offers complete solutions covering the entire professional environment of public safety workers.

That’s pretty exciting because our users can now benefit from a whole set of tools and powerful new features integrated into smart equipment, designed to secure their daily work and improve their performance during critical mobility operations. This certainly has a considerable impact for our users since they will now be able to find everything under the same roof!

Our partnership with hardware manufacturers and large-scale distributors offers our customers one stop location to find telecommunication equipment and devices.  From ear pieces, to modems, computers, and larger devices Radio IP has the partnership network to answer all of those needs with the same approach to service that we provide for our own software.

Then, to tell you more about our new certification, in December 2021, we pushed our team to complete RHEL 8 certification from Red Hat for our Armada solution and I’m proud to say that we successfully achieved it.

Why is this important to us? Radio IP has been FIPS 140-2 compliant with all its software for many years now. We actually just renewed all our Certificate Validation while working on the RHEL 8 Certification. While Red Hat engineers help improve functionality, reliability, and security to make sure your infrastructure works and stays stable, whatever your use case and workload.  This certification, and the Red Hat partnership help us provide to all our customers with a completely secure MVPN solution, from the device to the server, as the RHEL 8 platform is also certified FIPS 140-2.”

 

With regards to the future, what plans and projects do you have coming up in 2022?

Roch T., COO – “As 2021 brought its load of challenges, we see 2022 as a year of opportunity.  We are bringing forward multiple new products and options to our current software portfolio to continue our growth and provide our customers with a wider array of possibilities in achieving their objectives. 

There are numerous projects we are currently working on to reinforce our position in our existing markets, both from a regional perspective and a product perspective. With the increasing use of AI in developing stronger predictability and analysis of raw data, and increase the speed at which machines can now learn from this information, we are getting involved with various partners in developing a new approach to cybersecurity software in a mobile environment, and providing more information to CIO’s, CTO’s and IT leadership in preparing for either predicting, preventing or defending against the ever-increasing threats that our present in the cyber world.

We are strengthening our new positioning of technological solutions integrator by creating lasting and quality partnerships that generate a great synergy between all the stakeholders involved, pooling our respective strengths for the customer’s benefit. Because in the long run, he will benefit from all the tools, devices and functionalities necessary for his daily work, by addressing only one interlocutor.

He saves time, resources, money, and can finally stay focused and efficient on the missions he is really made for.

Finally, and still in the same idea, the education market is more and more at the heart of our concerns. We have clearly identified the growing need for this sector to create highly secure, cyber-connected environments: increasing mobility -of which remote learning is a part—, new technologies leading to an exponential growth in the number of applications, devices and digital tools developed and used in recent years … with the same increase in cyber risks, as well as in any other sector. 

Students, parents, teachers, administrative staff… Everyone is concerned. We develop customized solutions adapted to Education and our current and future partnerships definitely go in this direction.

In short, 2022 opens the door to both product and process improvements -it’s our job to always challenge ourselves and provide the best at all times- and to many new innovations for an increasingly diverse audience. Let’s redefine the future of secure mobility!”

 

Would you like to add something ?

Roch T., COO – “As I mentioned it in the beginning of the interview, we always have our values and vision in mind and it is important to hold on to it in these times of crisis.

Our vision of redefining the future of secure mobility pulls us up and reminds us that we have a common goal and that is what keeps us going and progressing.

Our values stand for a reminder to us all that no matter what happens in life, we can count on each other. We all work together. We are a team moving toward a common goal and at the end, that is what Radio IP is all about.”