PARTNER CASE STUDY SMARTER COMPUTER

An MSP partner
to drive SMEs’ growth
SMARTER COMPUTER Sdn. Bhd. is a trailblazer in providing
affordable, high-value outsourced IT services for a diverse rangeof businesses. Based in Penang, Malaysia, and a Sophos MSP
partner, the company has expanded its business operations across
Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, India, the Philippines,
Australia, and Africa.

PARTNER-AT-A-GLANCE
SMARTER COMPUTER
Penang, Malaysia
Industry
Managed Service Provider (MSP)

Sophos Solutions
Sophos Managed Service Provider (MSP) Solutions
Sophos Managed Detection and Response (MDR)
Sophos Central
Sophos Intercept X Advanced

PARTNER CASE STUDY SMARTER COMPUTER“Collaborating with Sophos has empowered us to better safeguard ourcustomers from cyber threats. With access to some of the best global
resources available to us 24x7, Sophos takes away the hassle andcomplexity of researching and analysing cybersecurity threats on ourown, and fixing security issues and incidents when they happen.“Lee Eng Hai, CEO, Smarter Computer Sdn. Bhd.

Smarter Computer Sdn. Bhd. serves businesses
located in areas often overlooked by othermanaged service providers (MSPs) due toaccessibility constraints. It has 100 dedicatedservice professionals who are strategically locatedacross the various regions, enabling the company
to support businesses at an international level. It
has more than contracted business customers, inaddition to its many ad-hoc hourly basis customers.

Providing reliable androbust security
In the current digital landscape, businesses
are facing increasing cybersecurity threats andcompromises. As its business grew, providing
quick and efficient services became a challenge.
With customers using a variety of software
management and security tools, Smarter
Computer needed a security partner that could
integrate disparate security software tools
effectively, and provide simplified, yet morecomprehensive, reliable, and robust security
management solutions to its customers.

MDR does the heavy lifting
Previously, many of the company’s customers
preferred onsite services, but the lockdowns during
the COVID-19 pandemic changed this. Today, theSmart Computer provides both onsite and remotemanagement services, though the former can be
more challenging especially when techniciansand engineers are not immediately available toattend in person. Operational inefficiencies andstaff limitations not only impact the customer
experience, but also the company’s profitability, andworse, this could lead to a loss of customers.
“We offer a comprehensive range of IT services,with a strong emphasis on advanced cybersecurity
solutions, to many MNCs and SMBs,” said Lee
Eng Hai, CEO, Smarter Computer. “Our team ofhighly skilled service professionals are experts
in both cybersecurity and computer system

PARTNER CASE STUDY SMARTER COMPUTER“This is a great value proposition for us, whichis encouraging. And with the strong support
that Sophos has been consistently providing,our business operations have been steadily
improving – and so has our profitability.“Lee Eng Hai, CEO, Smarter Computer Sdn. Bhd.

troubleshooting. We are dedicated to ensuring
the security and integrity of our clients’ digital
infrastructure. Through our partnership withSophos, we continuously enhance our skills
and stay at the forefront of cybersecurity
advancements. Additionally, we provide onsite
support for hardware, including network, firewall,
switches, Wifi, and servers, to deliver a complete IT
solution for our clients.”
Like all other businesses, MSPs face the increasing
sophistication of cyber threats. Even customers
in rural areas are being attacked more frequently.
Notably, SMBs are not too small to be targeted bycybercriminals but are often too small to get media
attention when they’re compromised. This opens
an opportunity for them to assess their security
vulnerabilities and consider a relevant security toolor service.

“The evolving threat landscape is driving our growth,hence we are increasingly transitioning to security
services, offering solutions that our customers can’t
bear to operate without,” said Lee.
Sophos Managed Detection Response (MDR)
provides a 24x7 active threat-hunting service
with 500 analysts and threat intelligence experts
around the world focusing on providing security
to MSPs and their customers. With MDR doing thecybersecurity heavy lifting, MSPs can streamline
their operations by increasing the utilisation of
their technical staff to focus on other areas of thebusiness – so they can sell more of their solutions
and services and grow their customer base, thusincreasing their bottom line.

Leading by Example
To build credibility with its customers andprospects, Smarter Computer needed to “walkthe talk” by championing and utilising the security
tools it is selling. With MDR, Sophos ensures thatits MSP partners are protected first. MSPs alsoneed to implement additional security measures
proactively, such as doing regular health checks
for theirs and their customers’ environments. This
includes having robust email security, endpoint
protection, and comprehensive user security
awareness training to equip end-users – the lastline of defense – with the knowledge to identify
malicious intent on emails, websites, URLs, etc –to help protect themselves and customers frombecoming the next victim.

PARTNER CASE STUDY SMARTER COMPUTER“We are increasingly implementing MDR for ourcustomers, as it makes a lot of processes more
efficient and secure. Our customers have, over
the years, accumulated a variety of security
management tools. Transitioning to MDR has been
seamless as it can integrate and synchronise all
the different endpoints, firewalls, and more – which
many security players struggle with. We have also
implemented Sophos email security on top of
Microsoft 365,” said Lee.
A key challenge for Smarter Computer wasoptimising its operations, considering its limited
resources. With 100 service professionals catering
to 300 customers, the company averages serving
about three customers per employee. Yet, Sophos
has seen examples where this ratio is significantly
higher, such as around 50 customers per employee.
Leveraging MDR’s “utilisation” metric enables
Smarter to increase the ratio from 3 to 10
customers per employee, driving profitability
without incurring additional costs. Monitoringand optimising this ratio can be a pivotal strategy
for MSPs, providing them with a tangible metricto assess and improve future profitability andsuccess. This involves balancing the intake ofmore clients, hence the increased revenue, without
proportionately increasing the headcount.
With the current economic climate, businesses
are taking a cautious approach, particularly in their
fixed expenditures, such as paying licenses. The
Sophos MSP program enables MSPs to deploy

licenses on a monthly subscription where billingis purely consumption-based – no commitments,
no minimums, and no set-up fees. Hence, if there’s
a fluctuation in the customer’s consumption, thebillings will also fluctuate.
“This is a great value proposition for us, which isencouraging. And with the strong support thatSophos has been consistently providing, ourbusiness operations have been steadily improving –and so has our profitability,” concluded Lee.

About the Partner
Smarter Computer Sdn. Bhd. is a trailblazer inproviding affordable, high-value outsourced
IT services for a diverse range of businesses,
including retail, trading, services, distribution, andmanufacturing, for industries like pharmaceutical,legal, accounting, furniture, travel, insurance, social
media services, and more. It serves businesses
located in areas often overlooked by other managed
service providers (MSPs) due to accessibility
constraints.
Based in Penang, Malaysia, and a Sophos MSP
partner, the company has expanded its business
operations across Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand,
Indonesia, India, the Philippines, Australia, andAfrica.

© Copyright 2024 Sophos Ltd. All rights reserved.
Registered in England and Wales No. 2096520, The Pentagon, Abingdon Science Park, Abingdon, OX14 3YP, UKSophos is a registered trademark of Sophos Ltd. All other product and company names mentioned are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

“We are increasingly
implementing MDR for ourcustomers, as it makes
a lot of processes more
efficient and secure. Our
customers have, over theyears, accumulated a varietyof security management
tools. Transitioning toMDR has been seamlessas it can integrate andsynchronise all the different
endpoints, firewalls, andmore – which many security
players struggle with. We
have also implemented
Sophos email security on
top of Microsoft 365.“Lee Eng Hai, CEO, Smarter Computer Sdn. Bhd.

Learn more about thebenefits of being a Sophos
MSP at sophos.com/msp
Year-Month-Day CCS-Langauge (INTIALS)