Case Study: Stairwell quickly integrates cyber security offering into Google Cloud Marketplace with SADA’s help

“Was our organization impacted by this latest security threat?” Cybersecurity staff are often asked this question while scrambling to determine if their infrastructure has been compromised. Now there is a cybersecurity automation platform that enables organizations to answer this question in an instant, providing the equivalent of an advanced three-week compromise assessment in literally seconds. 

By ingesting every executable or executable-like file within an organization’s environment and storing it within a private, Google Cloud-based data lake, Stairwell is able to perform advanced analysis, provide forensic evidence, detect malware faster, and quickly identify vulnerabilities using Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) technologies at the binary level.

Making cybersecurity teams faster and more efficient

Acknowledged by Fast Company as one of the most innovative companies of 2023, Stairwell provides a cybersecurity solution empowering security teams with faster and more comprehensive threat detection and response capabilities. Stairwell is able to deliver a crucial force multiplier across security operations, threat hunting, and incident response use teams to help security pros outsmart any attacker. In short, Stairwell turns a resource constrained team of cybersecurity specialists into virtual superheroes.  

“We give a cybersecurity team superpowers,” says Eric Foster, Vice President of Business Development at Stairwell. “We can do really interesting analysis because we have a copy of every file stored in the cloud. This lets us create a time machine so we can move backward in time and not just know if this bad thing is in your environment today, but was the threat ever in your environment. So, when an attacker comes in, does something malicious, gets rid of all the evidence, and leaves, he can escape a lot of traditional detection tools, but he can’t escape Stairwell.”

Business challenge

Stairwell was started in 2019 by Mike Wiacek, a former Google employee and founding member of Google’s Threat Analysis Group (TAG). Foster was helping Stairwell as an outside strategic adviser at the time, but came onboard at the startup full time in 2023. 

“We already knew the power that building Stairwell in Google Cloud would provide us, especially because the cornerstone of our solution is AI and Google has tremendous resources that you can use in Google Cloud,” says Foster. “We also knew that you shouldn’t ever do everything yourself, which is why we’re big fans of SADA.”

Need to get listed on Google Cloud Marketplace 

Based on having a successful history working with SADA preparing and taking Stairwell to market, Foster and his team next turned to SADA again for guidance on integrating Stairwell into the Google Cloud Marketplace. 

With a listing on Google Cloud’s curated marketplace of solutions, customers can directly purchase products that count against their overall Google Cloud commitment. “Being on the marketplace, you gain tremendous access to all of the customers who have already been smart enough to invest in Google Cloud,” says Foster. “For them, it’s so easy and fast. They can literally buy with a click of a button and optimize their security program. The marketplace is truly a win-win for everybody, and I was anxious to get started.” 

Solution

To get Stairwell into the marketplace as soon as possible, SADA employed their Google Cloud Marketplace Integration Services to streamline the marketplace publishing process by collecting and submitting listing details, establishing SKUs, overseeing Google Cloud confirmation procedures, setting up and testing internal order applications, and taking care of any complexities in the process. Stairwell was also provided a copy of the source code for everything that was implemented.

Going live in Google Cloud Marketplace is not as easy as one might think. It requires many complex steps such as adjusting Identity & Access Management (IAM) in your Google Cloud console, setting up specific configurations, developing a pricing calculator, and more. These are all areas where SADA really shines.

Eric Foster | Vice President of Business Development at Stairwell

Stairwell lets SADA do the marketplace integration for them

With SADA’s Marketplace Integration Experts taking on the project for Stairwell, it enabled them to concentrate on core competencies of cybersecurity. 

“SADA comes to the table with a great team of Project Managers and Google Cloud Solution Architects, plus proprietary tools and prebuilt processes,” says Foster. “They were very high-touch and very white-glove. Basically, all I had to do during the eight-week project was show up to occasional meetings and follow up on step-by-step instructions and documentation they provided.” 

Impact

As a result of working with SADA on the Google Cloud Marketplace listing, Stairwell successfully outsourced technology tasks important to their revenue-generating activities. SADA accomplished the marketplace integration ahead of schedule, on budget, and without affecting Stairwell’s normal operations. 

The primary impact of SADA taking on our marketplace integration has been completing what would have been a painful and manual process for Stairwell, SADA cost-effectively completed the marketplace integration in record time, minimizing disruptions to our team so that we could focus on our core business of helping customers improve their security.

Mike Wiacek | CEO of Stairwell

Within the first month of the listing going live on the Google Cloud Marketplace, Stairwell won their first marketplace deal.

SADA’s SaaS Alliance Program increases market visibility 

In addition, Stairwell joined the SADA SaaS Alliance Program to facilitate promotional and marketing activities. The partnership is designed to increase visibility within the SADA and Google Cloud ecosystems through joint marketing efforts, targeted outbound outreach, and other activities.

“We appreciate the benefits and opportunities that SADA is creating for us to promote and amplify our brand through co-marketing at events, social media campaigns, and participating in their case studies and the Cloud N Clear podcast,” says Foster. 

Overall, by working with SADA, Stairwell was able to:

• Accelerate integration into the Google Cloud Marketplace in < 8 weeks 
• Build a registration page and order management system
• Test and validate Google Cloud Marketplace orders
• Establish revenue reporting
• Close their first deal on Google Cloud marketplace in < 30 days