Stratosphere Networks
Next-Gen Managed IT Services

As the persistent demand for information increases pressure on businesses, companies invest significant time and resources to interact with their customers and integrate transformational technologies into their IT infrastructures. However, these technologies bring with them a new wave of threats and risks. Companies need assistance in navigating around these potholes in a rapid fashion. Governed by a mission to empower CIOs and in-house IT teams with access to best-in-class IT solutions, the Chicago-based Stratosphere Networks provides high-quality next-gen IT support and services to companies of all sizes spanning diverse industries.
In an interview with CIO Applications, Steve Melchiorre, CEO of Stratosphere Networks, shares his insights on the company’s value proposition and the enterprise-grade managed services it offers in the IT space.

What are the challenges brewing in the IT space and how does Stratosphere Networks address them?

The CIOs and IT teams are overwhelmed and stretched thin as the growing demand for cybersecurity has significantly increased their workload. Numerous SMBs lack the resources and/or budgets to hire CSOs, CISOs or security experts. The extreme shortage of labor has placed our clients in a bind, as they’re left to build security teams with limited budgets. As the number of cybercriminals continues to rise along with the amount of constantly evolving IT security threats, already overworked CIOs and IT teams now must attempt to tackle security without the necessary time, funds and talent. We provide a comprehensive and flexible cybersecurity solution that empowers in-house IT with the control and management of incident response and remediation. Our core fundamental solutions include SIEM, managed detection and response, SOC services, virtual CSO, and other managed security services, along with HIPAA and industry regulation compliance.

How does partnering with Stratosphere Networks benefit the clients?

In addition to consulting and design services, we draw on our technical expertise to guide and advise our clients while implementing new solutions from a wide range of IT solution providers. Our team performs a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis on numerous vendor offerings, identifies the ideal solutions for each client’s specific circumstances, and helps our clients make informed decisions. Once the clients select the desired solution, we orchestrate the entire implementation process for them. We have a price parity guarantee that ensures the cost to the client will stay the same whether they go directly to a vendor or partner with us.

Additionally, clients can leverage our managed IT services, which include IT consulting, live help desk, support from our cutting-edge network operations center (NOC) and security operations center (SOC), onsite support, UC and cloud phone systems, among others.

In a nutshell, our team handles day-to-day IT tasks, which allows our clients to focus on important strategic projects. Our PaaS solution also empowers their in-house IT teams and boosts efficiency and productivity.

How does Stratosphere Networks stay competitive in today’s marketplace?

It is tough for any organization to keep up with the rapidly evolving IT landscape and maintain optimal day-to-day operations, all while deploying a strategic approach to IT. The Stratosphere team leverages an extensive partner network and in-depth technical knowledge to provide robust consulting, advisory and managed IT services and support to make life easier for our clients in numerous ways. Our help desk offers proactive monitoring, and our state-of-the-art NOC and SOC allow us to quickly identify and resolve any issues that our clients face. Our comprehensive cybersecurity solution helps clients minimize their data breach risk level, prevent costly downtime, and enable their in-house IT teams to focus on important business initiatives. We also offer a platform as a service (PaaS) solution, which enables mid-size businesses that have an in-house IT team but lack certain tools to stay competitive. Our PaaS solution equips in-house IT teams with proactive monitoring agents, automation, IT process development services, and a customized web ticketing portal.

How do you enable your clients’ in-house IT teams to function efficiently?

We recognize businesses’ unique IT security needs and help them keep up with the evolving tech landscape. We have developed a comprehensive cybersecurity strategy and solution with multiple layers, like our planet’s atmosphere, to achieve the highest possible level of protection. The Stratosphere team focuses on three core areas: managed cybersecurity solutions, cloud consulting and technology solutions advisory services, and managed IT services.

Could you share a customer success story?

One of our clients, a health insurance company, was recently looking to enhance their communications capabilities and their backup and disaster recovery plan for improved performance. On the communications side, the client had an aging on-premise PBX solution for about 100 contact center agents. They were conflicted on whether to upgrade or migrate to a cloud-based or hybrid solution. Our team thoroughly analyzed various vendor offerings that could potentially meet the client’s needs, including on-premise, cloud and hybrid solutions, and ranked them based on how each solution integrates and functions conjointly with other solutions. The client selected a cloud solution with both contact center and UC components that delivered the required scalability. The client also gained end-to-end reporting and UC capabilities, which enhanced their ability to connect with their customers and communicate internally, all through a single portal. We also implemented a backup internet connection and SD-WAN to prioritize voice traffic and maintain a high level of service after introducing a new voice component over the client’s connection.

In terms of backup and disaster recovery (BDR), the client was utilizing backup tapes, and required an efficient backup solution. Upon identifying the right provider and solution, we designed a backup solution to restore the client’s critical infrastructure within four hours. Our consulting services and IT solutions allowed the client to operate more efficiently, minimize downtime, and remain competitive in their market.

What does the future hold for the company?

Stratosphere is focused on empowering in-house IT teams and CIOs with PaaS and other solutions to tackle the “hockey stick” curve of hacks and breaches. We will continue to address the issue of labor shortages, particularly in the realm of cybersecurity. Additionally, as the significance of customer experience (CX) continues to grow in the realm of technology advisory services, we strive to bring CIOs, CMOs and contact center specialists together to discuss common challenges and ways to tackle those issues.