Transforming security operations with AI-powered insights

SMS DataTech, a prominent player in the computer services industry, provides critical IT infrastructure and security solutions to enterprises in the financial and manufacturing sectors. Their media platform, Security NOW!, delivers the latest security information and threat intelligence to small and medium-sized enterprises.

However, the company’s experts faced challenges in efficiently extracting critical information from the vast amount of security data, vulnerability reports and data breach alerts that they received daily. With limited resources, the team struggled to comprehensively cover network security, cloud security, vulnerability management and internal security training. The lack of time for advanced analytical work hindered proactive security measures and strategic planning. Moreover, both security risks increased and productivity in several departments decreased.

SMS DataTech aspired to reduce the time required to collect daily information and the time to create executive reports. They aimed to establish a platform that could seamlessly connect information to action. To achieve these goals, the company embarked on a transformative journey with IBM.

The team at SMS DataTech began working with IBM on a solution built for efficiency, agility and productivity—without compromising security and operations. IBM Cloud® Kubernetes Service was critical to achieve these goals as SMS DataTech developed, deployed and scaled each solution component independently. Using this offering contributed to the rapid, smooth migration to IBM Cloud with minimal disruption. The team established the enterprise-grade reliability essential for handling sensitive security information and the scalability and high availability needed for growth.

Migrating to IBM Cloud provided both cost benefits and seamless access to IBM products such as IBM watsonx® solutions, which brought about a significant transformation in SMS DataTech security operations. IBM® watsonx.data® technology and the AI-driven automatic analysis of IBM® watsonx.ai® came together to reduce time waste and centralize global security information management.

Daily information collection tasks were reduced by approximately 92%, from 2 hours to just 10 minutes. Furthermore, the time needed to create security reports for executive decision-making was reduced by 75%, from 40 hours per month to 10 hours. This increase in efficiency helped team members focus on higher value-added work such as strategic security policy planning.

With the newly built IT solution in place, SMS DataTech’s approach to security shifted from a reactive approach to a proactive strategy. The utilization of the watsonx.ai developer tool suite also enabled the distribution of individually optimized security information to all employees, improving security awareness overall and contributing to incident reduction. These tools included access to foundation models, MLOps features, tuning studio tools and integration capabilities.

Integrating IBM watsonx solutions established a cycle of continuous security improvement, bringing positive impact on business overall, including strengthening the organizational structure—and customer trust.

SMS DataTech continues to enhance their security measures, further leveraging the capabilities of IBM watsonx to bolster their platform for data-driven outcomes and measures.

SMS DataTech operates in the computer services industry, providing IT infrastructure and security solutions primarily to enterprises in the financial and manufacturing sectors. Based in Tokyo, Japan, SMS DataTech has been at the forefront of delivering innovative IT services and solutions. The company operates the media platform, Security NOW!, which delivers the latest security information and threat intelligence to small and medium-sized enterprises. With a focus on digital transformation and a commitment to making industries and lives better, SMS DataTech continues to take on technology challenges.