Partner Newsletter September 2023

Dear

We're approaching the end of the third quarter, and what a year it has been so far!

I'm delighted to announce that we're in the final stages of two major projects at Guardian360.

Firstly, our migration of the entire Lighthouse Platform to a Kubernetes-based infrastructure is currently in the testing phase. The entire environment is running on a staging environment, and although there are a few remaining tasks before deployment to production, the progress has been remarkable, and much has been accomplished.

Simultaneously, we've made significant strides in developing our new front-end project. While delivering a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) posed some challenges due to business and technical constraints, we've found a way to provide value to our customers sooner rather than later. For more details, please refer to the update in this newsletter. The end, or rather, the beginning, is now within sight. We appreciate your patience and support as we continue this journey.

We kindly request our partners to remind their clients to contact them instead of reaching out to the Guardian360 support desk. As our partners, you have a better understanding of your clients' context, and we are not equipped to handle a high volume of daily tickets. Additionally, our support team includes non-Dutch speakers, so our support communication is in English. This may present challenges for some of your clients, so we ask that you guide them to contact you instead.

In this newsletter, we also share information about a feasibility study for a Guardian360 Mobile App. Please share your insights with our intern, Merijn. We have also implemented a beta version of the Tisax standard in the Lighthouse platform to report deviations to organizations in the automotive industry. You'll also find details about our intended pricing adjustments effective from January 1, 2024, updates on the events we're participating in, and, as always, the latest news about G360DAO.

Kind regards,
On behalf of the Guardian360 team,

Jan Martijn Broekhof

Managing Director

Lighthouse update

In the past month, we've been working closely with some of our top partners to understand what they need from the perspective of those who are actively safeguarding their customers every day.

We've gained valuable insights and are enthusiastic to know that we're on the right track with upcoming features.

When planning our new front-end, we faced some challenges related to how our customers will experience our initial version (MVP), how useful it will be right from the start, and the technical requirements needed to meet our high standards.

To meet expectations without compromising on security, we explored a few options:

Beta Testing: We considered rolling out a beta version to a select group of partners. However, this approach had limitations, as only a few partners could use it, and it might not meet our quality standards within our desired timeframe. It would also divert our team's focus and create undue pressure.
Transparency: We thought about being transparent with our partners, acknowledging our ongoing work, and highlighting our past achievements. While we value transparency, we also want to ensure that our customers consistently experience added value and see progress.
Integrating Functionality: Ultimately, we chose to integrate some of the new functionality into our existing front-end. This includes features like the issues trend table and an updated user interface (UI). While it doesn't cover everything we've been working on, it provides immediate value and will continue to do so in the long term. This approach also sets a precedent for incorporating future features, making transitions smoother and less disruptive.

We opted for the third option because it allows us to leverage the work we've already done on the Issue Trend, making it relatively straightforward to integrate into our current front-end. This decision benefits all our partners sooner rather than later.

We're excited about this development, as it enhances our product offerings and equips our partners with more tools to serve their customers effectively.

A Friendly Reminder: Our secret appliance monitor that is really not so secret

We recently conducted interviews with some engineers from our partner organizations and realized that there are still people who are unaware of our Apmon appliance monitor, which was launched last year.

Apmon was developed to provide our partners with better insights into the status of probes through their console. When issues arise, the command-line interface identifies the root causes and offers suggestions for resolving them. This empowers our partners to be more self-reliant when it comes to deploying and troubleshooting probes.

Wondering where to find Apmon? Simply log in to your VMWare or Hyper-V, open the console of the appliance VM, and you'll find Apmon right there.

Feasibility research mobile app

Over the next 5 months, our intern, Merijn, will be dedicated to researching and developing a prototype for a mobile app for Lighthouse. While we're still in the process of refining the app's features and design, we want to share the current primary objectives of the app:

On-the-Go Dashboard Access: The app should allow users to quickly check the Lighthouse dashboard while on the move.
Alert Notifications: Users should receive notifications for hacker alerts and critical vulnerabilities in real-time.
Issue Analysis: The app should provide the capability to analyze issues and hacker alerts, enabling users to respond from anywhere and at any time.

To gather valuable insights and ensure the app meets your needs, Merijn has prepared a brief survey that should take less than 5 minutes of your time. We kindly request your participation by clicking on the link below to complete the survey. Alternatively, if you have specific ideas or suggestions, please feel free to share them via email with Merijn at M.Spee@guardian360.nl.

Trusted Information Security Assessment Exchange

The Trusted Information Security Assessment Exchange, abbreviated as TISAX, is a system designed for assessing and exchanging information security practices within enterprises. It was developed by the ENX Association and is published by the Verband der Automobilindustrie (German Association of the Automotive Industry or VDA). TISAX primarily focuses on ensuring the secure handling of information shared among business partners, safeguarding prototypes, and ensuring compliance with data protection regulations, specifically the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). It is particularly relevant for facilitating secure business transactions between automobile manufacturers and their service providers or suppliers.

We are excited to announce that Guardian360 has recently integrated a beta version of TISAX into our Lighthouse Platform. We value your input and are eager to hear your feedback!

Pricing as of 1 January 2024

This year we experience far less inflation in comparison to 2022. However, the average inflation in The Netherlands year to date is still 5,6%. In order to provide some relief to our existing customers, we have again decided not to index tariffs of contracts with a due date past January 1, 2024.

Pricing of Guardian360 services for new clients and renewals as of 1 January 2024, will increase with 5%.

If there are still orders you would like to place or renew at the 2023 rates, please contact us right away.

Orders and renewals processed before 31 December 2023 will have 2023 pricing for the whole purchase order duration.

The global pricelist as of a January 2024 will be published on the partner portal within a couple of weeks.

G360DAO Update

In recent months, we have undertaken many initiatives to take G360DAO to the next phase.

Unfortunately, we have to admit that the community is not growing fast enough to keep investing in the DAO at the same pace. It is a bit of a chicken-and-egg problem: because the community is not big enough, we cannot validate our ideas properly and it is difficult to attract investors. Without properly validated ideas, it is difficult to bring supply and demand together and without investors, it is difficult to undertake the right marketing activities to grow the community.

We will continue to quietly build on the G360DAO but at a slower pace until it gains more traction. As soon as the timing is right, we will be ready!