The WhatsApp among data security providers (Case study Wender)

The people who rely on Wender are all too familiar with a wide range of challenges: homelessness, domestic violence, addiction, psychological issues and/or debt. For them, getting through the day safely is not a given. Wender provides shelter, structure and relief, giving people an opportunity to turn their lives around and work toward a better future, no matter how difficult this can be at times. Wender’s employees give it their all in order to make people stronger and more resilient, empowering them to weather future storms.

A mission as beautiful as it is important, and one where privacy is key.

We sat down with Frederik Kampstra, ICT coordinator and project leader at Wender. His role puts him at the forefront of the latest technology, including that of Smartlockr.

Can you tell us what made Wender look out for a solution like Smartlockr’s?

“We’d been using a solution for secure emailing for a number of years already. Apart from our contract with them expiring, many people in our organisation found their solution unnecessarily complicated. NTA 7516 rapidly approaching also factored in. Initially we discussed it with our provider at the time. It became apparent they couldn’t help us out in the short term, so we started looking for a solution elsewhere.”

You mentioned NTA. What would’ve happened had you not switched providers?

“We wouldn’t have met NTA rules. Some of our clients (municipalities for instance) require us to."

"If you don’t meet NTA requirements, you risk having to close certain locations due to a lack of subsidies.”

To what extent are your colleagues at Wender aware of the importance of secure emailing?

“Wender employs about 660 people. I regularly get notified of someone wanting to send something securely, only to find themselves frustrated by the convoluted ‘solution’ they’re forced to navigate. So yeah, people here definitely want to adhere to safe email practices. Most of them will start using Smartlockr soon: people from Finance or HR, but definitely also the people who work closely with our audience.”

Can you tell us why your colleagues experience difficulties emailing with their current email solution?

“Their main issue is the number of actions required for sending one email."

"I’m frequently told that people want to send something securely but fail to do so on account of the complexity of the process. Smartlockr will allow them to achieve the same level of security with much less input, especially when we’re NTA 7516 compliant.”

What was the eventual reason Wender chose Smartlockr?

“Smartlockr was easy to use and made sense financially. Added to this we valued the way Smartlockr communicated with us. They took a proactive and empathetic approach. Initially I got a presentation from one of your colleagues. Later you gave the same demo to 20 of my colleagues at Wender.

We had to choose between you and your competitor. 80% preferred Smartlockr. This made it a fairly easy decision, especially considering you were the cheaper option.”

Currently you’re onboarding Smartlockr. What’s that like for you?

“Very interesting! I’ve learned a lot about data security, ICT and emailing in particular. At Wender we use an IT partner who helps out a lot and often aligns with your technical specialist. We included this IT partner as we were preparing the onboarding, so that they’d be appraised of all things to come. With projects like these, part of it entails being able to trust people to do what they say they’ll do. I don’t think that’s a problem with Smartlockr.”

Is there anything you’d like to tell people currently looking out for a solution for secure emailing?

“The most important thing to me is that something is easy to understand. I’d tell people the same thing I told Smartlockr at first: if you need more than half an hour to explain your product, it’s simply too complicated, and I’ll pass on it."

"Compare it to WhatsApp. You don’t need anyone to explain that either. That’s how easy secure emailing should be. A solution really only is a solution if its user manual is obsolete. That’s the feeling I got with Smartlockr. I’ve yet to use any manual anyway.”

Lastly: how would you grade Smartlockr?

“I’d give it an 8 out of 10!”

Experience what Smartlockr can do for your organization. Simply schedule a free demo via the link below to see Smartlockr in action