What do integrations and cyber security have in common? An interview of ZigiWave’s CEO Maria Zasheva for Cybernews.

Our CEO Maria Zasheva had a great conversation with Cybernews about no-code platforms, integrations and security online, and what do they have in common. See the interesting questions that popped up during the interview and what Marias advice is for keeping your data secure.

The first question was about the idea of ZigiWave. How did it come to life? What has the journey been like?

Here is the story that Maria told. Today, companies use more than 50 different software tools, and enterprises use much more than that. Integrating the systems an organization is using might be quite a complex task. IT leaders often gather a team of developers, start an integration project, and set a list of requirements for the specific use case. It requires planning, coding, and time. And if the company needs to scale or modify it later  more coding and time. The whole process might take months, and the end result often is not as precise as expected. On top of it all, the budget for such project is quite difficult to predict.

ZigiWaves founders, Idan Harel and Avi Koren noticed this pattern while communicating with clients at the technology consultancy company Do IT Wise. IT leaders kept looking for ways to connect their systems easily. Many vendors offer integrations, but most of them do not provide customizations or require a steep learning curve and some additional development.

Idan and Avi decided to create an integration platform that will be very easy to use  without the need for coding and at the same time able to adapt and scale to fit specific use cases. So they launched ZigiWave and this was the beginning of the ZigiOps integration platform. ZigiOps offers 40+ connectors and 500+ integrations available.

The second question was about the key features of the ZigiOps integration platform and an overall introduction to what it is capable of

Here is a really short description of what ZigiOps is. It is the most flexible no-code integration platform. It connects systems in minutes without code and makes integrations easier and accessible for everyone. The platform allows IT Operations teams to smoothly create, reshape and scale system integrations with a few clicks.

ZigiOps automates workflows and syncs data between some of the most popular monitoring, ITSM, DevOps, and CRM tools. It transfers all related entities from the different systems and updates them in real-time. And we are constantly adding new integrations to the mix.

With ZigiOps you can integrate your software apps in minutes thanks to the out-of-the-box templates. At the same time, the templates are fully customizable, and you can set advanced data mappings and filtering. This is why our integration platform can adapt to any use case, regardless of its complexity.

Key features:

• No-code integrations  integrate systems in a few clicks without any code
• Advanced data mappings  customize the integration per your needs
• Unlimited scalability  create new integrations in minutes and change the existing ones easily

• Integration templates  load the template and adjust it to fit your needs
• No limitations  ZigiOps supports high availability and guarantees 99.9% uptime
• Enterprise-grade security  ZigiOps was built by following security best practices

Some of the biggest enterprises and Fortune 500s are using ZigiOps for their system integrations.

The next question was about what IT and cybersecurity details are often overlooked by new businesses?

Maria explained that the biggest challenge in cybersecurity is that security risks are constantly evolving and changing. This is why keeping your systems up to date, continuous monitoring, and real-time analysis are essential for preventing attacks and failures. A modern data-focused approach to security is recommended rather than the classic perimeter-based method.

Monitoring tools are important for spotting all types of anomalies in real-time. When you integrate your monitoring tools with your other systems, you can use the single pane of glass model and have all the necessary information for your entire software ecosystem at your fingertips. This allows you to do real-time analysis, and act immediately in case of any threats.

Maria continued with a few more things that are important for keeping a companys IT assets safe. Creating a good security plan is the first step. Basic threats like phishing and malware can be avoided by educating employees, as they are in most cases the first line of defense of the organizations. And last but not least  backups. Backups are so important but often overlooked.

Next, Cybernews asked Maria how did the recent global events affect ZigiWave? Were there any new features added?

When everyone is working remotely, collaboration suffers, and this is why system integrations were even more demanded during the pandemic. By integrating the different systems your teams are using, everyone gets the data they need in real-time. Manual data transfer is eliminated, and this minimizes the risk of errors, delays, and omissions.

So, despite all challenges, we managed to grow by 200% over the last year.

ZigiOps doesnt have a database and cannot store any of the customer data which passes through it. This is what makes the product unique. Also, we are currently undergoing ISO 27001 certification.

Last year we rolled out 14 new ZigiOps releases and added 11 new connectors and 27 new integration templates.

And a very interesting question was - with remote work becoming the new normal, what are some of the best practices companies should adopt to collaborate on and exchange sensitive data securely?    

Maria gave her ideas about data exchange and how it can be easily kept safe.

With everyone working remotely, there is a greater chance of breaches and attacks. However, thanks to system integrations, it is possible for employees to collaborate effortlessly in real-time even if they are working from different locations. This can be really helpful to spot and remediate issues since there is instant communication between monitoring teams.

There are a few other important things that can help reduce risks, like enabling two-factor authentication and establishing network access controls to make sure all devices are regularly updated.

Real-time status monitoring is essential, as well. Security experts should track critical information such as which files are protected and who has accessed them. As mentioned above, integrating your monitoring tools with your other systems is very helpful, as it enables you to track all the vital information from a variety of sources.

ZigiOps, for example, doesnt store any of the transferred data and comes in both on-premises and iPaaS versions.

Another important question was about all users, including casual internet users - what measures should everyone implement to keep their data secure?

Maria gave some very specific and useful advice. There are several things that should become common sense, but still many people are omitting them. Here they are:

• Make regular updates  make sure all the software you are using is up to date and equipped with the latest security patches.
• Back up your data  create regular back-ups of your data and store them in a secure place, separate from your main devices (laptop, phone, etc.)
• Use strong passwords  any application or device you use should have a strong password, difficult for hackers to guess
• Be cautious for suspicious emails  learn to spot suspicious emails, and never trust an email from an unknown source that asks for passwords, payments, or similar actions
• Install an antivirus and malware protection  choose an antivirus tool and keep it up to date on your machine

• Protect your devices physically  if you forget or lose a device, or leave it unattended somewhere, this might cause major risks
• Make sure you are using a secure connection  public Wi-Fi or an insecure connection is not a good idea when you are working with sensitive data
• Clean up your data regularly  keeping your data in order helps you protect it, so when you no longer need specific data  remove it

And the next question was: Why do you think companies often hesitate to try out new and innovative solutions that would improve their IT operations?    

Maria shared that change isnt comfortable and IT leaders are hesitant because enterprise software ecosystems are becoming more and more complex by the minute.

Things get even more complex when you have a big organization with established business models, organizational structures, and leadership practices. Sometimes this hesitation might arise from a lack of collaboration between the different units of the organization.

However, a business cannot thrive without innovation these days. Even the most conservative enterprises are adopting some mix of automation technologies and are looking towards digital transformation.

Maria understands it might be difficult when your teams are used to certain models and ways of working. In that sense, ZigiOps is very helpful, because it enables automation and digital transformation and simultaneously allows teams to continue using the software, they are already familiar with.

A great question by Cybernews was: What other company processes do you hope to see automated or enhanced by technology in the near future?

Maria explained why technologies need to be connected and work in sync. Software tools, that automate different processes, will continue to increase in number and overlap in functionalities. This creates confusion, especially in large organizations where different teams select their tools. If the tools can be easily integrated even by non-technical employees, businesses can avoid a lot of problems like increased costs and complexity, and reduced visibility. Integration is the future of applications and data. With so many different systems (according to statistics enterprises use 100+ apps) dispersed in the organizations environments, connecting them is no longer a luxury but a necessity.

Maria said she would love to see all technologies connected and working seamlessly together, without the need to manually transfer data and waste time learning a ton of different systems. The trends we see are just-in-time workflows, cloud-native apps, AI, and the democratization of everything technical. Everyone wants to be able to automate, so no-code and low-code tools are spreading rapidly.

ZigiWaves CEO, Maria would like to see more no-code platforms helping unite all units of organizations  marketing, sales, IT, development, service desk, and leadership  they all need to work together and be in sync.

And finally Cybernews asked whats next for ZigiWave?

Maria named some of the great things we are expecting to see in near future. We believe that integrations should be simple and accessible to everyone. This is why with ZigiOps even someone without a technical background can connect systems within minutes.

We are planning to add various new connectors and integration templates in ZigiOps:

• DevOps integrations and use cases with Github, Jenkins, Codefresh, and more
• ERP is a new domain for ZigiOps, and we are happy to announce we will be offering integrations for SAP, Oracle, and MS Dynamics.

• Integrations with more cloud tools, like AWS, GCP, and Azure

We are also working on some enhancements to the ZigiOps UI and our goal is to provide the most secure and smooth experience in the integration platforms world:

• Improved and guided user experience

• Integration creation wizard
• Custom virtualization workflow
• Improved data virtualization

We are constantly expanding the capabilities of ZigiOps to give users the ultimate flexibility.

Of course, we are also planning significant business growth and we want to continue our amazing organic growth, as well as strengthen and expand our technology partnerships.