About
Skybox Security is a global leader in cybersecurity solutions, specializing in providing unified security management platforms for large enterprises. With a comprehensive suite of tools for vulnerability management, threat intelligence, and compliance, Skybox supports organizations worldwide in securing their complex networks across on-premises, cloud, and hybrid environments.
Learn more about Skybox Security at https://www.skyboxsecurity.com/.
Challenge
Skybox needed an agile, scalable solution to support three critical use cases:
- Partner Technical Enablement: Delivering hands-on labs for partner certifications to strengthen technical expertise and maintain Skybox’s channel-first go-to-market strategy.
- Demo Environments: Creating realistic, dynamic environments to demonstrate Skybox’s capabilities across multi-vendor infrastructures, including firewalls, load balancers, and threat intelligence integrations.
- Customer Proof of Concepts (POCs): Enabling customers to independently explore Skybox’s solutions in a sandbox environment tailored to their unique technology stacks.
Skybox’s prior solution, a legacy platform, posed significant limitations:
- Lack of Agility: Updates to demo models or lab environments required IT or IS intervention, leading to delays and inefficiencies.
- High Costs: Both platform costs and the resources needed for maintenance were unsustainable.
- Limited Use Case Support: The existing solution was rigid and unable to scale beyond partner certifications. It lacked the ability to support demos and POCs.
We needed a platform that gave us full control, flexibility, and cost predictability. Our prior solution couldn’t scale to meet the demands of our business.
Alastair Williams, VP of Sales Engineering at Skybox Security
Solution
Skybox partnered with Heropa to transform its approach to technical enablement, demos, and POCs. Heropa delivered a unified platform that allowed Skybox to streamline operations, enhance scalability, and reduce dependence on IT resources. Key features included:
- Dynamic Blueprint Management: Heropa enabled Skybox to maintain a master demo model—a centralized repository of infrastructure configurations spanning firewalls, load balancers, patch management repositories, and more. This blueprint could be cloned, customized, and deployed for various use cases.
- Scalability on Demand: Skybox’s Sales Engineering team could independently spin up environments for training, demos, or POCs in minutes without requiring IT intervention.
- Cost Transparency: Heropa’s pricing model provided cost certainty, allowing Skybox to budget effectively while scaling its operations globally.
- Comprehensive Security Controls: Fully integrated with Okta SAML authentication, Heropa ensured only authorized users could access sensitive environments, satisfying stringent internal security policies.
How we helped
- Simplified Partner Enablement: Skybox used Heropa to host hands-on labs for partner certifications across its three-tier partner program (Authorized, Premier, Elite). Labs were tailored to certification levels, allowing partners to gain practical experience in configuring and managing Skybox solutions.
- Enhanced Demo Capabilities: With Heropa, Skybox created immersive demo environments showcasing real-world scenarios. These environments included multi-vendor integrations such as Cisco firewalls, F5 load balancers, and Nessus scanners, allowing Sales Engineers to deliver highly relevant demonstrations to prospects.
- Efficient POCs: Heropa’s sandbox functionality enabled Skybox to deploy POC environments rapidly, reducing the time and effort required for customers to validate Skybox’s solutions.
- Streamlined Operations: By transferring ownership of demo environments from R&D to the Sales Engineering team, Skybox eliminated bottlenecks and empowered its team to make changes independently.
Results
Skybox achieved transformative results with Heropa, including:
- 100% Control: Full ownership of demo, training, and POC environments allowed Skybox to respond to business needs with agility.
- Increased Partner Engagement: Certification courses hosted on Heropa supported hundreds of partners globally, enhancing technical proficiency across Skybox’s partner network.
- Improved Demo Outcomes: Comprehensive, up-to-date demo models ensured that prospects saw relevant and accurate use cases, boosting confidence and increasing win rates.
- Time Savings: Environment setup times were reduced from weeks to minutes, enabling the Sales Engineering team to focus on core responsibilities rather than platform maintenance.
- Cost Optimization: Heropa’s predictable pricing and consolidated costs for storage and usage provided Skybox with financial clarity and control.
Heropa’s flexibility and cost certainty have been game-changers for us. We can now focus on delivering value to our customers and partners without worrying about platform limitations or costs.
Alastair Williams
Outlook
Skybox plans to expand its use of Heropa by:
- Enhancing Cloud Integrations: Leveraging Heropa’s capabilities to integrate with Azure and AWS for more advanced hybrid cloud demos.
- Increasing Automation: Incorporating more automated workflows for environment deployment and management to further reduce manual effort.
Heropa’s platform will remain a cornerstone of Skybox’s technical enablement and sales strategy, ensuring scalability and innovation as the company continues to grow.
Key use cases
3
Deployment time
Mins
Partners trained annually
100s
Demo success rates
Up
With Heropa, we’ve gained complete control over our demo and training environments, allowing us to move faster and deliver more impactful experiences for our partners and customers.
Alastair Williams
VP of Sales Engineering, Skybox Security
