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Difenda’s Microsoft Advanced Specializations & Your Security Solutions – 2023

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Difenda is among the first Microsoft Partners to earn both the Microsoft Cloud Security Advanced Specialization and Microsoft Threat Protection Advanced Specialization

Difenda’s Microsoft Advanced Specializations & Your Security Solutions  
Another goal achieved: Difenda earns Microsoft Advanced Specialization in Cloud Security.

When looking for new ways to protect and monitor the security of your IP and customer data you want to know who the reliable partners are for your security services. This means looking for focused knowledge, extensive experience, and proven success at delivering outcome-driven customer solutions. 

For Difenda, committing to cybersecurity excellence and Microsoft expertise means continuing to improve our team by constantly upskilling and training our technical team members. Validating our performance through external sources, and demonstrating our growth within Microsoft security. To remain a trusted security partner for you.  

Earning Microsoft Security Advanced Specializations is one way we do this.  

These specializations help customers identify partners that have validated technical capabilities in deploying Microsoft Threat Protection, Microsoft Cloud App Security, Microsoft Sentinel workloads and more. By meeting strict requirements and earning Microsoft specializations. Difenda is keeping pace with today’s evolving roles and responsibilities in the security industry. 

Difenda is pleased to share our latest achievement, the Microsoft Cloud Security Advanced Specialization.

In 2023, cloud attacks have continued to become more persistent, sophisticated, and costly than ever before. The constantly evolving cloud landscape requires businesses to not only protect their data with information and event management. But to also optimize their automation and response capabilities. However, with limited access to skilled personnel in-house, many organizations are turning to partners like Difenda to secure their business-critical systems and data in the cloud.

The Microsoft Cloud Security Advanced Specialization helps customers identify partners that have proven experience. In implementing comprehensive protection across Microsoft Azure, hybrid, and multi-cloud environments. To earn this specialization, partners must meet rigorous requirements, including passing specific Microsoft exams, achieving a certain level of Azure consumed revenue, and providing customer references.

Difenda is pleased to have met all of these requirements and earned the Microsoft Cloud Security Advanced Specialization. This achievement is a testament to our commitment to providing our customers with the best-in-class cloud security solutions.

In the past year, we have continued to invest in our cloud security expertise by:

  • Expanding our team of cloud security experts
  • Developing new cloud security solutions
  • Partnering with Microsoft to stay up-to-date on the latest cloud security threats

We are committed to providing our customers with the peace of mind that their data is safe and secure in the cloud.

We hope that this achievement will further strengthen our relationship with our customers and partners, and help us. To continue to provide the best possible cloud security solutions.

Microsoft Threat Protection Advanced Specialization 

Threat protection represents a major initiative for Microsoft this year, and at Difenda we believe a proactive approach to threat detection and response is imperative to a successful security program. So critical, we immediately invested in securing this designation in early 2022. 

The ever-changing threat landscape requires businesses to detect, protect against and recover rapidly from attempted attacks. The Threat Protection Advanced Specialization helps customers identify Microsoft partners with validated technical capabilities in deploying Microsoft Threat Protection, Microsoft Cloud App Security, or Microsoft Sentinel workloads. 

To earn this specialization Difenda demonstrated our team’s skill and proved our expertise by displaying customer outcomes and showcasing how we protect customer environments against threats. 

Security, compliance and scalability in the cloud. Download our latest customer win!

100% on the Microsoft Solutions Partner Qualification

Being a Microsoft Solutions Partner is the backbone of everything we do here at Difenda. In early 2022, Microsoft announced major changes to its partner program, one of which is the Solution Partner Designation, and ranking based on Partner Capability Score (PCS). 

The Microsoft Partners Security Designation necessitates companies to achieve a 70 percent Partner Capability Score (PCS) through the demonstration of cybersecurity expertise and past performance. Usage growth and number of successful deployments, and validating the skills and training of your team. 

Difenda earned a perfect, 100 percent score. Meaning that we leave nothing behind when it comes to protecting your environment and providing excellent outcome-based solutions for your business. This only further proves how focused and equipped we are to provide unmatched service and expertise. 

Our growing list of advanced specializations, Gold-level Microsoft competencies and Microsoft Solutions Partner qualification score. That means you can move forward confidently, knowing Difenda is a reliable partner committed to your success.

It is imperative that we exceed industry standards and are credentialed where it matters most. We are committed to advancing our security expertise with additional certifications and specializations in the future in order to provide the best services for our customers.  

Learn more about how you can maximize your existing investment in Microsoft Security today! 

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Ken Perkins

Biography coming soon.

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Megan Miller

Megan Miller’s energy and passion for learning flow into all aspects of her work. As the Growth Manager, North America, she brings a background in sciences which she has transitioned to the tech sector in her role at Difenda.

With a Bachelors of Science in Geology, Megan is a lifelong learner who is voracious about learning anything she can get her hands on about cybersecurity. Her positive energy has built a sales strategy with a focus on expanding in the United States while nurturing the Canadian presence. She is responsible for recruiting and training the sales team. Together with the company’s leadership, she creates the sales process and the company’s product strategy in order to better serve the customer base. This ensures that our customers have a highly trained and highly motivated team to help them every step of the way, Megan has completed Microsoft SC-900 training and working towards mastering Microsoft.

Whether at work or play, Megan is fully committed. She took her love of hockey all the way to the semi-professional level as a competitive hockey player. Megan loves all things sports including water skiing, scuba diving, cycling, and snowboarding. She also enjoys time with family and reading about alternative energy, innovation, and cybersecurity.

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Natasha Phanor

As the Microsoft Partner Manager at Difenda, Natasha Phanor is responsible for driving growth within our Microsoft Partnership. With six years in the industry, she offers a fresh, energetic approach, and the ability to focus on our customer’s needs throughout the entire process. Natasha has the innate ability to foresee customer needs and solve problems before they arise, which creates a smooth road for each customer she encounters.

As the recipient of the Outstanding Services Partner of the Year Award in 2018, it is clear that Natasha responds quickly to customer needs, creates a platform for understanding a customer’s business requirements, and walks them through the process to ensure their complete satisfaction.

In her spare time, Natasha is as energetic and passionate as she is on the job. A self-proclaimed foodie-extraordinaire, she enjoys dinner parties, traveling, downhill skiing, hiking, biking, and reading. Natasha has a Bachelor of Fine Arts, specializing in Dance, from Ryerson University.

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Lisa Templeton

Lisa Templeton is the perfect combination of human empathy and technological prowess. In her role as People Services Manager, she takes care of our team members to support them in their daily work, as well as on their personal life paths. Happy employees make for happy customers, and Lisa excels in giving our employees the tools they need for success in order to become the best possible versions of themselves. Along with employee formation, she shines in the service delivery support domain to continuously improve the process. Her 24 years of experience in IT Operations and Service Management help her create quality and efficiency at Difenda.

Having attended the Information Systems Management certificate program at Ryerson University, and with various other certifications to her credit, Lisa is perceptive and innovative when it comes to information technology, but also sensitive to the needs of her human constituents. Responsible for achieving the first privately owned company HDI Support Center certification in Canada, she has also designed and implemented Service Management excellence programs and 24×7 IT Operations departments for multiple IT organizations, and has created corporate rewards and recognition programs to keep her employees engaged and motivated.

On the personal side, Lisa passionately supports the cause of breast cancer research, having lost her mother to the disease. She reads voraciously in her spare time, and enjoys the art of home renovation. The summer months also bring time on her boat and exploring new hiking trails.

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Miranda McCurdy

Miranda McCurdy uses her myriad super powers in all aspects of her job and personal life. As the Marketing Director at Difenda, Miranda McCurdy brings over a decade of experience to the table, which includes expertise in all facets of operations, brand management, and content marketing, as well as a multitude of successful strategies for the ever-expanding digital world. She is an expert at simplifying the message the company is trying to send, filling in gaps in the information, and strengthening the content in order to create compelling narratives that strengthen the brand and developing programs that bring teams together.

With several Addy Awards issued by the American Advertising Federation Cleveland to her credit, and her never say die attitude, Miranda understands both the broader picture and the minute details that are needed to successfully market a product. With her abilities to harness both the talent needed to spread the message, as well as to create the message itself, she is an integral cog in the company’s ability to communicate with customers and other stakeholders.

When she is not building a brand, she shares her ability to fill the gaps in her community by volunteering with Habitat for Humanity, the Special Olympics, and the Charleston Food Bank. In her spare time, Miranda spends time with her family, enjoys fitness and health, paddle boarding, reading, and arts and crafts.

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Juliana Zaremba

Connections are the name of the game for Juliana Zaremba. As Strategic Partnerships Director, she is responsible for Difenda’s channel partnerships and the development and ownership of the channel partner program. She is also responsible for the global Microsoft Partnership, including the creation of strategic plans with MSFT contacts that will facilitate the continued growth of the business and establish certification and training protocols in all security technologies. Her role is multifaceted, as she acquires partners, manages relationships with them, and develops strategies that will provide cutting edge security solutions to our customer base. Another integral aspect of her job is to facilitate growth.

With a Bachelor’s in Math from the University of Waterloo and 14 years of experience from her previous roles at Herjavec Group and CDW, her cutting edge focus and ability to develop long-lasting relationships and strategies provides world class security solutions to our customer base.

Juliana thrives on connections outside of work as well. She is a philanthropist and contributor with Women4Change based in Hamilton. This group of local women is passionate about supporting local causes, and she focuses her efforts around Women in STEM. She is also a member of Club Italia in Niagara Falls and supports their youth events throughout the year.

When not managing the Microsoft Global partnership, Juliana enjoys reading, often reading several books at once. Juliana enjoys exploring the Niagara Escarpment with her family, as well as sharing meals and experiences with her extended family. Juliana’s competitive nature has her always trying new things, like Whoop band challenges and Peloton.

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Jeffry Jacob

Biography Coming Soon

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