The Service Delivery Manager (SDM) plays a key role in the delivery of our NVISO cybersecurity NITRO Managed Detect & Respond (MDR) services. As the main point of contact, we represent the client at NVISO and represent NVISO at the client. During the operational lifecycle of a contract, my fellow SDMs and I are responsible for the quality of the cybersecurity services delivered and we ensure an efficient relationship and coordination between the customer and the various NVISO internal departments engaged in the delivery of these services.

NVISO’s NITRO Managed Detect & Respond Service

The NITRO Platform is at the heart of NVISO Managed Services’ offering. The platform is built to support Security Operations, integrating a variety of security technologies to enable efficient orchestration, automation, and response.

As part of the NITRO Platform, NVISO has created an MDR service where we combine the latest technology with the best cyber security experts in Europe in order to respond to the many cyber challenges that enterprises encounter.

The automations, part of the NITRO platform, combined with the in-depth analysis from our security experts result in an effective and efficient MDR service providing our customers triaged incidents with clear actions and recommendations.

In addition, in case of any critical incidents that require an emergency response, our clients can request the intervention of NVISO’s 24/7 Cyber Security Incident Response Team (CSIRT). The CSIRT team can provide in-depth technical services and on-site crisis management support in order to handle any high-severity incidents.

More information on the MDR service provided by NVISO can be found here.

NVISO’s customer dedication and strong reputation

Our customers value NVISO for its client commitment and recognise our strong reputation on providing in-depth technical expertise. As a strongly client-facing role, my fellow SDMs and I build trustworthy relationships with our customers and we understand their business environment and unique requirements. We ensure all contractually agreed services are smoothly and seamlessly delivered and we ensure clients’ requests are handled in an efficient and timely manner.

For clients of the SDM service, we organise monthly and strategic quarterly service delivery meetings including, amongst other, a detailed status report of security events and incidents handled in the reporting period, an analysis of the SLAs (Service Level Agreements) and overall scope of service. We also discuss any open action items and provide an overview of new engineering features and developments.

Client Portal

Whilst an overview of events and cases is presented to the client on a monthly and quarterly basis, clients can also use the NITRO Client portal to obtain their MDR data in real time.

Clients can access the platform at any time and choose the timeframe that they prefer. They can then start navigating through their events and security cases, which are also visually represented through graphs and charts. 

The platform was developed in-house by NVISO engineers, and it is continuously improved with new features.

The Service Delivery Manager makes a difference in the service

Having a Service Delivery Manager is a great advantage which has a positive impact on the service received by our customers. The SDM is responsible to drive service delivery and problem resolution,  she/he represents the client’s business, and ensures all is delivered on time and within scope. As a consequence, the clients feel confident that the service is provided at the highest quality standards and that their requests are being heard. For NVISO, client satisfaction is a priority. Therefore, we always strive to build out solid processes to ensure that satisfaction is as high as possible.

About the Author

Maria Rita Milanese

Maria Rita Milanese is a Senior Cybersecurity Consultant working as Project Manager & Service Delivery Manager at NVISO in the CSIRT&SOC Department.

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All Project Managers might agree with this: working as a Project Manager is exciting as no two days are ever the same.

Just like a conductor of an orchestra leads all musicians to bring harmonic masterpieces to life, so does the cybersecurity Project Manager leading and coordinating the different stakeholders to bring a project to completion, while overseeing all aspects of it.

Within the Managed Detect and Respond (MDR) Service at NVISO, we, cybersecurity Project Managers, handle several unique projects at the same time, making sure that the onboarding of new clients and the services provided to them as well as to current ones are properly handled on time and within scope. Within our agile company, we implement cyber strategies to provide the best possible service to safeguard our clients from cyber-attacks.

In order to ensure that all deliverables are duly met on time and that risks are mitigated, we create a detailed project plan taking into consideration all the variables and the different teams of engineers and analysts from the client’s and NVISO’s side working on each project. 

Once the project scope has been clearly defined and agreed upon by all parties, we manage the project through all its phases, working closely with our colleagues. We plan the set of activities that need to be undertaken and the relative deadlines, we define priorities, requirements, and success criteria, assign specialist work and make sure that everything is being monitored and delivered as agreed. Similar to the conductor of the orchestra, we set the tempo and ensure that the different groups of instruments, the woodwinds, percussion, brass, strings, and keyboards, all work harmoniously together to deliver their best performance.

Working as a Project Manager is an art, and it requires strong skills. Most importantly a passion for cybersecurity and a client-oriented mindset. Good communication skills are key to the success of a project. Being able to clearly communicate to all different stakeholders and ensuring that the most technical parts of a cybersecurity project are fully understood by all parties is the basis of a good start and development of a project. 

Being able to properly plan and organise is another strong skill that cybersecurity Project Managers need to have. We work in a fast-paced environment, therefore having proper time management and task prioritization skills is essential, as well as ensuring that everything is prepared for the project initiation, building, and testing phases, up until the project closure and its transition to the ongoing service.

Sometimes, unforeseen events happen despite having carried out extensive preparation to mitigate risks. The ability to solve problems and manage conflicts within the team makes a huge difference in the success of a project and is a key skills that Project Managers need to have.

Cybersecurity is a dynamic and evolving sector, and we, cybersecurity Project Managers, have the privilege of being right at the centre of the action. We make projects come to life, and seeing the satisfaction of the clients for the results provided and the fulfilment of the colleagues for the great work done is what makes our job so worth it. 

NVISO provides a variety of services where a cybersecurity Project Manager plays a key role. More information on NVISO’s services can be found here.

Maria Rita Milanese

Maria Rita Milanese is a Senior Cybersecurity Consultant working as Project Manager & Service Delivery Manager at NVISO in the CSIRT&SOC Department.

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