Burckhardt Compression beefs up cybersecurity and efficiency with Microsoft 365 E5

Burckhardt Compression AG is a leading global manufacturer of reciprocating compressors and a provider of comprehensive services for the compression industry. Founded in 1844 and headquartered in Winterthur, Switzerland, the company is today an international player with overseas sites in the USA, China, and India. Burckhardt Compression provides solutions for high-end gas and high-pressure applications in various industries, including oil and gas, petrochemicals, power generation and industrial gas applications. Strictly focused on innovation, quality, and sustainability, the company supports its customers with customized products, leading-edge technology, and a global service network. Its solutions make compressors more efficient and more reliable while also driving a sustainable energy future. Burckhardt Compression thus strikes a healthy balance between a long-standing tradition, a clear focus on innovation, the use of modern technologies, and a positive contribution to environmental protection. 

In the past, Burckhardt Compression pursued a best-of-breed IT security strategy that used solutions from different providers rather than relying on a single manufacturer. However, in view of increasingly complex threat scenarios and the highly sensitive data that the company manages, a fragmented security landscape ultimately turned out to be less than ideal. Since the company had already been using various Microsoft solutions such as SharePoint and Exchange for a long time, the bosses therefore decided to use the security components of Microsoft 365 E5 to generate synergy effects. “As a company that uses Microsoft solutions 99% of the time, it was a natural step to also rely on Microsoft and Ontinue for our security strategy,” recalls Leonardo Casubolo, Director Global IT Infrastructure and Security at Burckhardt Compression. Microsoft partner Ontinue gave the company a demonstration of its Security Operations Center (SOC) and Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) solutions, complete with Microsoft components and their various benefits. And Ontinue has been supporting the company ever since this transitional project was launched about two years ago. 

Seamless implementation thanks to a strong partnership

To avoid gaps in the security architecture and minimize disruption for users, the new solutions had to be onboarded quickly and smoothly. Implementation was therefore split into two phases over a period of two months. “At the kick-off meeting, we immediately shared a common understanding of the goals and tasks,” Casubolo recalls. “That shortened the time-to-value enormously.” The old tools were migrated and decommissioned during the first month. In the second phase, the new Microsoft solutions then went into operation, including various Microsoft 365 E5 components.

Ontinue also provided a Microsoft-based Security Operations Center (SOC) to optimize data management. Thanks to close collaboration and careful planning, hardly anyone even noticed the transition—despite the customer’s varying geographical requirements and complex business processes. “Complexity wasn’t a problem for us,” notes Ogi Stanovcic, General Manager at Ontinue, “On the contrary, it drove the migration, because Burckhardt Compression, Microsoft, and Ontinue all share a unified vision and were able to translate it into precise processes.” Stanovcic is clearly convinced: "This kind of collaboration is the gold standard for transparency and partnership.” 

Harnessing synergies: A platform solution for greater security

The consolidated platform solution gives Burckhardt Compression numerous advantages. Security incidents are recorded and analyzed via the SOC and response proposals are generated. The Ontinue Cyber Defense Center processes thousands of alerts each month, but only 0.5% of them now have to be escalated to the security team at Burckhardt Compression, ensuring precise responses and reducing noise. This significantly improves security and efficiency for the customer company: The team now only receives a limited number of tickets per day—a remarkable improvement thanks to the Microsoft platform and the service of Ontinue.

This progress enables a small cybersecurity team to reliably take care of the IT security of 3,500 employees. “Our security environment becomes more secure with every new Microsoft feature,” Casubolo explains. “That is also reflected in our Microsoft Secure Score, which benchmarks our security level against that of other companies.” Another advantage of the platform is that all data is processed internally within the company. 

Together with Ontinue, Burckhardt Compression is continuously working to improve these systems and keep costs down. Thanks to optimized data volumes in Microsoft Sentinel and the full use of all the various solutions on the Microsoft platform, maintaining cost control is now easy. In addition, “Monitor Mode” supports the introduction of further new solutions; a month-long test run allows business relevance to be assessed before a decision is made as to whether the new solution should be deployed permanently. This approach ensures that Burckhardt Compression only ever uses solutions that genuinely add lasting value.

Optimization through transparency

The implementation and use of Microsoft solutions at Burckhardt Compression is an ongoing process. Close cooperation with Ontinue enables the company to continuously learn and make the best possible use of Microsoft technologies. The team worked together to lay the foundations for the broader roll-out of Microsoft solutions, for example. On top of the day-to-day business of the Cyber Defense Center, a dedicated “cyber advisor” also now advises the customer on new functions and configurations. This enables the company to identify areas where there is potential for optimization. One example involves thinking about ways to efficiently mitigate the growing number of cyber-attacks. 

Maintaining a focus on continuous optimization is important across all the company’s activities. “The success of our collaboration is essentially rooted in staying close to the customer,” Stanovcic concludes. To guarantee security, the partners work together to monitor the entire context and understand what really matters. “Having a shared base of technical background knowledge is crucial for us,” Casubolo adds. “We all have one and the same goal. And, working together as partners, the Microsoft platform helps us do everything in our power to achieve that goal.” 

The path to advanced security

As complexity continues to grow and the pace of development increases in the security sector, cooperation between Burckhardt Compression, Microsoft, and Ontinue remains key to keeping the company prepared for future challenges. The company also plans to make more use of AI in this context. AI tools can, for example, be used to condense results from the incident channel and thereby speed up processes.

At the same time, Burckhardt Compression attaches great importance to energy-efficient and low-emission solutions that support global environmental goals. “We are upbeat about the future because, thanks to Microsoft, we always have the right solutions at hand,” Casubolo affirms. “And together, we get the best out of the new technologies. So we are confident that we can master all the challenges that lie ahead.” Essentially, Burckhardt Compression is now modeling what modern IT security can look like—driven by a shared vision, future-proof technologies, and close cooperation in a spirit of partnership.