TechBirmingham thrives through its immensely talented and diverse group of member companies. Meet our Member Companies is an ongoing Q&A series highlighting this group of movers, shakers and makers in B’ham’s tech industry.
Meet Chad Sizemore, Managing Partner at ICS Medtech. Chad is originally from Gadsden and has lived in Birmingham the last 16 years. Read on to learn more about ICS Medtech and the great things they are doing in Birmingham and beyond.
Hi Chad! Let’s get started — Tell us more about ICS Medtech and what you do.
ICS Medtech was designed to help medical practices and business associates of all sizes to obtain and maintain HIPAA Compliance by creating and maintaining an online portal for each customer to create and house all important documentation for their practice. Part of the process is being onsite to perform the required technology scans to discover vulnerabilities and any risks associated. The customer is presented with all findings in an audit document that includes a risk mitigation plan to guide the customer to compliance. HIPAA mandates a third party verify compliance so we work with the customer and their IT provider to detect and mitigate risk.
In an effort to assist companies with data security ICS Medtech built an appliance called INSIDE|OUT to monitor and alert on a potential breach from within a customers network. INSIDE|OUT software continually monitors your network and when triggered automatically alerts you to isolate and contain the threat, minimizing the potential damage or downtime. The software will alert on Malware, Cryptolocker, and any type of threat or intrusion. Alerts are sent immediately to ICS Medtech staff, the customer, and the customers IT vendor so in the event of a breach you are alerted to begin taking immediate action. Network behavioral monitoring delivers the ability to identify threats that are unknown and protect business data. Logs and reports are also kept for 12 months, which reduces time and expense of resolution and identification. INSIDE|OUT also delivers device management and discovery to identify all devices on your network.
What do you think is the biggest misconception about your industry?
For HIPAA compliance, a misconception is that as long as you have a policy or procedure documented you are compliant. Or that your vendor or business associate informs you they are HIPAA compliant and the practice is covered. HIPAA requires a third party organization verify compliance in policy and procedure, but also from a technology perspective as well.
ICS Medtech built a software appliance, INSIDE|OUT to provide customers of all sizes the ability to monitor their network from the inside and alert of numerous types of threats or intrusions that a firewall cannot detect. A misconception is that having a firewall will prevent attacks. You need a means of identifying threats internally. We also offer this service for a monthly price that any size business can afford. Data loss and cyber security are huge threats, and we are providing a means to reduce the risk.
How do you feel about B’ham’s tech scene?
I love it. I love this state and this city and to be part of a major change in our future is a very exciting time. Alabama has a wealth of technical knowledge and plenty of workforce to become a technology hub. We are very capable of changing the image and thoughts of Birmingham from the steel industry of yesterday to the technology industry of tomorrow.
With the introduction of groups such as Innovation Depot, Tech Birmingham, and others raising awareness to the assets we have along with the community approach they promote we are showing the world we can build, support, and succeed in new valuable industries. Gary V mentioned it in the key note when he said to take the “southern hospitality” approach to helping each other succeed.
I think we will have a political challenge until we have officials that see and understand the movement and are willing to make the investments it will take to promote technology growth. As support grows so will the recognition outside the state which will drive more opportunity.
Sloss Tech was a fantastic event. Big name speakers drew a huge crowd, but I was also impressed by the local rock stars sharing their personal stories of failure and success. The only thing that bothered me was the lack of local publicity it received. During the event I tweeted several local news groups and they all responded that they were not aware it was taking place. Hopefully going forward it will gain publicity to generate more awareness.
What exciting news or product/service announcements does your company have on the horizon?
We recently released our new software product INSIDE|OUT. This is a software appliance that monitors a customers network from the inside and alerts on a breach that a firewall may not see. ICS Medtech provides this service at a cost that businesses of all sizes can afford.
Thanks so much for sharing, Chad!
Follow ICS Medtech online here:
Twitter: @icsmedtech
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