Penfold Research uses Vitrium Security to protect revenues generated from reports

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“Vitrium has assisted in the protection of our intellectual property by reducing unauthorized sharing of our research reports. Setting up, administering, and tracking content security and usage is now simple and easy.”

- Andrew Penfold, Founder & Owner

Company Overview

Based in Australia, Penfold Research provides detailed market information on the office product supplies and non-core business supplies sectors (such as office furniture, coffee/tea, cleaning & bathroom supplies, work apparel & personal protective equipment – and packaging supplies).

Their research reports help clients understand all key aspects of the market they are in, how it is evolving, where competitors are positioned and ultimately how they can meet their business goals. Penfold Research identifies where growth opportunities lie and provide a base for strategy development and future growth.


Key Challenges


Penfold Research provides reports to players in the office, education, and non-core business supplies markets in Australia and New Zealand. Manufacturers, distributors, and retailer of office supplies depend on knowledge present on Penfold Research’s various reports to stay competitive and grow their business. Access to reports is sold via a subscription model through the company’s website, where paying members gain access into the company’s content. “We found that unauthorized sharing of our reports was eroding our income from paying subscribers,” says Andrew Penfold, founder and owner of Penfold Research.

The company was selling access to their reports with little to no security measures to protect their investment in intellectual property. “When non-clients started phoning us and quoting information from our reports, we realized that something had to change and that we needed to protect our content,” continues Mr. Penfold, “We needed to completely halt all unauthorized sharing of Penfold Research reports.”

“We found that unauthorized sharing of our reports was eroding our income from paying subscribers.”

- Andrew Penfold, Founder & Owner

 

The Solution


Penfold Research needed an Enterprise Content Security software solution that balanced function, ease-of-use, and cost. They needed a solution that supported the company’s subscription model while making paying customers accountable for content use and preventing unauthorized distribution of the reports.


After exploring Content Security solutions in the marketplace such as Locklizard, Mr. Penfold found in Vitrium a solution that matched all his project’s goals. “When we first looked at Vitrium, we were encouraged by the software’s customized watermark functionality with dynamic user data,” says Mr. Penfold, “It gave us a way to encourage customers to be proactively compliant with how they use and share our content,” he concludes.

Penfold Research also found that Vitrium Security’s content expiry date and device limits functionality delivered the digital infrastructure necessary to execute their business model for selling reports. The company also takes advantage of the content copying controls and the software’s reporting capabilities, where analytical data related to content access and use is displayed to give companies like Penfold Research a clear view into the effectiveness and its content.

 

“When we first looked at Vitrium, we were encouraged by the software’s customized watermark functionality with dynamic user data.”
-Andrew Penfold, Founder & Owner

The Results


“Vitrium Security has helped us significantly minimize unauthorized sharing of our reports,” summarizes Mr. Penfold, “We send out our protected reports as Secure PDFs via emails our through our file sharing website with confidence, knowing that there are measures in place to grant access only to authorized parties.”

Administrators at Penfold Research simply upload reports to Vitrium Security’s intuitive dashboard, applying encryption and digital rights management controls to the file. These security measures travel with the files no matter where they go. “Vitrium has assisted in the protection of our intellectual property by reducing unauthorized sharing of our research reports,” concludes Mr. Penfold, “Setting up, administering, and tracking content security and usage is now simple and easy.”

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