As we were talking all things cybersecurity during National Cybersecurity Awareness Month, we at Brite have been reflecting on how a computer company became two-time ForeScout partner of the year. Few know that tale, or can remember the details of what happened nearly 20 years when Brite was purchased by our current owner, Justin Smith. In honor of National Cybersecurity Awareness Month, we wanted to share just how a little whitebox manufacturer grew to who you know Brite as.
The Founding
1983. The year of cabbage patch dolls, Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi and, of course, Brite Computers. Brite Computers was founded in 1983 and established their niche in the quickly-growing computer industry. Personal computers were taking over lifestyles faster than legwarmers.
The Smith’s
16 years later in 1999, on the brink of the millennium, John and Justin Smith were presented with an opportunity to buy Brite Computers, and they did. They saw a unique opportunity to grow the whitebox manufacturing company from a small niche player with 16 employees to a regionally known company of 50.
Serving Those Who Serve(r)
In Brite’s computer manufacturing days, a unique challenge was brought to us by our local sheriff’s office – how to put a computer in a police vehicle. Now, this may sound very common place, but nearly 20 years ago computers were bulky and created potentially dangerous in-vehicle environments by blocking visibility and airbags. Brite stepped in with an innovative mount design and the latest technology to create a safe, ergonomic and cost-effective in-vehicle work environment for officers.
Fast forward to today, Brite has a national presence with its complete mobile-tech suite featuring best-in-breed technologies. Dedicated to providing the right toolset, in addition to the mobile-tech suite, there is the Intel Center which brings the latest intelligence tools to help departments find more leads, faster.
Dawn of the Cybersecurity Era
The world didn’t end in 2000, but the computer industry was presented with some new challenges in the new century. A handful of big brands began dominating the industry thus squashing a once desirable market. Brite acknowledged that manufacturing computers wasn’t going to be sustainable for continuous growth.
In effort to address the developing needs of our customers, Brite made the decision to focus on securing computers instead of building them. Brite quickly settled into the role of delivering cutting-edge technologies with an organization’s business goals and objectives as the focus.
Over the years, both infrastructures and attacks became significantly more complex. Simple firewalls and antivirus may have been sufficient when spyware was the biggest concern, but modern cyber threats require multiple layers of defense. Because of this, Brite decided to invest in world-class engineers and become a leading cybersecurity reseller and integrator.
To help guide customers in protecting against the latest and future threats, Brite has identified and developed five key tenants to securing an organization. The five tenants include detect and protect, secure access, advanced threat protection, data protection and governance, risk and compliance.
Brite Today, Tomorrow and into the Future
Today, the core of Brite’s focus is to match organizations with the right solution for their unique needs. By always putting the customer’s best interest first, Brite builds partnerships you can count on now, and into the future. Brite will always examine the needs of our customers and provide cutting-edge solutions to fit their needs.
