3GC Group
Merging Machine Learning and DevOps with Managed Services

Unlike most, a zeal for optimization while helping others is what led the network architecture expert, Henry Park, to begin his entrepreneurial journey. It was the challenge of optimizing complex enterprise operations and solving their IT infrastructure problems that soon paved the way for Park to found the consulting firm, 3GC, an expert in providing businesses with converged network architecture, engineering, staff augmentation, and managed services.

Gone are the days, when organizations employ certified networking experts who specialize in just one part of the technology. “3GC has evolved itself to provide “converged” engineers to keep up with the latest trends in converged technologies,” states Park, the CEO of 3GC Group. The “convergence movement” in technology is an evolutionary change combining resources and applications together for interoperability and optimization, which has made consulting for enterprise IT teams more important than ever.

3GC’s core philosophy is in ensuring that each of its engineers achieves expertise in a minimum of three different IT disciplines, giving them a competitive edge. Called “E-Cubed” or Engineering-Cubed, this practice allows for IT problem-solving and network infrastructure solution design in less time and at a much lower cost, since every 3GC engineer is certified and experienced in one core technology—like Switching/Routing, hyper-converged networking, or UC—one perimeter technology—WiFi, Firewall, SD-WAN, then either a specialized security tool—or automation software like Python or Ansible.

The actual engagement with a customer starts with 3GC’s discussion with CIOs, understanding their requirements, goals, and their data in their digital transformation journey. After analyzing all the seven layers of their network and the utilization of their data by the end-users and across the supply chain, 3GC develops a custom roadmap program for network infrastructure re-design, implementation, automation and management, working hand-in-hand with the CIO and teams throughout the process.

Network automation through analytics and machine learning is a tough process to implement. 3GC was approached by one of the top semiconductor companies in California to assist with challenging regulatory compliance concerns and audit access to intellectual property. The key challenge was adding additional security analysis capabilities while proactively managing access without disrupting the workflow of their engineers from around the world who required access to sensitive data. More importantly, with thousands of employees and millions of access events each month, a real-time product was needed to detect indicators of compromise and predict which employees or associates are likely to either intentionally or unintentionally leave with stolen data. Through machine learning, the client was able to define what is normal, then determine. Machines are simply faster at repetitive tasks like finding inconsistencies in the patterns of data usage, and machines do not tire from scouring through billions of data events per day. 3GC, having spent a year understanding the client’s network, various use cases, security vulnerabilities, and user behavior, brought in a machine-learning-based UBA (User Behavior Analytics) platform that can apply anomaly detection from baseline behavior analysis. It took nine months to assess and find the right UBA engine, followed by another five months of POC. With limited in-house resources for project implementation, the client used 3GC’s managed Azure cloud offering and security managed services to support the integration and on-going maintenance of the underlying infrastructure and server platform.

3GC empowers clients to take control of new technologies by combining engineering competence with operational experience. From systems design, implementation, and integration, to management services for a complete end-to-end turnkey solution for an enterprise’s converged network, 3GC offers advanced solutions that will take enterprises to the next level of IT performance. Currently focused on building platforms to automate infrastructure management for its clients, 3GC intends to develop blockchain platforms to automate security compliance. “As blockchain protocols standardize and enterprises apply it into business workflows, machine learning and AI will spread like wildfire across the internet, we’re getting prepared for this wave of innovation,” concludes Park.