AXS Guard has been holding its own against the big American players for thirty years. The company is proud of its Belgian origins: “Security is complex, it’s easier for the customer if you speak their language”.
There’s no lack of choice when looking for a security provider. Mechelen-based AXS Guard has been valiantly defending Belgian honor against global market leaders like Palo Alto, Fortinet, and Trend Micro for over thirty years. In an increasingly international world, AXS Guard aims to distinguish itself with a local focus.
How does AXS Guard hold its own against international giants? What does it offer as a local security specialist? And what challenges does this bring? Alex Ongena, founder and manager, testifies about life as a Belgian player in the security market.
One Hundred Percent Belgian
“We make your security in Belgium”: it could be the marketing slogan of AXS Guard. Ongena prides himself on the fact that the company does everything from Belgium, from customer service to hardware and data centers. “Our technology is fully developed in Belgium. All customer data also remains here”.
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AXS Guard started about thirty years ago as a hardware specialist in gateway security. “This is known as the firewall, but we offer broad connectivity solutions,” says Ongena. “Regulating access for ‘unknown parties’ and gateway security are some of the things we’ve been developing solutions for thirty years. Over time, this has expanded to include endpoint security, among others, all from Belgium”.
In thirty years, security has changed significantly, and AXS Guard hasn’t missed this. Seven years ago, the company also jumped on the cloud and services bandwagon. Ongena: “Cybersecurity is becoming increasingly complex, and finally being taken seriously. Awareness is growing, but SMEs rarely have the financial clout or staff to install and maintain everything themselves. That’s why we’ve evolved from a hardware supplier to a service provider”.
Focus on the Middle Segment
This approach has convinced at least 1,500 companies of AXS Guard to date, of which ‘about eighty percent are Belgian customers,’ says Ongena. AXS Guard offers solutions for companies of various sizes, but fights with equal pride for SMEs.
“Cybersecurity applies to all companies. Our solutions aren’t built for specific markets, but our target group is mainly all companies with roughly five to 2,500 employees. It’s precisely this group that needs more cyber maturity. Large companies have more resources and services. The ‘middle segment’ has it harder,” Ongena explains.
AXS Guard has a fixed methodology, which is executed with or without an intermediary depending on the size of the internal IT team. “We start with a GAP analysis to look at what’s already there and what steps are needed to improve. We follow Belgian standards in this. Only then comes the implementation, but even more important is the management and monitoring. Our SOC service, also managed from Belgium, is ready 24/7 to respond to incidents. We take care of the customer from A to Z”.
Large companies have more resources and services. The ‘middle segment’ has it harder.
Alex Ongena, CEO AXS Guard
Innovation in Simplicity
As a local player, AXS Guard wants to distinguish itself from foreign competition in various ways. “Customers know they can always reach us. We pick up the phone and immediately respond with a specialist on site. For us, there are no ‘levels’. Additionally, we serve customers in their language. Security is complex, it’s difficult to understand all the jargon in another language”.
What else makes AXS Guard different? Ongena mentions two words that might seem contradictory to many: innovation and simplicity. “The fact that we’ve survived for thirty years is partly because we’re very innovative. I remain fascinated by how technology evolves and I motivate my staff to do the same. At other companies, security has become more of a business. Revenue isn’t unimportant, but I prefer innovation to profit”.
For Ongena, the beauty of innovation lies in simplicity. “It’s already so complex for SMEs today. We always think about how we can solve complex problems in the simplest way possible. A focus on simplicity is in our DNA and that makes us a bit different”.
Two-way Traffic
The customer also has a say at AXS Guard. Ongena: “They’re not forced into a straitjacket with us. American players have a habit of dictating how things should be done and imposing thresholds. If something goes wrong, the customer has to create a ticket and it sometimes takes days for a response”.
“We believe more in a hybrid form of collaboration between customer and supplier. Companies hate being too dependent on their supplier. That’s why we provide training for companies that want it and give room to tackle problems themselves. We can approach it this way because we design our products ourselves. But we do keep an eye out and offer a solution if the customer has a problem”.
Despite the good understanding with customers, it’s not always easy for AXS Guard to hold its own against the big fish as a small player. “The biggest challenge for us is being found. The big players spend a lot of money on marketing and that makes it difficult to come into the spotlight as a Belgian company. We also apply the known tricks, but of course don’t have the same resources”.
Companies hate being too dependent on their supplier.
Alex Ongena, AXS Guard
Modest International Ambitions
It took more than 25 years before AXS Guard took its first steps across the border. In 2023, the first office outside Belgium was opened in the Netherlands. “Our partners are gradually gaining momentum. This way we can test a methodology to broaden the scope,” says Ongena.
“It’s a conscious choice to do this now, because sovereignty is emerging everywhere in Europe. But you could actually already say that our solutions are worldwide. Customers who are internationally active take our solutions abroad with them.”
Nevertheless, AXS Guard keeps its feet on the ground and its focus on its own market. Ongena: “There’s still a lot of work to be done in Belgium, so we don’t always need to look far. NIS2 might be an overused topic, but it does set companies in motion. So we continue to invest locally in sales and engineering”.
Tsunami of AI
When we finally ask Ongena about what he considers the technology of the future, we get an unsurprising answer. “AI is a game-changer on all fronts. If I may give your readers one piece of advice: don’t underestimate the impact. Those who aren’t working with it yet will be overshadowed by the competition. This requires a cultural change that you need to push through by giving good examples of how employees can use it”.
“I think it’s important to show how people can use AI correctly for their job. People are being scared, but that’s not justified. Use AI where it’s good at so that people can do what they’re good at, like thinking out-of-the-box and being creative,” Ongena concludes.
In the series ‘ICT in Belgium’, we focus on local, Belgian players in the sector. Want to discover more Belgian specialists? Here you can find all the interviews from the series.