How CyberWinter Studios Empowers the Warfighter with Automated Readiness

Time is the Ultimate Currency, Automation Saves It

For the military, time is often more valuable than money, and CyberWinter Studio’s CWS Inform  platform (Readiness Automation-as-a-service), powered by Swimlane, has resulted in massive time savings for the Air National Guard. CyberWinter Studios, founded by a passionate team of developers, has evolved from a hobby into a critical R&D powerhouse for the Air Force. They excel as a key player for the Department of Defense (DoD), delivering innovative engineering and development solutions for unique technology needs.

The U.S. Air Force, known for its “do more with less” mentality, constantly seeks ways to maximize operational efficiency in an environment where resources are stretched thin. In a recent interview, John Grigg, founder and operations director at CyberWinter Studios, shared his journey with Swimlane’s automation platform and how it transformed the Air Force’s operations.

The Impact of Automation for the Air Force:

• Reduced the training request tracking process time from 9 hours to 45 minutes.
• Saved 300-400 hours per month in Force Support & HR tasks, translating to $24,000 in cost savings monthly per wing. 
• Improved readiness processes, saving up to 35,000 dollars monthly.
• Streamlined ticketing, saving $25,000-$29,000 hours per Wing monthly.

When extended across all wings, these savings became exponential, freeing up personnel to focus on mission-critical tasks. By saving 300-400 hours per month in FSS and HR tasks, translating to $24,000 in monthly cost savings per Wing, CyberWinter Studios demonstrates the transformative power of automation. This significant reduction in time and cost underscores how automation drives substantial operational efficiency and financial benefits.  

Continue reading to learn about CyberWinter Studios’ automation journey and how they saved the U.S Air Force $25,000- $35,000 per wing each month, or read the full case study here. 

An Automation Solution for the Everyday Warfighter 

The Air National Guard presents a unique challenge with its vast and diverse operational environment which includes 90 wings spanning the United States, each consisting of personnel across various disciplines, ranging from HR, maintenance, and mission support. Air Force leaders recognized the need for a robust and adaptable workflow automation solution, so they enlisted the help of CyberWinter Studios.

However, CyberWinter Studios knew that traditional methods wouldn’t suffice; they needed something to handle the complexity and scale of Air Force operations. 

The All-Encompassing Automation Engine

CyberWinter Studios evaluated several solutions and found that many vendors offered pieces of what they needed, like visualization tools or automation engines, but none matched Swimlane’s all-in-one capability. Swimlane’s versatility is what sets it apart from traditional SOAR platforms. Swimlane is a security automation platform, powered by an all-encompassing automation engine capable of handling any use case. This was a key reason Grigg chose Swimlane for CyberWinter Studios work with the Air Force. 

“Swimlane is more than just the sum of its parts. They can do it all and make quick work out of it. Nothing touches the Swimlane automation engine.” 

Ultimately, Swimlane’s adaptability was key to CyberWinter Studios’ successful proof of concept, demonstrating how advanced automation technology effectively manages complex military operations and improves data-driven decision making.

How Automation Supports Warfighter Readiness 

“Readiness”, a critical aspect of Air Force operations, refers to the need to be prepared and capable of performing assigned missions and tasks. By using Swimlane to automate readiness tasks, like data aggregation and process management, CyberWinter Studios was able to streamline the readiness reporting process. This saved thousands of hours each month and provided real-time, actionable intelligence, enabling commanders to make informed decisions quickly.

See below for an image of CyberWinter Studio’s Readiness dashboard.

“They handed us all these disparate systems across the Air Force that held evaluations, medical, and personal records. Said, Grigg. “We unified them into a single data lake and used Swimlane to then automate the routine tasks Airmen had to perform on that data, transforming chaos into efficiency.”

Automation Tips for Beginners

CyberWinter Studios’ journey with Swimlane is a testament that even the most complex environments can benefit from security automation. For the Air Force, the use of Swimlane’s automation platform marks a significant step forward in modernizing its operations, setting a new standard for what is possible with automation. Finally, Grigg advises newcomers to automation to start small, focus on a specific, manageable process, and build on that success. Grigg explained that as teams refine and expand, they’ll handle more than they imagined.

“Swimlane is one of those platforms you may not realize you need until you start using it—then you can’t imagine working without it because of the immense value it delivers.” 

• John Grigg, Founder and Operations Director, CyberWinter Studios 

To learn more about how automation from Swimlane can help your organization achieve results like CyberWinter Studios, request a demo.