The situation before Pistachio Practice
For several years, Procimmo SA used Barracuda to make its teams aware of cyber risks. The solution worked, to a certain extent. Then participation rates began to fall.
The problem wasn’t a lack of willingness on the part of employees. It was the format: 3 to 5 minute videos, always on the same themes, followed by a quiz. Everyone received the same thing, at the same frequency. After a few months, employees stopped watching.
What was missing in concrete terms :
- The simulations were identical for all: same scenarios, same schedule, same rotating themes.
- Reporting was limited to knowing whether a test had passed or failed, globally, with no details by person or by team.
- IT administrators received a raw file to be reworked in order to extract any useful statistics.
- No visibility on who was really doing the tests, who was making progress, who was struggling on which subjects.
The decision to change tools was therefore necessary.
Why Pistachio Practice?
Procimmo SA’s IT administrators were looking for a solution capable of varying scenarios, adapting to the profile of each employee, and not relying on long videos that no one watches to the end. Pistachio Practice met all three of these criteria.
Scenarios that don’t repeat themselves
Each employee receives different simulations, at different times. The scenarios cover phishing, social engineering, password management and risky behavior on business devices. It’s not a fixed catalog: the platform adapts the difficulty and frequency according to the answers given.
Important detail: the scenarios include real names of colleagues. No fictitious characters. This radically changes the perception of simulation.
30 seconds, not 5 minutes
Reading a test email takes 30 seconds. Replying takes a few seconds longer. In the event of a wrong answer, a short explanation is immediately displayed, in the context of the email received. It’s the platform that does the teaching, not the IT administrators.
The aim is not to train employees once a year. It’s to keep them alert on a regular basis, without it feeling like training.
Direct integration into M365
Pistachio runs in Procimmo SA’s Microsoft 365 environment. Simulation emails arrive directly in the inbox, unblocked by spam filters. Employee arrivals and departures are managed via M365 synchronization.
A point to note for any company considering the solution: implementation required authorizing Pistachio access to the M365 mailboxes of all employees. This is a technical prerequisite that slowed down start-up. To be anticipated.
Barracuda vs Pistachio Practice: key differences
| Criteria | Barracuda (before) | Pistachio (today) |
| Scenarios | Identical for all | Different for each employee |
| Mailing frequency | Same days for all | Varies according to profile |
| Time per module | Videos 3 to 5 min + quiz | 30 seconds per email |
| Customization | No | Real names of integrated colleagues |
| Participation rate | 60 % | Over 90% participation |
| Reporting | Raw report for manual reworking | Automated dashboard by department |
| M365 integration | No | Native |
| Explanation in case of error | Managed by IT admins | Automatic, via platform |
What has changed for Procimmo SA’s company and employees?
Participation rate exceeded 90%.
With Barracuda, Procimmo SA held around 60%. Today, with Pistachio Practice, it’s over 90%. The difference is not due to an internal communication campaign or reminders. It’s the format: when a test email arrives, it’s quick to process, looks like a real email, and doesn’t require connection to an external platform.
Employees play along because it’s not restrictive.
Less work for IT administrators
Before, Procimmo SA’s IT administrators would receive a raw report that had to be reworked to extract useful stats. Now, dashboards are generated automatically, segmented by department, function and individual. With just a few clicks, it’s possible to see what each person has received, how they’ve responded, and where they’re performing less well.
The platform also manages pedagogy: when someone answers incorrectly, it’s Pistachio Practice that explains, not the IT team. This saves real time.
Individual follow-up not possible with the old solution
Procimmo SA can now identify who received what, when, and what they did with it. This visibility was completely absent with Barracuda. It allows us to adapt scenarios, identify profiles that need more attention, and justify the process internally with concrete data.
Room for improvement
Procimmo SA is satisfied with the solution. Two points are worth mentioning, however, as they represent real limitations.
- Once a year, Procimmo SA’s admins have to manually output the consolidated statistics: who performed best, and how they evolved over the year. Pistachio does not yet offer this aggregated view automatically. This is extra work that could be avoided.
- When an employee doesn’t respond to a scenario, the platform sends the same email again, without variation. A mechanism that changes the content after several non-responses would be more effective.
Customer testimonial
“At Procimmo, the Pistachio Practice solution enables us to raise our employees’ awareness of cybersecurity simply and regularly. Unlike traditional formats based solely on videos, which are often put in the background, the scenarios proposed require reading and making decisions. This more interactive format attracts more attention and encourages greater commitment from our employees to awareness campaigns. On the IT side, the solution’s high level of automation means that the involvement of our teams is kept to a minimum, making day-to-day management much easier. Overall, we’re very satisfied with the solution and its effectiveness.”
Yonatan, IT Manager
Procimmo SA, Administrator of the Pistachio solution
Further information
Pistachio Practice is distributed in Switzerland by Infologo. The solution is aimed at companies that use Microsoft 365 and are looking to maintain a level of cyber vigilance vigilance without mobilizing their IT teams for ongoing training.
For a demonstration or a quote, contact the Infologo team today.
