QA’s Squad-as-a-Service offering allows organisations to plug critical tech skills gaps with a ready-to-go roster of junior tech specialists skilled in disciplines such as cloud and software engineering. Today we are announcing the expansion of Squad-as-a-Service to include cyber security tech specialists. Individuals joining this first cyber security cohort have already completed training in DevOps or software engineering, and spent at least 12 months on site as a QA tech specialist. They will now take part in an intensive, 12-week bootcamp to enhance their existing knowledge with critical cyber security skills. The cohort will be ready for placement in May 2021.

To date, QA’s Squad-as-a-Service programme has focused on training early-careers individuals in specific tech skills such as DevOps or software engineering. Clients have been able to boost existing project teams with QA’s tech talent, or transform their tech capability through the use of a larger structured team from QA. The latest Squad-as-a-Service cohort will provide clients with hard-to-find cyber security individuals that also have proven experience in one of these tech disciplines.

 

“What will really make these tech specialists stand out is the fact that they already understand the application stack, building cloud services and writing code, and then they have fundamental cyber security skills on top of that,” explains Richard Beck, Director of Cyber at QA. “Critically they have also been selected for their soft skills. Cyber security experts must be able to process, simulate and report on information. The ability to communicate with senior stakeholders is vital for the roles these individuals will be selected for.”

QA’s new cyber tech specialists are currently in the early foundational phases of the academy programme. Learning takes place through a blend of technical labs, gamified experiential learning and virtual instructor-led facilitated workshops. During the first couple of weeks, the cohort spends time understanding how to secure customer data when deploying and managing web applications and network infrastructure. With hands-on, scenario-based technical workshops, they experience the complexity of identifying, controlling and preventing organisational threats. Knowledge is then tested through a series of real-world, progressive, technical ‘in-game’ assessments with successful individuals going on to sit exams in a number of leading cyber security certifications.

“Our cyber security specialists will offer a level of experience and credibility that clients don’t always look for in other disciplines,” adds Richard Beck. “With every member of this cohort being an experienced client-facing consultant, and most having experience of working on security projects and holding National Security clearance, we are confident that the individuals successfully completing QA’s cyber security Squad-as-a-Service programme will be highly valued by our clients – and hard to beat.”

The training programme draws on QA’s experience of providing end-to-end cyber security training from foundation to expert specialist skills. It has been designed to be vendor agnostic, however, QA can provide additional top-up training to tailor the individual to the client’s security environment, for example, a working understanding of the Microsoft Sentinel Security platform.

QA’s cyber security tech specialists will be available from mid-May. 

More information about the Cyber Security Squad-as-a-Service