Customized SOC Training Elevates Cyber Skills to Enable Growth

Read how CDW helped a software company revitalize the expertise of its security operations center (SOC) team as they expanded worldwide.

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Tailored Training Program Helps a SOC Rock

25%

of North American CISOs cite training issues as a challenge for achieving security goals¹

31%

reduction in average breach costs by organizations with high levels of employee training²

How can a growing company adapt training to its full security team?

A REAL-WORLD EXAMPLE

Ensuring Security Keeps Pace With Growth

A software company was expanding its locations and scope of responsibility worldwide, and its new global SOC director saw the need to ensure the team’s cybersecurity skills matched the new demands — starting with a thorough inventory of the current team’s skill sets.

THE TURNING POINT

Building a Training Plan From the Baseline Up

The company partnered with CDW to implement a scalable, comprehensive plan designed to meet the SOC’s evolving cybersecurity needs as its footprint expanded.

CDW conducted a security skills screening to establish a baseline for each member of the SOC team. The results guided personalized course recommendations tailored to the individual needs of each team member.

This initial analysis allowed CDW to create a pool of CDW training credits large enough to support the upskilling of the global SOC team. This approach provided the flexibility for learners to attend the appropriate course from the CDW training catalog over the next year while making adjustments along the way to ensure ongoing skills development.

CDW managed every phase of the skill development program on behalf of the company — including communications, enrollment, program and learning plan adjustments, and reporting. This high-touch approach ensured the best learner outcomes while maintaining the overall momentum of the upskilling program.

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THE RESULTS

A SOC Team Prepared for Global Challenges

Colleagues reviewing a digital training module on a computer screen.

By offering a complete range of security courses with the flexible consumption provided by training credits, CDW helped the company launch a scalable, adaptive and cost-effective SOC training program. The organization now has the tools and expertise to safeguard its systems during its global expansion.

Here’s why it worked:

Extensive collaboration with the company enabled CDW to pinpoint the specific challenges associated with its expansion and develop a solution directly aligned with company goals
Establishing the pool of training credits at the program’s rollout ensured that the program would stay within the company’s budget
The flexibility of CDW training credits let the company customize training based on the individual skill sets of team members

What’s next?

With ongoing reporting on program performance and individual progress, the company can continue to expand with confidence that its cybersecurity capabilities will keep pace.