Go David ...

We live in a world which is increasingly dominated by large IT companies. Unfortunately as these companies grow their ability to move quickly into new areas often reduces. Innovation should always be the trump card that small businesses ("David") use against large companies ("Goliath"). For me, I'd rather see David thriving than with Goliath just going through the motions of picking up another major contract and hitting a target.

For many large companies, any risk taking seems to disappear within tendering processes. Individuals, too, often make-up the core of a small company, but where large companies focus less on individuals and more on processes and procedures. Every generation, too, sees new companies coming through, and which dislodge existing ones. Only companies such as IBM have succeed in holding their ground in the face of newer (and eager) innovative companies.

ECS

And so one company we have observed from afar is ECS. It is company that just seems to know what it wants to do, and goes ahead and does it, and is a company that can equally compete with company with more than 10 times its resources, and still win.

We have help play our small part in their growth by providing them with graduates on a continual basis. We have saw them grow, from the early days of Federico Charosky [here] and Nathan Dornbrook [here] and then onto them winning the SME of the Year.

With them, from afar, we felt the rollercoaster ride of the ups and downs of a small consultancy company looking to make its mark in setting up Security Operations Centers (SOCs), and where late payments from customers could cause such problems. But they took risks and continued their vision - with determination and drive - and have succeeded to push many companies forward in the creation of SOCs.

And so ECS has grown, and have continued to source many of their graduates from our courses, as we hope that we produce graduates who can match themselves to the demands of the Cyber Security industry. They, too, can spot talent when the see it, and it is talent that has made ECS successful.

It is this eye for talent and knowing how to drive Cyber Security within companies that has resulted in their recent award:

We are so proud of the company who have continually provided us with guest speakers - for no cost - and for sharing their thoughts and vision with us, and which has helped us develop. They have also helped sponsor our events in the early days of The Cyber Academy, and which gave us the courage to move forward with its creation.

Without companies like ECS, there would be fewer good quality jobs around for our graduates, and so the synergy between industry and academia works well, and where companies such as ECS thrive on smart people, as it is people who drive innovation. A small company in IT can only survive by moving quickly and innovating on limited resources. It takes endless hours of commitment, determination and drive.

Figure: Nathan Dornbrook at Conference on Cyber Security and Education at Tulliallan, Oct 2015

The success of ECS is thus based on the talent of the individuals involved, and in spotting opportunities and innovating quickly. I could easily show you the decisions that they have made, but perhaps I should leave it to them. We have watched them with great respect, and wish them all the best for the future. They have made Edinburgh one of the leaders in the integration of Cyber Security in the finance industry, and it has a vibrant and growing industry, built on smart people.

Figure: David Calder at Cyber Security Conference, Jan 2015

ECS also share knowledge and here is Harry McClaren presenting last week:

Go hug an SME!