Houston based security-as-a-service cloud provider Alert Logic has opened its new Security Operations Centre (SOC) in Cardiff after securing 1.15 million in funding from the Welsh government and having the support of a talented pool of exceptional local graduates.
The new European SOC, along with a UK datacentre just down the road in Newport, comes as business is increasingly moving to the cloud and in need of cloud security services which recognise the increased awareness of compliance issues required post Snowden.
The Alert Logic research teams based in Cardiff and Houston monitor numerous sources of data and analyse this threat intelligence in order to deliver comprehensive content to its enterprise-grade cloud service, turning raw security event data into actionable incidents.
Built for cloud-scale, the Alert Logic platform analyses more than 400 million events, and identifies an average of 50,000 security incidents as a result, each month.
The opening of the Cardiff SOC, along with the Newport datacentre, cements this service into Europe and provides more choice for those with specific residency requirements in the cloud.
With 60 staff currently employed in the UK, expected to rise to 80 by the year end and 120 within two years, Alert Logic is making full use of what
Edwina Hart (AM), Minister for Economy, Science and Transport in the National Assembly for Wales referred to as "the skills in Wales to help you in your business" during the opening of the centre last week.
"Alert Logic chose Wales because of the available skills base and support available" the Minister continued, adding "the opening of their new European headquarters sends out a strong message that Wales is indeed the most secure place in the UK to establish a technology business."
Alert Logic is just one of a cluster of cyber security outfits which have located in Wales, with South Wales in particular becoming something of a regional UK hub for the IT security sector.
Given the research and development that goes in centres of academic excellence such as the University of South Wales, under the tutorship of Professor Andrew Blyth, producing a high calibre of graduate already equipped for the real-world courtesy of an 'actually doing it' approach, it's hardly surprising that such commercialisation of security products and services is happening.
Marty McGuffin, senior vice president of operations at Alert Logic, said that as a company "we need talented people that understand security very well" and that "Cardiff was refreshing in this regard."
