Nemstar Insights
By Sean Hanna, Founder & Director of Nemstar
February 12, 2025
Nemstar’s commitment to excellence was on full display when one of the Philippines’ largest HR companies required a scalable cyber reskilling program to help thousands of delegates move into Cyber Security roles. Faced with a tight deadline of just 4 weeks, Nemstar rose to the challenge, designing and deploying a fully mentored, scalable reskilling program that was not only tailored to the client’s needs but was also delivered on time and budget. This remarkable achievement showcases Nemstar’s agility and expertise in addressing complex workforce transformation needs with speed and precision. Here’s how we did it…
Business Process Outsourcing is a huge industry in the Philippines, providing back-office support to companies around the globe. With advances in technology, in particular AI, 1.2 million people are at risk of unemployment in the country in the coming years; and it will happen faster than you may think.
This HR & Recruitment company set an ambitious goal to reskill 500 people a year in cyber security. This will help meet the growing demand for jobs in cyber security and avoid mass unemployment as current roles become defunct.
SOC stands for Security Operations Centre. 10 years ago, only big global firms had a SOC team. 5 years ago, just big businesses. Now, organisations of all sizes are starting to see the benefits of having a SOC but the demand outstrips the supply of qualified analysts.
“You can’t stop a cyber attack from happening, but you can plan for it so the impact is reduced.”
A SOC team plans for an attack so they know what they need to do to limit the effects and contain it. If you are not prepared, the cost for dealing with an attack can run into millions.
The academy is a custom programme bringing people from zero to job ready SOC Analysts in just 12-weeks. Starting with CISMP the participants proceed to Security+ and finally complete the SOC Analyst certification. As well as the live, online classes, the academy includes:
All participants currently work in IT help desk roles. No formal computer qualification is needed.
Job Ready: The students leave the programme as trained SOC Analysts, job ready for the many vacancies in this field. The HR & Recruitment company now have a talent pipeline of skilled SOC Analysts to place into roles with their clients, getting ahead of the game.
Potential salary increase of 57%: Based on USA figures, an IT service desk role has an average salary of $42,162* while a SOC Analyst averages $99,157. The uplift in salary will have an impact on the local economy and make a huge difference to the participants and their families.
*Figures from ZipRecruiter 2024 Salary index
Upskilling for the future: We’ve created a programme that will alleviate job insecurity for IT Support roles that will be replaces with AI and other technologies in the near future.
On Time, On Budget: All timelines and schedules were met on time despite this being a new customer and with the difference in time zones. The project was delivered on time and on budget.
We successfully navigated the time difference and worked with the business to deliver training outside of working hours. This was also positive for the participants as it meant there was no loss of earning while they studied.
Three months from an initial conversation we created and wrote a bespoke programme including:
Following the successful pilot, the course will run on a rolling basis with the goal of training 500 people within the first year.
Sean Hanna
Founder & Director
Sean Hanna founded Nemstar in 2009, leveraging 20+ years of cybersecurity expertise to deliver business-focused technical training. As EC Council’s Global Security Trainer of the Year, he has trained thousands globally, including at Microsoft, GCHQ, and the U.S. Navy. Sean led Microsoft Exchange 2000’s technical training launch and helps organizations strengthen their cybersecurity defenses.
If you would like to discuss a bespoke training programme for your organisation, send us a message and one of our experts will be happy to advise you