SCC to double headcount of cloud wing Sentinel

Public sector cloud arm expected to hit revenues of £9m for 2015 as it recruits another 50 staff

Reseller SCC is set to double the headcount of its cloud service arm Sentinel by adding another 50 jobs.

Founded in 2012, Sentinel is a cloud service for the public sector which is run from SCC's Birmingham-based datacentre.

Speaking to CRN, Kelvin Ayre, practice manager for Sentinel, said the cloud service wing started slowly but has grown quickly in recent times.

"In the early days there was quite a lot of nervousness in central government, although all the departments pointed to a digital and cloud-first policy," he said. "There was pretty slow uptake in the early stages but we started to get traction with a few customers."

"Numbers in the early days went from £1m turnover in the first year, to £3.5m turnover last year and now we are expecting between £8m and £9m this year. What's important is we have not had a single client who has moved away since they joined."

Following this growth of the cloud arm, Sentinel now employs 50 staff in Birmingham, and the firm will now recruit another 50 over the next nine months. Staff said these new recruits would be mainly technical positions such as cloud and network architects.

Ayre said: "The strategic investment in Sentinel by SCC has returned substantial growth and in turn created new jobs for the Midlands region.

"As a Birmingham-headquartered company proud of its roots, we are delighted to be supporting the local economy and creating so many new jobs for home-grown talent."