Blue Cube hires two directors and launches academy for solutions push

Security VAR looks to expand its services and solutions capabilities further

Blue Cube Security has launched an academy and hired two new directors as it shifts towards solutions and services, according to CEO Gary Haycock-West.

Haycock-West told CRN that Blue Cube sought the services of Cyber Business Growth, a cybersecurity consultancy headed up by ex-NTT Security sales director Jamie Murphy, to review its sales structure.

The outcome of the process so far is an overhauled professional services unit and a stronger focus on providing full security solutions to customers.

"We're 17 years old, so that brings a wealth of positivity, but it also means you can get a bit stale and stuck in your ways, so we brought in Cyber Business Growth," Haycock-West explained. "We bought some of their services to help us look in the mirror and see where we're good, and reflect on some areas that perhaps we could improve on.

"They helped us build a strategy to evolve the business. There were a few elephants in the room, but I'm really pleased to say that six months in it's having a really positive effect on our business and the sectors we're working in."

Over that six-month period Blue Cube has brought in a new finance director and a professional services director, as it looks to build its services offering.

Haycock-West said the firm is now better equipped to focus more on solutions-led business.

"We've turned our process for professional services upside down and that has given us a greater strength in our delivery capability because I think that's where we're going," he said.

"We have always been a traditional reseller, but we've always had a desire to be a solutions provider."

Alongside the revamped solutions side of the business, Blue Cube has secured deals with a number of finance partners - one being Progress Distribution - which mean it can offer financing deals to customers across its range of products and services.

"It was always difficult to do finance because you could do the hardware but you couldn't do software, services, maintenance etc," he said. "Now we're working with a group of partners that we are able to finance everything with. We can put a solution together and are able to finance it, so it's a very cost-effective way of buying our services or solution."

Last year Blue Cube hit its greatest ever sales year, reaching £12m in revenue. While the numbers are still being totted up for the most recent period, Haycock-West said Blue Cube had "a very positive" year.

Academy

As part of the restructuring with Cyber Business Growth, Blue Cube has launched Blue Cube Academy, aimed at bringing people into the business and training them in cybersecurity and the threat landscape.

"It has been received very well," he said. "We've brought on four guys, we've got another chap joining in two weeks' time, and then I have a senior position that we're looking to fill in that area, for which we're in advanced stages [with a potential newcomer]."

"It's a formal education process with the individuals and we're bringing in external industry people and vendors as well. Doing it across a varied group of vendors gives a holistic view of where the threats are.

"We're seeing the benefit of that and it gives us great strength when we're engaging with customers for our consultative approach."