Case Study
MTI (A RICHOH Company)
See how our range of experienced training consultants increased the capability of MTI’s senior consultants working toward CHECK Team Leader status.
Introduction
Christian Chislett, Head of Penetration Testing at MTI, approached North Green Security to discuss the need for individual, customised training workshops that could help fill knowledge gaps for senior consultants working toward CHECK Team Leader status. The challenge boiled down to the fact that senior consultants at MTI had a good grasp of most of the skills needed to attempt CTL certification, however needed to find a training provider who could provide specific, 1-to-1, workshops that would focus on the skills development of each consultant that would be tailored to key topics.
North Green Security were chosen to train MTI consultants due to our proven track record, the knowledge of our trainers, and the practical nature of our training. Since engaging with us, MTI have been able to achieve a 66% pass rate for Cyber Scheme Team Leader exams.
The individual skills gap
MTI (A RICOH Company) is a highly skilled technology services and solutions provider. As an award-winning company with a goal of being the leading hybrid infrastructure and cyber security solutions provider, they bring a lot of experience and skill to the table. Specialising in Managed and Transformation IT Services, MTI works closely with clients to meet their existing and future needs while the focus on both cyber and data security ensures that the increasingly complex environments they work in, remain cyber resilient.
To ensure their security consultants demonstrate a commitment to the highest standards and are able to work with their public sector clients, there is a need to obtain and retain industry recognised qualifications.
The challenge of Gaining CHECK Team Leader status
MTI needed their senior consultants to obtain CHECK Team Leader status by sitting the Cyber Scheme Team Leader exams. However, with a varied team, it became clear that there was a varied and uniquely individual skills gap for each consultant.
While self-study and structured training courses could help prepare the team to take an exam, each of these solutions had drawbacks. Self-study could not provide the ability to interact with a knowledgeable subject matter expert, while structured courses would take consultants away from the company for multiple days and may cover content that the consultant is comfortable with already.
The challenge was to find the optimal way to address each consultants’ unique needs in an effective manner.
“When you’re in a course with a lot of other people, it can be hard to get your questions answered sometimes. The workshops meant it was possible to go back over topics and concepts again and again until you really feel you understand it”
Why MTI chose North Green
On behalf of MTI, Christian approached North Green Security due to our founder, Dan Cannon’s, experience in creating and delivering penetration testing training courses. North Green Security has a track record of being able to deliver training in a clear and effective way and has been recognised by The Cyber Scheme as an approved training partner due to the quality of material, exercises, and delivery of courses.
North Green’s flexibility and a willingness to create custom training workshops that would provide consultants with a tailored agenda focused on individual development goals meant that MTI could be confident that each workshop would be appropriate, interactive, and empowering.
“A course is often with other attendees, so there is less chance to ask questions, the workshops meant you can go back over things again, until you feel you really understand it”
The response
We were delighted to work with MTI to support their individual development needs. We first discussed the key development goals for each consultant and then the workshop was focused on those topics. This allowed a deeper dive into key areas for the consultant and ensured that there was the time and freedom to discuss issues/techniques/tools at length until the topic was understood.
Feedback has been positive from each of the consultants who have undertaken individual workshops and 2/3 have been able to obtain the Cyber Scheme Team Leader qualification
Exam pass rate
Prior to engaging with North Green Security, MTI were investing heavily in exam re-takes. At £1,800 per exam, each of these retakes adds additional costs to the company.
After working with North Green Security, 66% of candidates passed their Cyber Scheme Team Leader exam.
The overall result
With the success of our initial training workshop with Christian, we were able to demonstrate the effectiveness of custom, individual workshops. We have since worked with other MTI consultants and have received fantastic feedback
“I think the workshops run by North Green Security are a great way of improving the candidates knowledge on a specific topic. They are well put together, run by an extremely knowledgeable and friendly instructor, and I would not hesitate to recommend them to anyone wanting to upskill on a certain area.”
What people are saying…
NGS are a great training provider who will help you get on the path towards becoming a recognised penetration teste
NGS are a great training provider who will help you get on the path towards becoming a recognised penetration tester. The skills and knowledge gained will help my team improve their abilities to find vulnerabilities but also help understand external reports to better fix them and improve our securit...
Marc Dowie
Extremely knowledgeable, friendly, and patient
Extremely knowledgeable, friendly, and patient. I will be recommending Dan and North Green Security to my team, and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend to anyone else
Christian Chislett
Delivered by an instructor with deep technical knowledge who could link all content and questions to real-life scenarios
The “Pentest Practitioner” was exceptionally well put together, with high quality and easily digestible material. It was also delivered by an instructor with deep technical knowledge who could link all content and questions to real-life scenarios, which certainly helped understand the relevance to t...
Jason Kalwa
The content of the course filled in gaps in my understanding and provided a solid logical framework
This has been the best training class for web application that I have attended in 13 years of pentesting. The content of the course filled in gaps in my understanding and provided a solid logical framework for finding and exploiting vulnerabilities. The quality of this training was better than any...
John McMullan
Highly recommend. A+++
‘Dan was highly professional trainer who is clearly knowledgeable and was meant to be a teacher. The Course helped my confidence in app testing and will set me up for life. Highly recommend. A+++
Karl Rygol
I would recommend this course to all
The course is delivered well and done at a good pace and provides things that even the most season tester could learn from. I would recommend this course to all
Chadwick Jam
Top quality training delivered by knowledgeable and approachable instructors
Top quality training delivered by knowledgeable and approachable instructors who are active Pen Testers in this field. Out of all the courses I have been on, this is by far the best
Darryn Day
I think this course is perfectly pitched for the targeted certification pathway’
I think this course is perfectly pitched for the targeted certification pathway
Simon Cundy
The amount of knowledge gained from the North Green Security course has proved to be invaluable
The amount of knowledge gained from the North Green Security course has proved to be invaluable. It has given me an insight into how hackers attack systems which has been a real eye opener. The skills and techniques learnt have given me the ability
to confidently address vulnerabilities within my ...
Mark Reynolds
Thank you for a fun and professional experience from which I learnt a lot!
A great course, delivered by a very knowledgeable and approachable tutor. Thank you for a fun and professional experience from which I learnt a lot!
Karl Weatherhead
Get in touch
If you want to hear about how we can work with your team to increase their technical capability and provide them with 1-to-1 workshops, get in touch now at hello@northgreensecurity.com