Overcoming Cyber Security Challenges with Continuous Learning – A Spotlight on Vince

When a Windows vulnerability was discovered last spring, Vince came up with a script to fix it before Microsoft did. After testing his script, he sent it out to more than 10,000 endpoints. When it was over, he thought to himself – That was fun.

Fun for Vince, a systems administrator focused on cybersecurity at Accent Computer Solutions, is applying his knowledge and expertise to do something he’s never done before. And he gets satisfaction from knowing that his work directly benefits Accent clients, which usually means protecting them from cyber threats.

Access to a Sophisticated Tech Stack

Because Vince is focused on security, he has his hands on a sophisticated technology stack. Part of his time is spent monitoring and improving how the software tools work together. Every tool generates data, which is good because it creates a trail that can be studied. But it takes some skill to analyze the data mountain and drill down to what action should be taken if any.

Vince is the person who interprets the data so that clients understand what it means. He also translates the information into priorities and tasks for the Accent team so that they know what needs to be taken care of and in what order. He couldn’t do this without being an excellent communicator.

“People love interacting with Vince because he has a way with words that puts people at ease,” said Vince’s supervisor, Craig. “Sometimes I’ll share something he’s sent to a client with Derek, and we’ll both agree that Vince is a really good communicator.”

Vince’s communication skills are also put to use in his work to develop and document procedures like the deployment of a new spam filter solution, securing accounts with MFA, or the cyber security review process. This is a way for him to share what he knows and to create the type of consistent, repeatable processes that are needed for predictable IT systems.

Learning Built into His Job

It’s a good thing that Vince loves to learn because the cyber security landscape, and the whole of the information technology field for that matter, are evolving and changing all the time. He enjoys going to national conferences like DEF CON and vendor trainings where he can meet the people he talks with periodically in his work. He also appreciates how learning is built into his role.

“Accent recognizes the challenging nature of the job as we’re trying to figure out best practices and document them; learn how to use the tools we have or evaluate new tools; and just learn new things,” said Vince. “There’s a lot of learning built into the job.”

Knowing how to research and learn is how Vince has built his broad background of knowledge and the confidence needed to continually face new challenges and figure things out on his own.

“Vince has a constant learning mindset,” said his supervisor and coworker, Craig. “In security, it’s like we’re learning in real-time. What happened yesterday? What’s happening today? Then how can we apply it to our client's IT systems.”

Vince doesn’t keep his learning to himself. He’s happy to share and has become a subject-matter expert on security for team members who reach out to him daily for advice on how to tackle problems, suggestions for how to answer client questions or even recommendations on how to fine-tune the settings for one tool so it won’t cause issues with other tools.

🔎 Related: The Auto-magical Management of IT and Cyber Security Processes by Centralized Services

Enjoys His Work and Who He Works With

Vince not only enjoys helping his coworkers, he appreciates being able to get together in person for events like free lunch at the office on Fridays. He makes it a point to come into the office at least once a week, while the other days, he’s working from his home in the Southern California mountains.

Accent is the first managed IT service company that Vince has worked for in his career. He’s found the daily pace to be faster than it was when he was responsible for one company’s IT systems, but he doesn’t feel like he has to live up to the kind of unrealistic expectations that can lead to burnout.

Vince says that not everyone is suited for this kind of work but enjoying what you do and who you do it with are key to job satisfaction. Whether or not you’ve ever considered working at an MSP, Vince has an invitation for you.

He says, “If you like technology and you like helping people and their businesses to utilize technology in an environment that will continue to be challenging, working alongside similar individuals who are stepping up to that challenge, then by all means, we could use the help.”