Collaboration establishes a new, student-run SOC that will support cybersecurity needs and upskill the next-generation workforce
TekStream, a cybersecurity and IT solutions leader, announces its partnership with the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), one of the nation’s leading public polytechnic universities. The collaboration enhances the institution’s cybersecurity while fostering workforce development through a new, student-run Security Operation Center (SOC) that leverages Splunk’s enterprise security solutions.
With more than 13,000 students and 2,000 faculty and staff, the University recognized the need for an affordable, comprehensive cybersecurity program. To ensure students receive the best educational experience possible, NJIT sought a technology partner to facilitate access across public safety, campus activities, and learning management systems while maintaining and expanding digital learning capabilities and workforce development. With soaring cybersecurity costs, bringing its SOC in-house creates an effective learning environment, but it fails to address core cybersecurity needs due to impractical analyst requirements and the challenges of having students work around the clock. Partnering with TekStream provides the necessary technology expertise and a shared commitment to student success.
“When do you ever come across a company that says, ‘you hire your students, we’ll train them and also take on the liability of protecting you,’” said Sharon Kelley, Executive Director of Information Security and CISO at NJIT. “Cybersecurity is a highly competitive, fast-paced industry. For TekStream to work with us on this dual-purpose solution, serving the needs of enterprises shoring up their cybersecurity systems while also training a new class of industry professionals is a brilliant way to tackle the growing need for skilled cybersecurity talent.”
“Our work with NJIT is a really special, unique opportunity to help students start developing their cybersecurity career before they even graduate,” added Bruce Johnson, Senior Director of Enterprise Security for TekStream. “Personally, it’s been particularly rewarding to watch students flourish through their work in the SOC. Professionally, this partnership opens another door for industry workforce growth in a replicable and scalable way. We look forward to building more partnerships like those with NJIT to continue expanding the cybersecurity industry’s talent and capabilities to withstand future incidents.”
The global workforce shortage currently stands at 3.4 million. Partnering with TekStream and key solution providers like Splunk allows NJIT to address multiple goals simultaneously, including a more comprehensive security program and a shift from a reactive to a proactive security stance.
As a technology institute, NJIT prioritizes experiential learning and sought an opportunity to achieve world-class cybersecurity while training its students in a laboratory-style environment. Through this partnership, NJIT and TekStream offer students the chance to gain valuable, hands-on experience before graduation while bringing their SOC in-house and lowering cybersecurity costs.
“The truth of the matter is, our industry is facing a massive problem when it comes to the growing need for new, experienced cybersecurity talent,” added Kelley. “It’s on us to help scale programs that support tomorrow's cybersecurity workforce so that, as a whole, we can be better equipped to handle growing cybersecurity challenges.”
“The cybersecurity industry doesn’t have enough people to fill existing job openings, and as it stands, there’s not enough new talent entering the workforce to keep up,” shared Judd Robins, Executive Vice President at TekStream. “Our partnership with NJIT is one small but critical step towards bridging the divide and establishing long-term programming that benefits both students and the future of the cybersecurity workforce.”
Cybersecurity incidents are increasing and can be costly, with the average expense for an incident soaring to $5 million. The partnership between NJIT and TekStream marks the second collaboration of its kind, following a similar alliance involving TekStream, LSU, Splunk, and AWS. This partnership highlights the broader potential of public/private collaborations.
About TekStream
TekStream, headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, helps clients accelerate digital transformation by navigating complex technology environments with a combination of technical expertise and staffing solutions. TekStream provides battle-tested processes and methodologies to help companies with legacy systems get to the cloud faster, so they can become more agile, reduce costs and improve operational efficiencies. With hundreds of successful deployments, TekStream guarantees on-time and on-budget project delivery and is proud to have 98% customer retention.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250610906559/en/
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