Novacoast To Open Two New SOCs Amid ‘Exploding’ Managed Services Demand

Novacoast plans to open two new Security Operations Centers in the coming months as the cybersecurity-focused solution provider seeks to meet strong growth in demand from customers, according to CEO Paul Anderson.

The Santa Barbara, Calif.-based company--which will have a total of six SOCs with the additional centers opening this year--is finding fast-growing demand for its managed services offerings, Anderson (pictured) said in an interview with CRN.

“That is exploding,” Anderson said. “Every month we are adding new customers.”

For 2021 as a whole, Novacoast is expecting revenue growth of 20 percent compared to last year, he said. Revenue in 2020 was relatively flat, as customers cut back on spending amid the COVID-19 crisis, Anderson said.

For Novacoast, No. 257 on CRN’s Solution Provider 500 for 2020, the growth has come more from acquiring new managed services customers than from expanding its business with existing customers, Anderson said. The solution provider has about 360 employees, and its main customer verticals are highly regulated industries that include energy and finance.

Novacoast’s first new SOC to open will be located in Orem, Utah, and is set to open by the end of March. The second will open in Wichita, Kansas, by the end of June.

The new SOCs aren’t intended to help land new customers, though they could be used as showrooms to impress potential customers in the region, Anderson said. The Wichita SOC will be located at the Epic Center, the tallest building in Kansas.

Novacoast already has SOCs in Santa Barbara, Calif.; Ann Arbor, Mich.; Manchester, England; and Guatemala. Anderson said the company has outgrown its England site and he is searching for a new SOC in Latin America.

Novacoast is among the solution providers that have been finding expanded managed services opportunities in the current environment, where IT needs have changed dramatically due to widespread work-from-home.

Last June, for instance, solution provider Anexinet expanded its managed services practice with a new packaged Network Operating Center and Security Operating Center offering. And in December, strategic service provider 2nd Watch launched a new managed security service for customers that is more extensive and more closely integrated with the company’s other managed services than its earlier security offerings.