BlueVoyant has expanded its EU operations with a new Security Operations Centre (SOC) in Ireland. The SOC is in Cork where BlueVoyant already has nine employees. With the official opening of this office, it plans to grow that number to 15. Later this week, the company will attend the Cybersecurity Career Fair at Munster Technological University.
The official opening took place on 27th February with the Lord Mayor of Cork, Councillor Dan Boyle, at the event, cutting the ribbon. Representatives from local universities, cyber security organisations, and BlueVoyant partners were also in attendance.
BlueVoyant has expanded its EU operations with a new Security Operations Centre (SOC) in Ireland. The SOC is in Cork where BlueVoyant already has nine employees. With the official opening of this office, it plans to grow that number to 15. Later this week, the company will attend the Cybersecurity Career Fair at Munster Technological University.
The official opening took place on 27th February with the Lord Mayor of Cork, Councillor Dan Boyle, at the event, cutting the ribbon. Representatives from local universities, cyber security organisations, and BlueVoyant partners were also in attendance.
Robert Hannigan, head of international business at BlueVoyant
Robert Hannigan, head of international business at BlueVoyant, and former director of GCHQ, said, “We made the strategic choice to locate our new EU Security Operations Centre in Cork due to its status as a leading technology hub for multinational and startup organisations alike.
“Cork offers talented technology students from excellent universities and colleges in the region. We are excited to add skilful employees to the BlueVoyant team. The EU remains a strategic priority for BlueVoyant, and we are excited to expand our EMEA footprint and continue our record growth.”
Cork is the new beachhead for tech companies
Establishing this SOC in Cork makes sense for BlueVoyant. It already has employees in the area and attracting new talent will be easier. Cork is already being called Ireland’s cybersecurity capital.
The Cork Institute of Technology delivers a Cybersecurity MSc course. Just down the road, University College Cork offers a Cyber Risk for Business MSC qualification. While there is no shortage of qualified talent, BlueVoyant will still have to compete for them.
It is also cheaper than building in Dublin, where the office and tech space market is overheated and expensive. Choosing Cork also makes sense as it saw revenue growth of 70% in 2024.
Other tech companies are also beginning to target Cork. It has good infrastructure, an educated workforce and a high-tech customer base. There are other reasons for locating there. A new electricity interconnector between East Cork and Brittany in France is being built there. It has a capacity of 700 megawatts, which will be needed to power an emerging tech industry.
In January this year, Amazon filed to build a new US-Ireland subsea cable. Those plans show it is due to land at Castlefreke, County Cork. When complete, it would give BlueVoyant a high-speed access to the US, making it a perfect location for a SOC and the opportunity for expansion.
Who will the SOC serve?
BlueVoyant says this new SOC will provide 24×7 monitoring of Irish and EU clients’ networks and digital ecosystems. It is also part of an ongoing multi-million-Euro investment plan that the company started in 2017.
With EU regulations such as NIS2 and DORA causing problems for businesses, BlueVoyant sees this as the right time to expand its managed security services (MSS). How many of the staff at the SOC will be focused on consulting and assisting in compliance support is not given. However, it would be surprising if the company didn’t use the SOC as a springboard for that part of its business.
While Cork will have just 15 employees, BlueVoyant employs over 120 staff in its current EMEA and UK business. It may move staff to Cork to expand its services. Alternatively, it could connect Cork to Leeds to provide a collaborative environment across both sites.
Enterprise Times: What does this mean?
Opening a new SOC in Cork makes absolute sense for BlueVoyant. Location, talent and an existing team will make it easy to establish and build. The new power connector and potential transatlantic data line also make it a desirable place to be as it looks to offer new services to a rapidly growing EMEA customer base.
However, it won’t have it all its own way. Security vendors are piling into Cork due to the talent pipeline and lower cost of premises and infrastructure. That will increase the costs of talent acquisition and office space. However, BlueVoyant sees this as a crucial part of its long-term plans for EMEA investment and won’t be too bothered by that.
It will be interesting to see how quickly it expands the SOC and what additional services it chooses to offer from there.
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