Plano-based Critical Start—a leading provider of managed detection and response cybersecurity solutions—has announced the opening of two new offices to enhance its presence both in the U.S. and internationally. 

The company opened its second Security Operations Center (SOC) with a new facility in Lehi, Utah. Meanwhile, 8,360 miles away, it opened its first-ever Center of Excellence (COE) for engineering in Pune, India.

Utah SOC will complement the one at Critical Start’s Plano HQ

Critical Start’s original SOC is located at its Plano headquarters. The company said its newly opened one in Utah is comparable, featuring 24x7x365 staffing by security analysts who provide security monitoring, investigation, and response through the company’s MDR services.

Critical Start said establishing its second SOC will make it “even better equipped” to address the needs of larger organizations—many of whom require their providers to have multiple SOC facilities.

India center is Critical Start’s first outside the U.S.

Critical Start’s new COE in Pune, India, represents the company’s first expansion outside the U.S. It will serve as a second hub for the company’s software engineering operations, augmenting its U.S.-based engineering teams.

By tapping into India’s pool of technical talent, Critical Start says it will be able “to accelerate the rate it can bring new solutions to market, helping customers reduce the greatest risk in their environment.” The company added that it plans to focus heavily on growing the COE throughout the year, “adding more software developers, customer support resources, and implementation personnel to help facilitate further global expansion.”

Two openings represent ‘heavy investments’ in rapid innovation

Rob Davis, CEO and Founder of Critical Start, said the two expansions are “illustrative of the heavy investments Critical Start is making in the rapid innovation necessary to mitigate the litany of cyber risks facing our customers, and in the people that are the backbone of the services we provide.”

“With skilled cybersecurity talent remaining at a premium, we’re proud of our SOC’s 90% staff retention rate,” Davis added in a statement, “and we’re excited to expand what is arguably one of the top employee training programs for cybersecurity professionals.”

ZTAP platform aims to reduce customers’ overall risk

At the company’s security operations centers, Critical Start’s Zero-Trust Analytics Platform helps customers investigate every security event ingested into it. “This includes triage of security events, response actions that fit customers’ risk profiles, and security guidance to continue to harden customers’ infrastructures,” the company said. 

Company announced two C-suite moves in April

Founded in 2012, Critical Start was launched by Davis, a former RSA Security executive, as a response to nation-state attacks that occurred in 2011. 

In April, the company announced the appointments of Sean Goldstein to chief marketing officer and the promotion of Chris Carlson to chief product officer. At the time, it said the moves were made to continue a trend of impressive growth and to support accelerated growth.

In April 2022, Critical Start announced a strategic growth investment of over $215 million from Vista Equity Partners, a global investment firm focused exclusively on enterprise software, data and technology-enabled businesses.

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