Mike Gentile, CEO of San Clemente-based cybersecurity company Cisoshare, says Orange County’s technology industry is well placed to benefit from new developments but needs the right professional training programs—and more of them.
“Without more cybersecurity and tech-related professional development programs, Orange County may suffer, as the demand exists, but there aren’t enough skilled professionals in here to fill it,” Gentile told the Business Journal last month as he surveyed the county’s 2020 tech scene.
He notes that while tech and innovation companies increasingly have moved into Orange County because Los Angeles and San Francisco are expensive, San Diego is even more affordable and could prove attractive.
Cisoshare was No. 3 on last year’s Business Journal’s list of fastest-growing small private companies, with two-year revenue growth of 288%. It had more than $6 million in 2019 revenue.
Well Situated
“Orange County is well situated as a tech and innovation hub itself for organizations that provide services to the tech and innovation industries,” Gentile said. “Orange County is less expensive than L.A., but more expensive than San Diego while being optimally located between these two innovation and tech centers.”
He continues: “Because of this, Orange County makes a great cybersecurity hub as these innovation and technology companies are required to meet certain security safeguards. This trend began a few years back with the success of Cylance and CrowdStrike starting here.”
Tech companies use Cisoshare to help them build, implement, and execute an effective cybersecurity program.
“I have been in Orange County my whole life and have been in the cybersecurity industry for the last 20 years, and never in my time have I seen more customer activity for us in the Southern California area and specifically Orange County,” according to Gentile.
He cites Cisoshare’s own cybersecurity development program as one way to get people up to speed, nothing that there is a large pool of entry-level talent in OC. The firm has gone so far as to help train formerly homeless people with the skills needed for cybersecurity jobs, in a program with United Way.
In Gentile’s view, Orange County will outstrip the 1.9% GDP expansion predicted by Chapman University economists for the U.S. as a whole this year.
