The acquisition of a local cybersecurity education and training firm by a larger online skill-building company based in Massachusetts bodes well for Madison’s future, according to Madison cybersecurity executive Jack Koziol.
Koziol, founder of Infosec, which was acquired by Boston-based Cengage Group, acknowledged that Infosec would be a division of Cengage Group, which earlier this week announced that it has completed its previously announced acquisition of Madison-based Infosec for $191 million.
In some cases, the sale of a local company to an out-of-state entity brings bad news for the Madison workforce and economy, but Koziol believes this transaction will be just the opposite. “Through this acquisition, Cengage is buying Infosec for about $200 million, and they are going to continue to invest in our products, our people, and our solutions,” states Koziol, a 2022 In Business Executive of the Year Award recipient. “They will put significant capital investments behind that purchase and continue to grow our presence here in Madison and continue to grow our products and services.”
Cyber synergies
As with every business acquisition, both parties talked about the synergies offered to each company. For Cengage Group, a global professional education firm, the addition of a cybersecurity training provider helps its workforce skills business scale across various corporate channels including more than 70% of the Fortune 500. It already works in higher education, workforce skills, secondary education, English language teaching, and research markets worldwide.
Michael E. Hansen, CEO of Cengage Group, characterizes Infosec as a perfect addition to his company’s portfolio. Cengage Group has worked to meet the growing demand for online certificates and micro-credentials, and now it will tap into the $1 billion online, employer-paid cybersecurity training segment, which could grow to $10 billion by 2027. With the “Great Resignation” unfolding, more people have pursued online training courses or certificate programs to land a better job. Cengage Group’s own research on this trend shows that 78% of those who recently resigned from a job then pursued online training courses or certificate programs, saying they were essential to finding gainful employment.
“As demand for workforce skills training explodes, together we’ll be better positioned to deliver quality online learning for cybersecurity and other growing fields wherever students need — through academic institutions, employers, or direct to consumer,” Hansen states. “With our ability to scale training across channels, we will help millions of learners gain the skills needed to move up in their careers and help close the cybersecurity skills gap.”
“They [Cengage] will put significant capital investments behind that purchase and continue to grow our presence here in Madison and continue to grow our products and services.” — Jack Koziol
Infosec, which is headquartered in Madison with offices in Chicago and Dulles, Virginia, joined ed2go, Cengage Group’s online workforce skills business, and its products will be available to the higher-education market that Cengage is immersed in. Infosec has been working to close the cyber skills gap through education, including gamification, thereby helping clients stay one step ahead of cybercriminals.
With the pandemic shift to more remote and hybrid working environments, the frequency of cyberattacks rapidly increased, with 80,000 security incidents in the U.S. during 2020 alone. Yet there are an estimated 3.5 million open cybersecurity jobs globally and 600,000 in the U.S., and the Bureau of Labor Statistics identified information security analysts as the 10th fastest growing occupation over the next decade with an employment growth rate of 31%. More than half of these positions require at least one certification, and Infosec hopes to train more cybersecurity professionals through Cengage Group’s global network.
“They [Cengage] are at about $1.3 billion in revenue through the higher-ed segments, and our products and services will flow through those channels as well,” Koziol notes.
Since its founding as a bootstrapped company in 2004, Infosec claims to have trained more than 100,000 cybersecurity professionals through Infosec Skills courses and served more than 5 million learners through Infosec IQ training. With Infosec Skills, cybersecurity and IT professionals have access to more than 1,400 hands-on cybersecurity resources, including the option to upgrade to boot camp style, instructor-led training to prepare for certifications. Meanwhile, Infosec IQ, helps train employees about cyber threats, phishing scams, and cyber safety.
Next chapter unknown
Koziol, a UW–Madison graduate, started Infosec with $5,000 in savings and grew it without outside investors. At the time of its sale, Koziol said Infosec had zero debt but will now have access to all the resources of a multibillion-dollar company to help it grow and scale. He expects the local Infosec workforce to grow while the company is affiliated with Cengage.
“I think they realize that there are people who get educated through their employers, and that’s kind of our bread and butter, and through various workforce programs,” Koziol says. “So, a combination between our solutions to our commercial channels and their channel through the higher education creates a much bigger scalable presence.”
Asked if he would become a serial entrepreneur, Koziol noted that he will have a role with Cengage Group before moving on to start another, yet-to-be determined chapter in his business career. “I’ll definitely work with Cengage to make sure they realize their vision for the market, but after that’s complete, I’ll be starting something new … I don’t have anything planned.”
Related story:
2022 Executive of the Year: Jack Koziol — A cybercrook’s worst nightmare
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