CASE STUDY: ARCTIQ
A Smarter Way to Train a Modern Security Team
Arctiq’s Introduction of Scalable, Relevant Security Upskilling with SkillBit Labs
The Challenge
Arctiq is a North American IT services leader specializing in enterprise security, modern infrastructure, and platform engineering that helps organizations build secure and transformative technology solutions.
Before SkillBit, Artiq’s training included traditional, vendor-led training and certification study groups. As headcount expanded, they needed a flexible training and development model that could grow with the demands of their team.
Before SkillBit, Artiq’s training included traditional, vendor-led training and certification study groups. As headcount expanded, they needed a flexible training and development model that could grow with the demands of their team.
"This [manual, vendor based training] was okay when we were under a dozen analysts. But now we are approaching like 60 people, and it is just not sustainable to do those types of things. We have so many vendors, and now we need to really focus on what the core security problems are that people will experience on our managed services on the SOC side, but also on our professional services side. That’s when we started to move towards [SkillBit]."
- Cliff Janzen, CISO
They faced many big challenges:
Scalability
Training efforts were difficult to scale as the team grew.
Time Constraints
Client demands and deliverables made it difficult to find time for longer form, traditional training.
Progress Tracking
Engagement and capability progress was difficult to measure.
Training Relevancy
Training often felt disconnected from real-world problem solving. As the organization grew, the team needed to prioritize the core security problems.
Arctiq needed a solution that was flexible, scalable, and accessible for busy security teams.
The Solution
Artiq was drawn to SkillBit Labs for its flexibility and relevance. SkillBit Labs provided a place where teams could log on for short blocks of time, whether between meetings or during lunch break, and learn through hands-on, capture-the-flag (CTF) style challenges.
Team members have been able to fit training into busy schedules thanks to the flexibility and variety in challenge difficulty presented on the platform.
SkillBit Labs mirrors real life scenarios that security teams encounter in their work, going beyond teaching new concepts to shaping the way teams think and approach problems.
Team members have been able to fit training into busy schedules thanks to the flexibility and variety in challenge difficulty presented on the platform.
SkillBit Labs mirrors real life scenarios that security teams encounter in their work, going beyond teaching new concepts to shaping the way teams think and approach problems.
"Critical thinking and troubleshooting skills, those are the two most important things we need to be able to develop. Alerts are very often different, so we need to be able to be trained to see beyond [the alert] and dig into the problem."
- Cliff Janzen, CISO
CISO and VP Cybersecurity Services at Arctiq, Cliff Janzen, speaks to the way their team uses SkillBit Labs to refine their problem solving skills.
"The thing that I like about the CTF-style problems [in SkillBit Labs] is you'll think that you know what to do and so you'll try something and it doesn't work, and that leads you to research something else. Even if it's a completely wrong rabbit hole, you're still going to learn that thing really well."
- Cliff Janzen, CISO
How Arctiq Uses SkillBit Labs
Arctiq leadership has introduced SkillBit Labs to the learning culture of their team.
The team has weekly sessions to review challenges, giving team members the chance to share a challenge they’ve been working on and how they went about solving it.
Beyond structured time to review the platform, team members work on challenges between incidents and in natural breaks in their workday. The Assistant SOC Manager mentioned that they often log in outside of working hours simply because the challenges are so fun and engaging.
Leadership at Arctiq has used the reporting dashboard to support career conversations and track initiative and interest in their team. The CISO told SkillBit that he uses this data to match team members up with new opportunities available within the company.
Beyond structured time to review the platform, team members work on challenges between incidents and in natural breaks in their workday. The Assistant SOC Manager mentioned that they often log in outside of working hours simply because the challenges are so fun and engaging.
Leadership at Arctiq has used the reporting dashboard to support career conversations and track initiative and interest in their team. The CISO told SkillBit that he uses this data to match team members up with new opportunities available within the company.
"[SkillBit Labs] is another way to validate their desire and [show leadership] how they want to move on in their career."
- Cliff Janzen, CISO
The Outcome
With SkillBit Labs, the organization transforms training from something intimidating and difficult to prioritize into something flexible, engaging, and sustainable. They achieved:
Sustainability
A sustainable training model that grew with their team.
Engagement
Higher engagement through hands-on, bite-sized challenges.
Visibility
Measurable visibility into skill development and career interests.
Application
Real-world application of learned skills during client engagements.
Accessibility
Increased accessibility for busy analysts who couldn’t commit to multi-day training.
SkillBit Labs enabled Arctiq to turn cybersecurity training into an ongoing, flexible, and engaging growth engine, one that fits naturally into the realities of a high-performing security team.
"It's like you meet [your team] where they're at and then force them to keep moving forward."
- Cliff Janzen, CISO
