Managed Services Providers (MSP) are constantly on the lookout for cost-effective new as-a-service solutions to upgrade their existing offerings to customers.

Now Jolera, the MSP for MSPs, can add to that with a brand-new security operations center on the island of São Miguel in the Azores.

This unique facility is part of a large investment made by Jolera that will feature a roster of newly hired technicians available to the North American market.

José Martins, the Vice President, European Sales, and Operations for Jolera, spearheaded this effort in the Portugal region of the Azores to build new services in cybersecurity, systems administration, and cloud-based services.

Martins on the Jolera Interview Series said the new Science and Technology Park in São Miguel, called NONAGON, is a multinational effort with a goal to have in 18 months’ time more than 70 employees with different skill sets and high levels of technical certifications totally oriented to the export of services.

“In the first phase, the center of São Miguel will provide services to customers located in North America, and in a second stage for other countries, including Portugal. And the operation will be throughout the year, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week,” he said.

The Azores is a unique place in the world, Martins added. During the Jolera Interview Series, he said that Azores, while a part of Portugal is an Island about 1,500 KMs or a two-hour plus flight from Lisbon, the capital of the country. Not the easiest place to set up shop for certain; but what attracted Jolera to the Azores was based on the company’s search for new geographies where there is untapped IT talent.

The Azores represent an interesting bet due to the existing conditions in the Science and Technology Park of São Miguel. The existing regulatory framework at the level of support measures, in particular those oriented to hiring. Jolera intends to respond to the increase in demand that has occurred, in particular from the North American markets.

The new Jolera center in the Azores is just one more step in the company’s evolving expansion plans that includes new locations in the United States, Canada, Madrid (Spain) and Warsaw (Poland).

Watch the entire Jolera Interview Series featuring José Martins to learn more about the technology skill set of Portugal and the rest of Europe and what it means for North American MSPs.

By Paolo Del Nibletto