In the latest chapter of our Cultiv8 Employee Series, Jordan Holmes, Vice President of Human Resources at Continent 8 Technologies, sat down with Jason Magsoy, a Network Security Engineer based out of the Philippines.
Throughout the discussion, Jason shares insights into his professional journey, outlines his current networking responsibilities at Continent 8, discusses how he embodies the company’s culture and values and previews some of his forthcoming projects.
Hi Jason! Can you tell us a little but about yourself and your role as a Network Security Engineer at Continent 8?
I began my professional career in the IT industry in the Philippines and subsequently broadened my expertise while working in Saudi Arabia. I started from the ground up, initially running cables in ceilings, and progressively advanced to securing endpoints and networks.
At Continent 8, my responsibilities include configuring security solutions such as firewalls and maintaining a secure network for both Continent 8 and its customers. We consistently ensure that network security does not create bottlenecks by providing aggregated connections and redundant solutions.
How did you come to choose a career as a Network Security Engineer?
I was introduced to cybersecurity through firewalls, Network Detection and Response (NDR) and Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) solutions without any prior experience, and I found network security to be incredibly fascinating. It ignited my passion for protecting devices from malicious entities. Achieving clear network traffic visibility and implementing the appropriate security solutions can significantly reduce the risk of intrusion by malicious actors.
What motivated you to join the Continent 8 team? What do you enjoy most about your job?
In my previous role, I was dedicated to configuring and safeguarding a single data centre and a limited network connection. The scope was quite narrow, and I felt my professional development was stalling. This realisation drove me to broaden my expertise in networking and security, ultimately leading me to Continent 8.
At Continent 8, I was introduced to an expansive network environment, secured by robust solutions and supported by a team of experts. I find my experience here highly rewarding, largely due to the team’s professionalism, expertise and approachability. Moreover, my time at Continent 8 has been marked by substantial personal and professional growth, which has been extremely gratifying.
Can you describe some of the challenges you face in your job position? How do you also stay up to date on the latest security/cybersecurity developments?
As a Network Security Engineer, I am part of a team dedicated to ensuring maximum network uptime for both Continent 8 and its customers. This is undoubtedly a significant responsibility, but one that I fully embrace, requiring constant vigilance and a meticulous approach.
To ensure I remain current, I am pursuing certifications related to the security solutions we employ and engaging in continuous education to stay informed about new and emerging features that could support our team’s objectives. Furthermore, I subscribe to Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) sites to monitor new vulnerabilities pertinent to our solutions and implement necessary patches.
How do you align with Continent 8’s culture and values of Active Ownership, Purposeful Creativity and/or Genuine Care?
I align myself with Continent 8’s culture and values by actively fostering an environment of collaboration, mutual support and knowledge sharing to ensure everyone’s success. This is accomplished by upholding our team’s commitments, taking full responsibility of my role and caring for the people, company and our customers.
Any final thoughts?
Continent 8 has provided me with an incredible opportunity to pursue the work that I genuinely enjoy, providing me with a deep sense of fulfillment.
I would also like to express my sincere gratitude to the Network Security Team: Bruce Craig, Michael Freitas, Rodrigo Suzuki and Christian Temporado. Your exceptional support and leadership are truly appreciated.
In the latest chapter of our Cultiv8 Employee Series, Jordan Holmes, Vice President of Human Resources at Continent 8 Technologies, sat down with Charlotte Barham, our Senior Manager, Group Controller located in the Isle of Man.
Throughout their conversation, Charlotte expressed her passion for numbers, her eagerness to embrace new challenges and the profound impact that Genuine Care and respect in the workplace can have in nurturing both individual and team success.
Hi Charlotte! Can you tell us a little but about yourself and your role as the Senior Manager, Group Controller at Continent 8?
Of course! I am a number-loving, hardworking, ambitious accountant with an extremely positive attitude (most of the time). I hate describing myself as an accountant as being labelled or ‘put in a box’ is a pet peeve of mine!
Born and raised on the Isle of Man, I have two step children, two dogs and a passion for staying active, making delicious food and taking on challenges, which you may have grasped already. I am thrilled to have joined Continent 8 last year as a Group Controller, where I am responsible for the production of financial reporting for all of our Group companies.
How did you come to choose a career as a Controller?
As a teenager, I was unsure of my career path but had a strong affinity for numbers, making accountancy a natural choice.
I loved the training aspect – the feeling when you passed exams and got a step closer to the goal was infectious. I finished second in the world in the year I qualified, which just shows you my enthusiasm for the field.
Upon graduation, I went from practice to industry, life assurance, and most recently, into a tech start-up. This is where I became captivated by this industry, and the opportunity at Continent 8 was one I couldn’t pass up.
What attracted you to the role and to joining the Continent 8 team? What do you enjoy most about your job?
It was the chance to really learn and be challenged again, both from a technical accountancy perspective and from working in a different environment/industry.
I love the intensity of the role, the variety of work and the amazingly supportive and equally talented people you get to meet and work with.
Can you describe some of the challenges you face as a Group Controller? How do you also stay up to date on the latest monitoring best practices and developments?
Reflecting on my first few months, the challenges really come down to the ability to support the growth of the business from a financial reporting perspective. We are making great progress in delivering timely reporting and working on continuous process improvement which will enable us to keep pace with the growth going forward.
Other challenges come from supporting the growing number of new jurisdictions and the complexities that they bring, such as recent experiences in Brazil and the Philippines in understanding tax legislation and how global businesses operate in those locations. Our own research and working with great third-party advisers ensure we are prepared and well-informed.
How do you align with Continent 8’s culture and values of Active Ownership, Purposeful Creativity and/or Genuine Care?
I believe I align well, which was a big consideration in my decision to join Continent 8. I am a huge believer that if you look after your people they will look after you. We are a service business in the tech sector, and we cannot be successful without having talented and hardworking people – Continent 8 is clearly full of them. Genuine Care and respect to people are important to me, and I strive to bring empathy, recognition and feedback to my team and colleagues daily.
Can you talk through some of the new initiatives you are or will be working on?
While ensuring the continuation of our current financial reporting projects and programmes, I’d like us to become more proactive. This includes automating and finding efficiencies in every aspect of finance!
And of course, I’ll be supporting the setup of all things finance-related in Brazil and the Philippines.
Any final thoughts?
I just wanted to say a huge thank you for the warm welcome I have had at Continent 8. I am loving it so far – my head has never been so full of new information!
In the most recent installment of our Cultiv8 Employee Series, Jordan Holmes, Vice President of Human Resources at Continent 8 Technologies, engaged in a conversation with Pawel Blazejewicz, our Monitoring and Observability System Manager based in Ontario.
During the discussion, Pawel shares his unique and rewarding career path at Continent 8, his enthusiasm for big data and his team’s diverse projects and initiatives that empower both the company and our customers with robust data-driven insights, enabling smarter, more focused decision-making.
Hi Pawel! Can you tell us a little but about yourself and your role as the Monitoring Manager at Continent 8?
I have been with Continent 8 for well over a decade, taking on various roles – from System Administrator to Infrastructure Lead, Senior Cloud and Infrastructure Architect, and now my latest position, Monitoring and Observability System Manager. This project was initiated by our VP of Network, Philippe Gagne, who recognised the need to enhance our infrastructure insight amid the digitalisation wave. With Continent 8’s rapid growth driven by the opening of the US market, it’s more important than ever to leverage data not only for observability but to build an intelligent system that understands dependencies across the tens of thousands of devices comprising the complex network of IT services we provide.
How did you come to choose a career in monitoring?
I didn’t choose this role; it chose me. Our Chief Information Officer, Anthony Abou-Jaoude, recognised my passion for this project even before I did. He became my mentor for big data projects. I must say this has been a very rewarding journey, completing my IT world. Today, I am carrying the torch forward to ensure that our vision becomes reality.
What attracted you to the role and to joining the Continent 8 team? What do you enjoy most about your job?
After 12 years with this company, I’ve gained in-depth IT knowledge across all layers and levels. I’ve directed projects spanning the globe and had the opportunity to travel with them. Continent 8 has given me a place to contribute meaningfully to our future growth. In the realm of observability and metrics, I believe the key lies in digestible data that can be fed into algorithms, bringing ML and AI to life. With a deep understanding of Continent 8’s setup, I’m able to guide my team in creating a product that mirrors the real world, complete with all the dependencies and solutions we’ve built into it.
Can you describe some of the challenges you face as a Monitoring Manager? How do you also stay up to date on the latest monitoring best practices and developments?
We are creating a unique, fully customised solution tailored to Continent 8 and our valued customers’ needs. Challenges are part of the journey, but the most important aspect is surrounding yourself with people who are ready to tackle them alongside you. At Continent 8, I believe we have an incredible team ready to do just that! Remember my earlier mention of Anthony recognising me as a strong candidate to lead this project? The success of this project is a direct result of surrounding yourself with supportive people who are on the same journey, here to help and push each other forward.
They say it takes a village to raise a child – well, in this case, it takes an entire community to bring this project to fruition.
How do you align with Continent 8’s culture and values of Active Ownership, Purposeful Creativity and/or Genuine Care?
I’ve been here this long because the values the business demonstrates toward its customers align perfectly with the values I’ve shown to customers and coworkers throughout my career. As a boutique service provider, we know that listening to our customers is essential to maintaining our unique approach. A perfect example is the project I’m currently involved in – creating a comprehensive map of our entire infrastructure and services. This will not only allow us to foresee potential issues but also provide our customers with real-time data, giving them valuable insights to help their businesses grow faster and with greater focus.
Can you talk through some of the new initiatives you are or will be working on?
My main focus for the foreseeable future is to expand the amount of data we collect and to continually add more services to our observability system. By increasing our data and broadening our capabilities, we’re positioning Continent 8 to stay ahead of potential issues and empower our clients with insights that drive smarter decisions.
Any final thoughts?
If you’re interested in more detailed information about what we do, how we do it and what we offer, I invite you to explore my LinkedIn articles on our observability and monitoring system. I hope you enjoy them, and feel free to reach out if you have any questions – I’m happy to help!
To read Pawel’s “Monitoring and Observability” series, you can follow him on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/pawelblazejewicz.
In the latest edition of our Cultiv8 Employee Series, Jordan Holmes, Director of Talent Operations at Continent 8 Technologies, sat down with Sabrina Mastroianni, our Montreal-based Paralegal.
In the interview, Sabrina talks about her professional journey, her ability to align legal requirements with the company’s business objectives and how the support from the Continent 8 team and culture empowers her to tackle each new challenge and opportunity with purpose and intent.
Certainly! I’ve been practicing law for over a decade. I’ve dabbled in small to medium to large law-firm boutiques, specialising in all areas of law, including corporate, compliance and commercial – I’ve tried it all!
After serving in a law firm for several years, I decided to pursue in-house counsel, which I absolutely love. The dynamic of working within a corporation versus law firm is, in fact, very different. I am definitely a people person and enjoy holding connections with customers throughout the longevity of the business relationship. In-house counsel promotes this, and Continent 8 encourages it. I’ve been here for three years now, and I could not be happier. I love my colleagues and the relationships we build, not only with our customers and partners, but with each other.
In terms of my actual role, I streamline everything legal, from customer agreements, vendors, resellers, partnerships and everything in between.
Originally, my studies were geared towards becoming a lawyer, specifically in family law. However, after volunteering at Batshaw Youth and Family Centers in Montreal, I realised that being a lawyer, especially in family law, was not for me.
My internship at a corporate firm was a turning point, and I loved it. I ran with this, and I’m happy that I did. What I love most about my job is the opportunity to ensure internal compliance while negotiating business deals. I take great pride in navigating complex legal landscapes to make sure that our practices adhere to the law and uphold our company’s standards. Balancing legal requirements with business objectives is both challenging and rewarding, and it’s incredibly satisfying to contribute to our organisation’s integrity and success!
Perhaps what is most fascinating is the fact that no two days are ever the same. It’s the nature of our business, especially as we continue to grow at an exponential rate. The challenge lies in maintaining finesse while satisfying customer needs and simultaneously reducing Continent 8’s risks and exposure.
As a Paralegal, my role inherently encompasses a bit of everything related to the company’s core cultural values. Each project typically involves overseeing tasks from inception to completion, necessitating Genuine Care and Active Ownership to ensure that every detail is meticulously reviewed and accounted for. ‘Fine-tuning’ is often essential, calling for Purposeful Creativity at times, whether it’s collaborating on new legal terms, managing negotiations or crafting innovative solutions to meet the evolving needs of clients.
Some of the new initiatives consist of a deeper understanding and awareness of ‘knowing your customers’ or KYC. The importance of truly understanding our customers not only allows Continent 8 to provide white-glove support but also mitigates our risk. We’re 100% committed to this process and procedure.
Yes – I can go on forever! I have had my fair share of corporate cultures, executives and colleagues over my professional career – I am seasoned in my field of expertise. As I’ve often said, working at Continent 8 has been, and continues to be, an extraordinary journey both professionally and personally. I am grateful to be a part of this amazing team and am appreciative of the challenges, the successes and even the occasional hurdle because we always find a way to lean on each other and make the most out of each and every opportunity.