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Lynn Fosse, Senior Editor
Steve Alexander, Associate Editor
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JustOne Solutions -
Jerone J. Jones
Founder & Chief Executive
JustOne Solutions, LLC
Contact:
JustOne Solutions, LLC.
(888) 2JOS-
Interview conducted by:
Lynn Fosse, Senior Editor
CEOCFO Magazine
Published – February 21, 2022
CEOCFO: Mr. Jones, what is JustOne Solutions?
Mr. Jones: JustOne Solutions (JustOne) is a cybersecurity consulting and training company that focuses on Cloud and Security Operations.
CEOCFO: On a fundamental level, what do you understand about cybersecurity that perhaps others do not recognize?
Mr. Jones: It’s important that people realize our lives are becoming digital to the point where the everyday citizen should understand how cybersecurity plays a role in our daily lives. It should not be an anomaly or something unattainable for everyone. We need to internalize the role security plays in our future. We need to understand its data, and most importantly, how we can secure it.
CEOCFO: Are you surprised that many people and companies seem to put their head in the sand and not want to face the fact that security is a constant threat?
Mr. Jones: People treat security like insurance. It is one of those things that you do not think about much until you need it. For example, you go about your everyday life driving your car with insurance, and you do not think about it much until you get into a car accident. The same thing applies to other insurance policies. The everyday person usually does not consider cybersecurity a significant threat or a breach connected to some aspect of their lives.
JustOne is seeing daily that there are more threats as time goes on and as more of our lives goes into the digital age. We believe education will help this, so we do foundational training from basic to the advanced expert level in cybersecurity. Everyone needs an understanding of cybersecurity fundamentals.
CEOCFO: Who is turning to you for services?
Mr. Jones: At the beginning of my career, I started as a trainer and instructor. My past work was alongside the military and government agencies under ordinances such as 85-
One of our programs assists military personnel and their families transitioning from the military to civilian workforce in IT with different certifications and updated IT skills. Providing service to military members and their families is a big passion for JustOne Solutions. Another program we have is the Four Pillars of Strategic IT Education. This program helps students, whether going from high school to college, high school into the industry, or from college into the industry, with different cyber skills, cyber certifications, and job skills. We have transitioned a couple of our major programs into workforce development centers and are currently talking to other public, private, state, and federal agencies.
CEOCFO: Would you tell us about the training courses? What have you learned over time that makes them so effective?
Mr. Jones: Training is the central factor for reaching any audience. Whether with the military, local citizens, or cyber experts, it is crucial to gauge the aptitude of the audience before instruction. One of my first training jobs was through the City of Chicago, providing basic IT level training for students to receive certifications to get off federal assistance. The majority of my students did not have many computer skills, so I had to teach the basics of computers and then advance from there. I found myself slowing down the course and doing a “teach-
We analyze the environments of those we are instructing and try to find relatable models on cybersecurity. I provide them with a basic example of an internet protocol (IP) address linking with a cellphone number. These two devices, although different, are relatable. This perspective breaks down cybersecurity into bite-
Another thing that has proven to be successful for us in business and training is adaptability. Our small organizational structure allows our team to create flexible evening courses for the traditional 9a-
CEOCFO: What has changed for you under COVID?
Mr. Jones: Under COVID, the biggest change was transitioning to a complete virtual setup; we were usually in front of students 8-
COVID has increased our classroom sizes, whereas before, the classroom may only have about 25 students. Now that we offer virtual classes, our sessions have over 100 students with varying time zones and present diverse perspectives from different countries. Even as IT professionals, we had to understand what new challenges occur within the digital age and how to adapt our instructional experiences for virtual classes to embrace new global learning patterns to connect to more people instantaneously.
CEOCFO: Who is turning to you in terms of consulting and how does your business break down between the training and consulting?
Mr. Jones: In the last 10 to 15 years of my career, I have done a lot with security operations, mainly security information, event management, security orchestration, and automated response. JustOne’s portfolio includes work within the DoD and other small to large government agencies for consultations on building Security Operation Centers (SOCs). Additionally, our team contracts for implementing, configuring, and training clients’ security teams on numerous security products.
JustOne is a registered RPO (Registered Practitioner Organization) for CMMC, a new cybersecurity ordinance issued a couple of years ago by the government. Although many of our clients are DoD and government entities, we are now moving to the public and private sector and multiple educational spaces. We are teaming with colleges and universities to implement programming that will offer on-
For example, consider the difference between an Analyst 1 and Analyst 2, whether working as a Security Analyst, a SOC Analyst, or Cloud Analyst. As a professor, it is my job to know and instruct on cloud management, penetration testing, and the basics of a Security Analyst. This knowledge helps create realistic courses for universities while also developing curriculum patterns for the upward mobility of professionals moving to different companies. They learn the difference between an Analyst 1 and Analyst 2, a Security Engineer 1 and Security Engineer 2. Also, they learn the models of incidence response; what is Severity 1 and Severity 2, what does it look like, and the appropriate response. JustOne is consulting on various things, but all of it reverts to our core competencies – Training, Cloud, and Security Operations.
CEOCFO: Was it a deliberate strategy to move outside the government realm or was it more opportunistic?
Mr. Jones: We have partnered with many small businesses to expand, but in doing so, sometimes, one could become another entity to different industries. We realize that more of our services, beyond government politics, are venturing with other sectors. While the opportunity gap for minority-
The governmental application process is competitive and can place financial strains on us, like many other small businesses needing constant financial flow, due to its extensive waiting periods for award distribution. During that time, one could cultivate an important relationship with a company within a more public or private space. We are currently working with a small consulting firm in the public sector which initially started with us only offering a few classes. We have since moved into some security assessments, vulnerability assessments, and security audits from the success of these classes. That is how we continue to grow our business.
CEOCFO: How is business these days?
Mr. Jones: Business continues to grow and expand. As a leader, you set goals to meet, but the best thing is progression, and we are progressing while enjoying the process. You see, some companies go from 0 to 100 within a year, but we have been going on for ten years while progressively increasing our opportunities.
So yes, the biggest thing for JustOne is just to enjoy the process and understand that having upward mobility and growth is excellent, especially at this time. Unfortunately, many great companies have not been able to survive what has happened in the last couple of years. So JustOne is truly a testament to the work of my team and the people we have partnered with that we can still be here, thriving.
CEOCFO: According to your site “Just One Solution Offers the Best IT Services Period.” Why and how?
Mr. Jones: In life, you have to be confident in your abilities and transparent in your competencies. You have to have a winning attitude. The “period” at the end might be a little too much for some, but in playing sports as an adolescent and loving the competitiveness, you have to believe you are the best when you get on the field. You have to have that attitude.
You have to believe in yourself and believe in your team. I know with assurance that we are the best and we are proving it. I wake up in the morning and say with conviction, “I am the best at what I do and the best at being me,” and I feel we are the best at being JustOne. That is why we have that competitive attitude, and I love it.
JustOne Solutions, LLC | Jerone J. Jones | CMMC Training | Cybersecurity Certifications | JustOne Solutions -
“JustOne Solutions (JustOne) is a cybersecurity consulting and training company that focuses on Cloud and Security Operations. It’s important that people realize our lives are becoming digital, so we need to understand its data, and most importantly, how we can secure it. JustOne is seeing daily that there are more threats as time goes on and everyone needs an understanding of cybersecurity fundamentals. We have transitioned a couple of our major programs into workforce development centers and are currently talking to other public, private, state, and federal agencies. As IT professionals, we had to understand what new challenges occur within the digital age and how to adapt our instructional experiences for virtual classes to embrace new global learning patterns to connect to more people instantaneously. We realize that more of our services, beyond government politics, are venturing with other sectors and these partnerships enable JustOne more creative licensure to implement programming and build and nurture relationships without the time restrictions of short contracts. The biggest thing for JustOne is just to enjoy the process and understand that having upward mobility and growth is excellent. You have to believe in yourself and believe in your team. I know with assurance that we are the best and we are proving it. I wake up in the morning and say with conviction, “I am the best at what I do and the best at being me,” and I feel we are the best at being JustOne. That is why we have that competitive attitude, and I love it.”
Jerone J. Jones