Centric Consulting Publishes Cybersecurity Talent Playbook During Cybersecurity Awareness Month to Help Companies Build Resilient Teams

DAYTON, Ohio, Oct. 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Centric Consulting, an international business and technology consulting firm, today announces the launch of its latest resource: "Cyber Expertise at Scale: Your Playbook for Scoring an All-Star Team," aimed at helping organizations navigate and build effective security teams in an increasingly complex threat environment. Released in recognition of Cybersecurity Awareness Month, the playbook provides strategies for addressing the global cybersecurity talent shortage and building resilient teams to protect organizations against today's evolving threat landscape.

The Challenge: Why Traditional Hiring Falls Short

"Traditional hiring models can't keep up with cybersecurity demands," said Shane O'Donnell, Vice President of Cybersecurity Services at Centric Consulting. "Static job descriptions, lengthy recruitment timelines, and siloed internal teams often fall short in addressing dynamic and urgent cybersecurity needs. With critical roles remaining unfilled for months and burnout rates rising among existing teams, the gap between cyber risk and cyber readiness continues to widen."

The scale of the problem is striking. A 2024 ISC2 Cybersecurity Workforce Study reveals a global shortage of approximately 4.76 million cybersecurity professionals, with senior positions often remaining unfilled for six months or longer.

The situation worsens when factoring in retention difficulties — over 60 percent of professionals contemplate departing their roles within 12 months, according to the 2025 Cybersecurity Staff Compensation Report. These circumstances leave organizations vulnerable to serious security risks that require new approaches beyond traditional hiring models.

A Framework for Building Resilient Cyber Teams

Centric's cybersecurity talent playbook provides leaders with practical tools to overcome these challenges, including:

• A cyber talent needs assessment that maps business drivers — such as compliance mandates, incident response demands, or digital transformation efforts — to role requirements, prioritized by urgency
• A comprehensive cyber expertise matrix that profiles key roles, from virtual CISOs and compliance managers to security engineers and incident response managers, with details about when each is most needed, expected deliverables, and success measures
• A build-vs-buy decision tree to help leaders strike the right balance between internal hires, external support, or hybrid "player/coach" models to balance cost, urgency, and long-term continuity
• Forward-looking insights on emerging skills in AI, cloud security, and threat intelligence to help evolve talent strategy in lockstep with the regulatory landscape

"This October, we're using Cybersecurity Awareness Month to help companies rethink their approach to cyber resilience," added O'Donnell. "We designed this playbook to equip leaders with practical frameworks to build top-tier cybersecurity teams."

Throughout the month, Centric will share resources, insights and curated discussions with industry experts to elevate awareness around cybersecurity readiness.

Click here to download the guide: Cyber Expertise at Scale: Your Playbook for Scoring an All-Star Team

For more information about Centric Consulting's cybersecurity services, visit: Cybersecurity Consulting Services - IT Security Consulting - Centric Consulting

About Centric Consulting

Centric Consulting is the right partner — committed to delivering tailored solutions and unmatched experiences. 

For 26 years, the international management consulting firm has combined the benefits of deep experience, flexibility and cost efficiency to solve its clients' toughest problems. Its teams include strategic advisors and the best talent from across the United States and India with expertise in areas like artificial intelligence, cyber risk and compliance, people and change, business applications, and more. The firm builds teams that can scale up or down quickly based on client needs, industry and desired outcome. 

Headquartered in Ohio, with 1,400 employees and 14 locations, Centric has been honored with over 100 awards for its commitment to employees, clients and communities. It's also been recognized 10 times by Forbes as one of America's Best Management Consulting Firms. 

Visit http://www.centricconsulting.com to learn more. 

Media Contact:
Lindsay Dawson
Centric Consulting
[email protected]

SOURCE CENTRIC CONSULTING, LLC