As Chief Strategy Officer, Jean-Paul Baaklini will be responsible for further developing Sicra’s strategy and direction, strengthening the company’s combined service offering and ensuring that Sicra continues to meet customer needs in an increasingly complex threat and technology landscape.

Jean-Paul Baaklini founded the networking and OT security company Bluetree in 2014 and has served as CEO since its inception. Sicra merged with Bluetree last autumn. The merger is an important step toward establishing a strong Nordic cybersecurity provider covering the full technology landscape, including networking, OT security (operational technology) and IT infrastructure.

– With the merger of Bluetree and Sicra, we have built a unique professional environment that combines security operations, security management, networking, OT and modern security architecture. We are now focused on realizing the full value of the combined expertise across the companies. Our goal is to help customers manage the entire cyber attack surface as securely as possible, says Baaklini.

Increased complexity requires holistic security

Baaklini points to growing complexity and an expanding attack surface as one of the biggest cybersecurity challenges organizations face today.

– Many organizations have strong individual solutions, but lack holistic security approaches. Threat actors often exploit exactly this – that security mechanisms, networks and operational IT environments are not sufficiently connected. That is why security must be viewed holistically across IT, OT, architecture, operations and leadership.

Combining strategic and technical expertise

Jean-Paul Baaklini holds some of the highest networking and architecture certifications globally, including multiple highly regarded CCIE and CCDE certifications. For many years, he has worked at the intersection of networking, cybersecurity and the convergence of IT and OT, and he is widely recognized for his expertise in network architecture and security design for complex IT environments.

– Jean-Paul has a rare combination of strategic understanding and extensive technical expertise. Following the merger with Bluetree, it is crucial for us to build even stronger bridges between networking, security, IT and OT. Jean-Paul has already been a key driving force in this work. Now he will continue developing Sicra into a leading Nordic cybersecurity provider, says Gaute Lien, CEO of Sicra.