There's Nothing Out There Like Us
We Have a Unique Mission, and We Take it Seriously.
The Overwatch Mission
"We know the potential that exists when good people work together to protect good things"
We are built on the foundational values of an overwatch mission. An overwatching unit is responsible for achieving the tactically superior position of the high ground, in order to protect the
larger force. This vital mission of Force Protection requires unwavering dedication to the safety and well-being of the larger force. Extreme dedication to this mission becomes an integral part
of a veteran's service mindset, and it stays with us when we transition back into civilian life. We are driven to work with small and mid-sized businesses to protect their most valuable assets
and strengthen their ability to respond to adversity. We view Cybersecurity as a war where the good guys have to get everything right every day, and the bad guys only have to win once. Success
depends on leadership. Transformational leadership. No one can guarantee that they'll prevent a cyber incident. Trusted partnerships are an essential part of improving cyber resiliency. With our
unique experience and training, we know the potential that exists when good people work together to protect good things. This how we were trained, and it's the mission that still drives us every
day.
A Traction Business
"Traction has provided vision and accountability to our high-performance culture"
As an organization we rely heavily on Gino Wickman's Entrepreneurial Operating System (or 'EOS') as laid out in his well-known and highly acclaimed book 'Traction'. Traction has served as an
invaluable guide at the tactical and strategic levels of our organization, providing vision and accountability to our high-performance culture. This means we can regularly outperform the larger
companies in our service sector, constantly delivering better value to our clients and their organizations. Because the Traction model continuously proves itself so effective, we take it with us
into every client engagement. And when working alongside other organizations already familiar with Traction, we’ve seen elevated performance and increased morale, which is complementary to our
collaborative purple teaming process.
Agile Methodology
"We work quickly, we work cleanly… and because we don’t have the time, we don't play blame games"
We subscribe to the Agile Methodology in all areas of our operations, not just Dev Ops. This is because the ever-changing reality of modern-day Cybersecurity benefits from the change-management
Principles of Agile. Demand for Cyber Talent is rapidly increasing, especially in the aftermath of COVID-19. However, the pool of available Cyber Professionals is steadily declining, shrinking
nearly 2% each year. Additionally, the average Cyber professional now only spends 10 years in the field (down from 15 years a decade ago). These statistics reveal a simple truth: Cyber is a
burnout profession. And the reasons for this burnout are clearly apparent: there is no professional margin for error; the landscape is constantly changing; and there is an ever-growing body of
knowledge and expertise required for success. What the market needs is sustainable development, which is why Highground Cyber employs Agile. We believe that even activities unrelated to software
development can and should resemble the sprint management practices of the Agile methodology to ensure steady, deliberate progress. So, what does that mean in practice? At Highground, it means
there is nowhere to hide. There is accountability for everything, and everyone on the team is keenly aware of everyone else’s knowledge, skills, abilities, preferences, styles, and weaknesses.
We enjoy constant communication and persistent collaboration. We manage our stories/cards in real-time, all the time. We work quickly, we work cleanly, and we have deliverables in hand every
Friday. And because we don’t have the time, we don’t play blame games. We have married the ideological strengths of Traction to the mechanical strengths of Agile, and clients see the benefit.
Family Owned and Operated Business
"We all win, or we all lose, together. The mission comes first. Always."
We have always emphasized eliteness in everything we do, the Barnhart family and the larger Highground family together bring a wide gammit of talents to your organization that several past
clients can vouch for. Highground was started with the intention of being a privately-held multigenerational legacy company. We aim to form meaningful partnerships with every one of our long
term clients, and we take our charge of protecting you and your organization very seriously. Being family owned and operated means you are working with a team of people who have lifetimes of
shared experience and knowledge, and who live out Highgrounds values not as a corporate tagline but a point of personal conviction. Being a family owned and operated company means we are
personally invested in everything we do. If we fail, we dont just lose a nice dayjob and float a resume afterward, we lose everything we've built. So, we don't exactly have a lot of issues with
employee turnover, but we also don't like to lose. Ever. Highground does not get to live in the same world as indifferant functionaries that can just quote you the terms of an SLA and leave you
bleeding, or put you on hold during a crisis. We all win, or we all lose, together. The mission comes first. Always.
Highground Cyber's Values
Truth & Candor
Mission First
Grow or Die
Teamwork & Loyalty
Preserve, Protect, Defend
Do the Right Thing, The Right Way