In an exclusive conversation, Vishal Prakash Shah — Founder and CEO of Synersoft Technologies — delves into the strategic vision behind the BLACKbox Certified Professionals (BCP) initiative.
As the architect of BLACKbox, a revolutionary “IT-in-a-Box” solution tailored for Indian MSMEs, Shah shares how Synersoft is not only addressing the pressing needs of cybersecurity, data protection, and IT compliance but also building a nationwide grassroots ecosystem of skilled professionals.
Through the BCP program, Synersoft is empowering individuals with practical expertise and entrepreneurial opportunities — creating a robust cybersecurity workforce that can drive digital resilience across India’s vast MSME landscape.
Q: Can you walk us through Synersoft’s BCP (BLACKbox Certified Professionals) initiative and the core vision behind launching it?
At Synersoft, we developed BLACKbox with a singular focus — to empower Indian MSMEs with an affordable, efficient, and comprehensive solution for IT Compliance, Data Protection, and Information Security. As BLACKbox gained widespread adoption across thousands of MSMEs, a clear gap emerged: the need for skilled professionals capable of installing, configuring, operating, and maintaining the system to ensure these businesses stay compliant, secure, and resilient against operational disruptions and competitive risks.
This insight led us to launch the BLACKbox Certified Professionals (BCP) initiative — a structured training and certification program designed to create a talent pool proficient in BLACKbox deployment and management. Our objective was twofold: to enhance the employability of IT professionals and to foster entrepreneurial opportunities for them in the MSME ecosystem.
Unlike traditional certifications that focus on isolated IT functions — whether it’s cybersecurity, networking, backup solutions, or endpoint security — BLACKbox is engineered as an integrated “IT-in-a-Box” solution. This called for a certification approach that mirrors the product’s versatility. The BCP program covers all essential IT functions that MSMEs require, including Data Centralization, Remote Access, Data Loss Prevention, Data Leakage Prevention, VPN, Backup, Disaster Response, and Productivity Monitoring.
Through this four-tier certification framework, we aim to equip professionals with the comprehensive skills MSMEs need, ensuring their digital infrastructure is not only secure and compliant but also agile and future-ready.
Q: How does the BCP program equip individuals to become self-employed cybersecurity professionals, particularly in the context of India’s growing digital landscape?
The BLACKbox Certified Professionals (BCP) program has been thoughtfully designed to cater to a wide spectrum of participants — from IT students and fresh graduates to seasoned IT professionals and those currently working with companies that have deployed BLACKbox. The program not only enhances their employability but also opens doors to entrepreneurial opportunities within the rapidly evolving digital ecosystem.
Upon successful certification, BCP graduates can pursue multiple pathways. They can secure roles with MSMEs that have adopted BLACKbox, where their skills are highly valued for ensuring IT compliance, data protection, and cybersecurity. Additionally, Synersoft continuously seeks certified professionals for its customer support operations and installation teams, offering further employment prospects.
Beyond traditional job roles, the program also nurtures self-employment and entrepreneurship. Certified professionals can offer independent consulting services to BLACKbox users, take on maintenance contracts, and support new installations — creating a sustainable source of income while contributing to the MSME ecosystem.
At Synersoft, we envision the BCP initiative as more than just a training program — it’s about cultivating a robust ecosystem where BLACKbox serves MSMEs as a powerful technology platform, and certified professionals act as skilled enablers. This community model fosters knowledge sharing, spreads innovative use cases, and ensures businesses extract the full potential of BLACKbox, creating lasting value for both professionals and enterprises in India’s expanding digital economy.
Q: What specific skills, tools, and training do BLACKbox Certified Professionals receive, and how does it prepare them for real-world cybersecurity challenges?
The BLACKbox Certified Professionals (BCP) program is designed to equip individuals with both broad and deep expertise in deploying and managing BLACKbox — Synersoft’s flagship “IT-in-a-Box” solution, purpose-built for the needs of Indian MSMEs.
The training curriculum covers a wide spectrum of practical IT and cybersecurity competencies. Participants gain hands-on experience with real-world scenarios involving Data Centralization, Remote Access, Data Loss Prevention, Data Leakage Prevention, VPN setup, Backup management, Disaster Response, and Productivity Monitoring. The program is structured across four certification levels, each progressively enhancing a participant’s technical mastery and operational confidence.
Unlike conventional IT certifications, which often focus on isolated disciplines like networking, firewall setup, endpoint protection, or backup management, BLACKbox training offers an integrated approach. MSMEs typically do not have the resources to employ specialists for each IT function — and BLACKbox addresses this gap by delivering all these functions through a unified hardware-software solution. The BCP program, therefore, prepares professionals to manage a full IT environment independently, making them highly valuable to MSMEs that require both security and simplicity.
In addition to technical training, the program emphasizes real-world problem-solving by sharing practical use cases, customer success stories, and deployment challenges. This exposure not only prepares professionals to respond to everyday cybersecurity risks but
also enables them to deliver business continuity, ensure compliance with customer mandates, and prevent competitive exploitation for MSME clients.
Ultimately, the BCP program creates a skilled ecosystem of professionals who can confidently install, configure, and maintain BLACKbox, ensuring MSMEs across India are
equipped to tackle cybersecurity challenges in today’s increasingly digital business landscape.
Q: Can you share how Synersoft supports BCPs post-certification in building their own ventures or securing clients as independent cybersecurity consultants?
At Synersoft, we believe that the true success of the BLACKbox Certified Professionals (BCP) program lies not just in training individuals, but in enabling them to transform their skills into meaningful careers and entrepreneurial ventures.
India’s MSME sector is vast and geographically widespread, with an ever-growing demand for IT Compliance, Data Protection, and Information Security solutions. While Synersoft’s BLACKbox effectively addresses these needs, the scale of demand requires more than just product deployment — it calls for a strong, nationwide ecosystem of skilled professionals.
To bridge this gap, Synersoft actively supports certified professionals even after they complete the program. We facilitate opportunities for BCPs to work with MSMEs that have invested in BLACKbox, often recommending them for installation, configuration, and ongoing maintenance roles. In addition, Synersoft regularly engages BCPs for outsourced assignments, including new deployments and customer support services, creating a consistent pipeline of paid projects for them.
Beyond employment, the program encourages and equips BCPs to pursue entrepreneurial pathways. Certified professionals are empowered to offer their services as independent cybersecurity consultants, handling everything from BLACKbox implementation to maintenance contracts for MSME clients. This model not only creates self-employment opportunities but also assures BLACKbox customers that qualified expertise is locally available, strengthening user confidence and adoption.
Our larger vision is to build a collaborative ecosystem where BLACKbox acts as the technological backbone, MSMEs are the beneficiaries, and BCPs are the enablers. By fostering this community, we ensure continuous knowledge exchange, wider product adoption, and scalable growth opportunities for both the professionals and the businesses they serve.
Q: With the rise of digital threats and data protection concerns, how do you envision the BCP model scaling across India to build a strong grassroots cybersecurity workforce?
The BLACKbox Certified Professional (BCP) program is designed not just as a training initiative, but as a dynamic and evolving model that grows in tandem with India’s digital ecosystem. As MSMEs increasingly prioritize data protection and cybersecurity, the
demand for skilled professionals who understand both the technical and business nuances of safeguarding digital assets is rising sharply.
One of the key strengths of the BCP program lies in its tightly integrated curriculum. Our training content is continuously updated in sync with the BLACKbox product’s version releases. The version management team and the academy work closely to ensure new features, enhancements, and emerging use cases are seamlessly incorporated into the learning material. Feedback from our customer support team — including real-world challenges, troubleshooting patterns, and operational updates — is also systematically embedded into the coursework, making the learning process practical, relevant, and future-ready.
The BCP program is structured across four progressive levels:
- Level 1 offers deep, hands-on exposure to the BLACKbox solution, equipping candidates with a robust foundation.
- Level 2 focuses on pre-installation customer engagement, requirement analysis, and configuration.
- Level 3 sharpens post-installation support and troubleshooting skills, preparing professionals to address real-world operational issues.
- Level 4 — BlackBelt offers on-site deployment experience under expert supervision, providing candidates with direct, practical exposure at customer locations.
Unlike conventional certification programs, which typically cover isolated areas like cybersecurity, hardware maintenance, server management, or endpoint protection, the BCP program is built around BLACKbox’s holistic “IT in a Box” approach. This ensures that every certified professional is capable of addressing the full spectrum of an MSME’s digital infrastructure needs — from Data Centralization, Remote Access, and VPN, to Backup, Disaster Recovery, Productivity Monitoring, and beyond.
The training is delivered through a modern virtual setup using platforms like Zoom, combined with an advanced Learning Management System (LMS). Students receive structured modules, real-world exercises, use cases, and remote access to a live BLACKbox console. The hands-on approach, combined with continuous faculty guidance, ensures they gain both confidence and competence.
Upon completion, certified professionals don’t just receive a credential — they join a growing, visible community. We celebrate their success through social media spotlights
and provide them with a BLACKbox professional kit, which helps them step confidently into the market, whether as job seekers, independent consultants, or entrepreneurs.
This comprehensive and scalable model is designed to create a widespread, grassroots ready cybersecurity workforce that can empower MSMEs across India to operate securely and competitively in the digital age.
About the Respondent Vishal Prakash Shah is the Founder and CEO of Synersoft Technologies supporting BLACKbox Academy. A seasoned technology stalwart, an inventor of patented cybersecurity technologies, a writer, a serial entrepreneur, and an investor, he is known as the “Go to Guy” for MSMEs. His expertise in IT security and business resilience has positioned him as a trusted advisor for enterprises navigating the digital age.
