BONUS EBOOK: Identity as a Service (IDaaS) for Dummies
Identity management platform Okta had a fantastic year in 2020. And its outlook for 2021? Well, it's pretty good, despite an ongoing global pandemic.
Talking to Yahoo finance, Okta's co-founder and CEO, Todd McKinnon explained the trends behind their recent success: "We're very fortunate that three long-term secular, macro trends are driving our business. The first one is companies need to use more cloud computing. All the modern solutions that make employees productive are cloud-based, and companies need to move there.
"Companies also need to get in tighter contact with their customers by delivering better online experiences, better websites, better mobile apps, and whole new product lines that can be delivered over the internet. And they need to do all of that securely. "
With employees approaching almost 12 months working remotely, organisations are undoubtedly spending less on office expenses and business travel. Therefore it seems sensible to predict that 2021 will be the year that companies reinvest these savings into cloud security and identity management services.
Security architecture and technical architecture has to be different than it was in the past and can't be tied to the office. You can't be relying on the server closet or firewall in your office. It has to be flexible and cloud-based and remote.
Todd McKinnon - Okta CEO
Todd expanded on this theory: "Every organisation knows that immediately, they have to be successful working remotely. They have to make employees successful anywhere. And that really brings forward the realisation that security architecture and technical architecture has to be different than it was in the past. It can't be tied to the office. You can't be relying on the server closet or firewall in your office. It has to be flexible and cloud-based and remote."
Todd also described the impact of the pandemic on businesses who are pivoting and improving their online offering: "Every company knew they had to get online and have a great website and mobile app and offer their products or support online. If you're a hardware store and no one can come to your hardware store, you have to have an online service for ordering so they can pick it up curbside. These changes lead to investment in customer-facing websites and mobile apps, and identity is at the core of that.
"You have to log into that service. You want a good experience. You don't want your password to expire. You don't want to forget the password. You don't want to be annoyed that they can't remember your account information. And that's identity. So these two trends, remote work and every company having to get online with great web and mobile experiences, lead to identity, and that leads to our success."
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Digital Transformation Remote Working Okta Identity Management