Devolutions’ Culture & Community: Our Vision for the Year Ahead

At Devolutions, we have a few important traditions that we count on and look forward to. For example, at the end of each year we gather (in-person or remotely) to showcase our ugly Christmas sweaters. There is also our popular Year in Review, our CEO David’s annual Devolutions Roadmap, and of course, we can’t forget the fun we have on May the Fourth and SysAdmin Appreciation Day!

Today, it is my privilege to launch a new Devolutions tradition, in which I share the overall vision of our organization for the year ahead. Think of it like a Roadmap for our culture and community instead of our products and services. And so, without further delay, let’s jump right in!

Overall, there are three core pillars that define our vision this year: getting even closer to our users, broadening our approach to embrace IT security, and evolving our leadership position.

1. Getting Even Closer to Our Users

Nothing is more important to us than staying closely connected to our users, so that we can help serve their needs, solve their problems, and achieve their goals.

Yes, I know what you may be thinking: “Every company says this!” And you’re right. But here at Devolutions, this is not just an empty slogan. It is our way of life. We never take the trust and loyalty of our users for granted. To put this another way, when we make a decision about anything from a small blog post to a sophisticated product update, we ask: “Does this benefit our users, or does it only benefit us?” If it benefits our users, we go ahead. If it only benefits us, we don’t.

In this sense, Devolutions is more of a collective than it is a corporation. Our users make a meaningful investment in what we do, and how we do it. And over the years, we have established a depth of authenticity with our community that is, by far, the most vital and valuable asset in our company.

I regularly meet with marketing and sales executives, and many of them ask me how Devolutions manages to create such an incredibly loyal user community. I tell them that we didn’t “create” anything — because you can’t create a loyal user community. There is no shortcut or hack. You can only make a TOTAL commitment to user experience and user success, and then have the discipline, focus, and work ethic to see it through. That is what we have been doing since day one. It’s in our DNA.

In 2022, we will continue leaning forward and staying connected with our users through various programs and projects, including our very popular Devolutions Force VIP Community and more success stories (case studies), vlogs, and podcasts. We love featuring our customers in our content, and it is very gratifying and energizing to know that we play a role in their success and growth.

2. Broadening Our Approach to Embrace IT Security

One key thing that our users continually tell us — especially those who work in SMBs — is that they are facing challenges and issues that include, but go beyond, cybersecurity.

This does not mean (and I cannot stress this enough!) that cybersecurity risks are somehow getting smaller or easier. The opposite is true: they are getting bigger and tougher. And we don’t need to look far for evidence of this unwelcome trend. Our very own State of Cybersecurity in 2021/2022 Survey report confirmed that things are definitely getting much worse, as the attack surface becomes bigger, hackers become more sophisticated, and identity theft becomes more profitable.

However, our users are telling us that they are under immense and unprecedented pressure to manage both cybersecurity and IT security across their organizations. Protecting machines and devices from internet-based threats will always be a top concern. But they also need to drive efficiency and productivity for day-to-day tasks, such as managing access to privileged accounts, de-provisioning access for exiting employees, automating remote connections, and the list goes on. Yes, cybersecurity matters — but within, rather than instead of, the larger concept of IT security.

Devolutions has structured its IT software solutions in a tiered approach to help customers choose the right tools for particular use cases. The solutions in Tier 1 solve PAM needs, those in Tier 2 address identity provider support and role-based access control, and those in Tier 3 address connection management. Those SMBs who need to go beyond the capabilities of RDM (Tier 3) can add other Devolutions’ solutions to their infrastructure to solve Tier 2 and Tier 1 challenges.

In 2022, we will be creating many more Use Cases that illustrate how our various solutions help IT pros take care of day-to-day tasks. These Use Cases will be valuable learning tools for users who are new to our solutions, and for experienced users who may not be taking full advantage of our solutions. Indeed, after publishing about 10 Use Cases over the last several months, many experienced users who have been with us for years have commented that they have learned new things that they will be applying in their environment. We love that kind of feedback!

3. Evolving Our Leadership Role

Over the last few years, the confluence of several major events and achievements have greatly increased the profile of our company. These include:

• Being ranked #74 on the Profit 500 list of fastest-growing companies. [Learn more]
• Being included by Garner in its Privileged Access Management Market Guide, alongside major enterprises like Microsoft and Red Hat. [Learn more]
• Being recognized as a Gartner Peer Insights Customers’ Choice for Privileged Access Management. [Learn more]
• Being named by Deloitte as one of North America’s fastest-growing technology companies. [Learn more]
• Producing the State of Cybersecurity in SMBs in 2020/2021 Survey and Report, as well as the subsequent (and much bigger) 2021/2022 version. [Learn more]

In addition, over the last few years, our Security Team has been hard at work achieving and maintaining global information management and compliance standards including SOC 2 and ISO/IEC 27001:2013. We are also now a CNA Numbering Authority, and we recently won three global InfoSec awards from Cyber Defense Magazine.

I don’t mention these accomplishments to boast. Yes, we are proud of what we’ve done. But as a company, we really don’t spend a lot of time and effort going around talking about “how great we are.” We would rather focus our efforts and resources serving our users through superior products and support. As long as our users trust, respect, and recommend us, then we are on the right track!

So the reason I highlight these achievements is that they have elevated our global profile. As a result, we have the opportunity to share fact-based awareness about what IT security means, how it functions, and how it adapts to changing organizational priorities and requirements. We do not embrace this leadership role to “sell more stuff.” We do it because we feel that it is our responsibility. Does this mean that we will educate some people who will ultimately purchase products from other companies instead of ours? Yes. Are we perfectly fine with this? Yes! Being a thought leader is not a sales and marketing tactic. It is an earned privilege that we treat with respect, and that we take very seriously.

In 2022, we will be exploring more ways that we can help create awareness and educate IT pros (and other stakeholders), so that they can make decisions that are right for their organizations. Some of the ways we will express this commitment include publishing more thought leadership content on our blog, as well as authoritative third-party websites. We will also be hosting events that bring IT pros together, so they can share knowledge and create relationships. Plus, we will be producing surveys that provide a fact-based snapshot of what is actually going on the IT and business landscape, and what can be done to improve efficiencies, reduce risks, and take advantage of growth opportunities.

The Road Ahead

We have all heard many times over that “the only constant in life is change.” However, the last couple of years has been about more than just change. At times, it has been chaotic! Throughout the extreme volatility, IT professionals have risen to the occasion — often under high-pressure and stressful conditions. We are privileged and honored to be part of this effort. In 2022, we look forward to getting even closer to our users, broadening our approach to embrace IT security, and evolving our leadership position. As our CEO David is fond of saying: The successes of the past have been great, but the best is yet to come!