Duo Security's Democratization of Two-factor Authentication Pays Off with a 400 Percent Revenue Increase

Products with a select group of clientele have limited growth. The business model can be sustained, but don’t expect an explosive growth. Two-factor authentication for securing data and communication was generally reserved for enterprise users, and the number of customers didn’t increase that much from year to year. One of the biggest reasons for this was the price associated with this service. The people at Duo Security must have wondered what it would be like to experience explosive growth, because the new pricing structure they introduced made it possible for ordinary individuals and businesses to start using this service. The result has been an incredible growth of more than 400 percent in 2012 and a 50 percent growth of its customer base per quarter over the last seven quarters.

Believe it or not there is a term called “security poverty line,” and it refers to the fact only the largest organizations could afford this type protection for their content. This might sound elitist but it has been a fact in the corporate world. The reduction of price at this time makes a lot of sense because cybercriminals do not care about the size of your organization or for that matter whether you are an organization.

The two-factor authentication can be used by anyone and the company has made the price structure reflect that fact. Some of the companies Duo Security provides services for include: Toyota, Thomson (News - Alert) Reuters, Random House, Duke University, Bechtel, PwC, three of the top five global social networks and many others. While some of the names of the companies that use their technology are large, don’t let that fact intimidate you. Amongst the businesses that are not on the list also include many SMBs and individuals.

The reason the company’s two-factor authentication system is being readily accepted is not only the new price structure, but the way it has simplified the service.  The company tapped into a resource that virtually everyone has today – a mobile phone –and deployed it as a cloud-based service. The 400 percent rise is also pushed by increasing security breaches on mobile devices as they are becoming the preferred tool for getting online, shopping and conducting other financial transactions.

"By making two-factor authentication easy for both users and IT staff, Duo has effectively removed the largest hurdles most companies face in adopting two-factor authentication to protect their accounts. Nearly half of our customers have never deployed two-factor previously - or were able to!" said Dug Song, CEO and co-founder, Duo Security.

In the coming year, the company plans to push forward in its goal of democratizing enterprise-class security functionality for every internet user.