JumpCloud is an enterprise software company that delivers a zero-trust cloud directory platform for IT teams and managed service providers (MSPs) by centralising the management of user identities and devices. It is a global company with customers in over 160-plus countries and customers of over 200,000 organisations have implemented their platform. The JumpCloud Directory Platform is for users, their IT resources, a fleet of devices, and secure connections between them with control, security, and visibility.
Biannually, JumpCloud releases its small to medium-sized enterprise (SME) IT Trends report, serving as a guide to assess the state of IT and its movement. In its sixth edition, 407 participants from India were included, with the UK and the US in the survey of over 1,200 respondents. The report provides a comprehensive overview of the challenges faced by Indian SMEs and the opportunities in their operations, showcasing how they navigate the intersection of AI adoption, IT management, and cybersecurity.
The advent of the cloud, combined with remote work, has fundamentally changed the requirements for managing and securing access to the resources used by people for their work. Active Directory from Microsoft is a major solution for a centralised system for securing and managing employees across Windows-centric resources on-premises. However, the transition into cloud infrastructure, new operating systems, web-based applications and the need for accessing resources from any location or device has revealed key areas of improvement. JumpCloud created a solution with an open, cloud-based directory for secure, frictionless access from any authorised device to any resource, anywhere.
Industry scenario
The IT SME Trends report, ‘State of IT 2024: The Rise of AI, Economic Uncertainty, and Evolving Security Threats’, states that IT budgets are increasing in India, anticipating security issues and the need to prepare for them. Indian SMEs had to navigate turbulent economic realities with the highest number of layoffs compared to the global average. While redundancies are an inevitability in the case of cost efficiencies, there is a need to maximise productivity and extend the budget through the consolidation of vendors and MSPs.
Against the backdrop of cyber-attacks in India, the Indian government has taken a significant step in the 2024 Interim budget with an 89.75 per cent increase in allocation for cybersecurity projects from R400 crore (2023-24) to R759 crore (2024-25). The report also observed the fear of security threats with software vulnerability exploits followed by network attacks and breaches in multi-factor authentication (MFA). The need for secure authenticated access in the case of biometrics, MFA, and passwords is crucial.
Worldwide, organisations are planning for the implementation of artificial intelligence (AI) and India sees an accelerating adoption of AI with the majority viewing it as a net positive. India is expecting a substantial increase in its Gross Domestic Product (GDP), by an estimated $1.2-1.5 trillion over the next 7 years, in part due to the adoption of Gen AI technology and its applications. While there is still some fear concerning AI outpacing the organisation’s ability to protect against threats, security companies like JumpCloud and others are using AI and machine learning to identify and target patterns to anticipate and prevent breaches.
Greg Keller, CTO, JumpCloud remarks: “Companies in India are fast-moving and agile. They are seeking platform-based device and identity management solutions that scale to match their growth ambitions while also helping to meet emerging compliance and security challenges. As the only vendor in the Indian market with an end-to-end open directory platform delivering complete control to manage users, devices, access, and security policies, we are seeing strong interest.” JumpCloud is a 100 per cent remote organisation with 300+ customers in India across all industries. Out of the top 100 unicorns in India, 15+ are already JumpCloud customers. India is one of the largest and fastest-growing regions for JumpCloud. The company targets digital native cloud start-ups, SMEs and companies looking for alternatives to Active Directory.
Gaurav Malik, Head of Sales for Southeast Asia and India, JumpCloud states: “We started our India operations journey in 2021 but before that, we saw a lot of business coming out of India since our brand was already known. We decided to increase our sales focus as India is one of the growth-focused markets for us. 50 per cent of our revenue comes from outside the US, which is very unique for an American company in SAS. In comparison to all our peers in the same industry, it is interesting that India is the leader in outside international growth.”
JumpCloud is working closely with its strategic partners and reseller network while also expanding its product partners and MSPs to sell its solutions. It is also investing in strategic alliances, such as with its partner Google, to co-sell JumpCloud.
AKSHAYA M .
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