Five years ago, Charlie Sander saw a trend of organizations moving to cloud-based office products like the Microsoft or Google suites.
He also saw those same companies blindly trusting the security built in to the applications.
“A false premise was developed that, ‘I don’t have to worry about security anymore, they’ll do it for me,’ but nothing is further from the truth,” he said.
So, in 2014, Sander was part of the team that launched ManagedMethods, a Boulder-based startup providing organizations with cloud security solutions that are compatible with Microsoft's and Google’s offerings.
The company offers a three-pronged approach, protecting organizations from outside threats, securing important data and monitoring unusual activity from authorized accounts.
When it launched, Sander said, the company was primarily focused on mid-market clients, with the education sector as a secondary customer. Now, the company is doubling down on education, tailoring products to further secure that industry.
“Right now, we had this sort of groundswell of interest on the education side, it's actually dominating things right now,” he said.
With state and federal regulations mandating student privacy, Sander said ManagedMethods has proven to be an important cog in many school districts’ security toolbox.
The company provides its standard set of services, while also monitoring student accounts and alerting school officials to potentially alarming behavior.
A quick scan of ManagedMethods’ customers will highlight a growing number of local school districts, both locally and nationally. Sander said the company will use this recent momentum to build a more comprehensive education product.
“Our solution really struck a nerve there,” he said.
The company employs 21 people out of its Boulder office space, with an additional 12 employees based in India. Sander said a competitive innovation landscape hasn’t slowed the company’s growth in Colorado.
“The tech community is vibrant right now, we’re competing with a number of other companies for good people and we’ve been able to do that effectively,” he said.
Sander said the company will consider outside funding should this recent traction continue, as it hasn’t raised an outside venture round since 2014.
In the meantime, MangedMethods will continue building out its product, looking to incorporate machine learning and AI to provide a more comprehensive security solution.
“We believe we have a great product and that this trend of organizations moving to Google or Microsoft will continue,” Sander said. “We’re going to continue to bank on that trend and add features to our product that are compelling to those organizations.”
