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Sophos plc, the data security software company with dual headquarters in Burlington and the U.K., on Tuesday announced a private equity deal valuing the company at $830 million. Chief Marketing Officer Rainer Gawlick and Arabella Hallawell, vice president of corporate strategy, talked with Mass High Tech reporter Galen Moore about the company’s plans for growth, fueled by its new investors. With about 500 U.S. employees, 220 of them in Massachusetts, Sophos has 51 open positions in the U.S. now – many of them in Burlington, where Sophos has sited three out of five of its C-suite executives and recently doubled its physical office space. In addition, the company is targeting opportunities for growth by acquisition.
Mass High Tech: What are your plans for growth, specific to Massachusetts?
Rainer Gawlick: In Massachusetts, there’s a lot of interesting and very innovative security companies. It gives us very fertile ground to do prospecting, sighting new companies we can add to our portfolio. We’re adding capabilities in (Burlington). We made (Burlington) the center of our corporate marketing function, and built out a whole marketing team. We doubled our office this year physically, in terms of physical space.
MHT: What about in your industry? Are there white spaces you’re expanding into?
Arabella Hallawell: Doubling down on continuing to build our endpoint security leadership, both vertically and geographically, is going to be a big focus, as well as moving into adjacent areas where we see that key combination of reducing complexity.
The two big trends we’re seeing are, one, a real explosion in what’s called threat complexity. Your traditional malware technologies are going to have to be combined with broader capabilities around finding vulnerabilities. One area is just sorting out more and more coverage around protecting companies. The other is really around what I would call delivery models and alternate go-to-market vehicles, such as consumerization, virtualization and SaaS (software as a service).
MHT: How does consumerization play out in your business?
AH: If a company wants to allow their employees to use iPhones or various types of devices or even laptops that might not be the corporate standard, being able to support those types of platforms from a security and from a policy perspective has been a bit of a conundrum for most companies. We think of it more as extending the endpoints so we can cover these new types of platforms.
I think that barriers to entry are relatively high for new players trying to think through endpoint security as it broadens to fit those new types of operating systems and those new types of platforms. So there is additional investment required to fully support those types of platforms, but we think of it as a growth opportunity. If businesses want to provide that type of support for their employees, then they’re also going to be willing to pay for increased security and policy support for those platforms.
MHT: Any early trends you’ve spotted – or does everyone still want the iPhone?
RG: We see more of the iPhone than the Android so far. The Android seems to be more geeks using it, whereas the iPhone tends to be the executives who flout company policy and use it anyway. I can’t tell you how many customers have said, ‘We have a policy against the iPhone, but the CEO wanted one, so make sure this phone is protected.’
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