Okta plans to use its investment funds to establish a presence within the Australian market.
The identity management service received $75 million in its recent round of funding, which Okta vice-president, Graham Pearson, said brings the company’s total raised capital to $155 million.
“We have a small team at the moment, but we’re focused on growing it over the next six months,” he said.
Okta entered the Australia market in May, and Pearson said the additional funding will be invested in expanding the local presence.
“We want to build a productive team in Australia, which is an important part of our business,” he said.
Beyond the local expansion, the funds will also be used in refining the company’s application store, which Pearson said makes Okta’s offering “nimble” compared to other identity management players.
“Traditional, on-premise identity management solutions require you to build a connector every time you want to connect to an application,” he said.
“What we’ve done is build those connectors once and maintain them, and then give them to all of our customers.”
Okta already has 3000 apps already in its store, and Pearson said the aim is for that number to reach 10,000 in a couple of years with the help of the funding.
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A tier-one approach
In Australia, Okta will use a hybrid model sales model where some of its business carried by the channel and the rest is done directly.
“There are organisations in Australia who feel more comfortable dealing directly with the vendor, so those will go direct,” Pearson said
“There are other companies out there which have a better relationship with channel partners, and they are the ones who will purchase through the channel.”
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With the channel, Okta will use a “tier-one” channel strategy aimed at resellers who buy directly from the vendor.
Pearson said the company also has a partner program in place that contains “sales 101” training, monthly sales updates, and technical sessions, with four levels of partner certification spanning from bronze to platinum.
“Partners are key to any successful business, and we value this side of the industry,” Pearson said.
Patrick Budmar covers consumer and enterprise technology breaking news for IDG Communications. Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_budmar.
