-Updated 08/02/2018 – Lumbering behemoth Cisco (CSCO) is buying Duo for $2.35B in cash. Hopefully, it will go better for Duo, Ann Arbor and Detroit than Cisco’s other purchase Flip and Linksys.
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The Ann Arbor Michigan-based cybersecurity tech company DUO Security continues to grow. The start-up has grown so much that they are moving part of their operation from Ann Arbor to Detroit Michigan. MLive reports that DUO will move 30 staff members into a shared workspace at Bamboo Detroit in the Madison Building at 1420 Washington Blvd. Employees moving to Detroit include those working in Duo’s engineering, information services, and product teams, the statement said.
At least 350 of Duo’s 500 employees work at Michigan locations, including two in Ann Arbor, where the company was founded in 2010. Duo Security CEO and co-founder Dug Song told MLive, “We are exploring options for how we continue to grow, but we’re committed to Michigan … We intend to stay here in Ann Arbor.”
To better support, its customer base Duo Security plans to expand its Detroit footprint by the end of 2018. The cybersecurity firm plans to occupy a 9,000-square-foot suite on the Madison Building’s sixth floor. DUO’s customer base includes over 10,000 companies like Facebook (PDF), Etsy, Toyota, the University of Michigan, Yelp, and Zillow.
Duo’s software-as-a-service (SaaS) secures more than 300 million logins a month. Xconomy Detroit explains that the heart of Duo’s business-to-business technology is two-factor authentication (2FA). 2FA is a method of confirming the identity of a user by sending a code to the user’s device, usually their phone. Duo’s software can also check the health of its customers’ devices, and block access to those deemed risky.
Jon Oberheide, Duo’s co-founder and CTO, told Xconomy, the Duo platform ensures that only trusted users and devices can access protected applications. Implementation of the system takes less than a week for 75% of Duo’s customers. Mr. Oberheide explains why DUO is so successful,
An organization’s physical perimeter used to be its four walls, but that has really dissolved with VPNs (virtual private networks). You have some people using their own devices, some using company devices, and people working in different locations. A security program in that environment looks really different—it becomes really important to protect single log-ins.
CEO Song told MLive the move is an opportunity to build on Detroit’s history of innovation,
Detroit has always moved the world, both in body and soul, through its industry and art … We are proud to help invest in the historic resurgence of Detroit, excited to learn and grow together, and committed to a success much greater than ourselves.
Duo currently sponsors events like Detroit Startup Week and Techweek Detroit. They plan to continue their tech advocacy with new programs like Tech Talks featuring local and global experts.
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I like what DUO is doing in Michigan. We use their product and it works great! We have been using DUO for over 2 years now. I get very little push back from 3rd party vendors when I require them to use DUO to log in remotely.
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Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.