Next DLP (Next) is a leading provider of insider risk and data protection solutions. And the Reveal Platform by Next uncovers risk, stops data loss, educates employees, and fulfills security, compliance, and regulatory needs. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Next CEO Connie Stack to learn more about the company.
Connie Stack’s Background
What is Stack’s background? Stack said:
“Throughout my career, I have always strived to be in mission-driven roles where I can make a difference, and I think that’s a big part of what drew me to cybersecurity. It’s more than just selling software – there is a tangible impact on a larger scale that can make a difference in people’s lives. It’s really one of the driving reasons I’ve been in cybersecurity for over 15 years.”
“Over the years, I have helped scale and manage teams, implement KPI-driven operating cadences, and exceed goals and objectives in organizations with revenues ranging from $10 million to $250 million. Before coming on as CEO of Next, I was the Chief Strategy and Chief Marketing Officer at Digital Guardian and VP of Corporate Marketing & Sales Operations at Veracode — both of whom grew into industry leaders in their categories and went on to be acquired. Previously, I served as general manager of the Data Protection business unit at Fortra, formerly HelpSystems, after they acquired Digital Guardian. At Digital Guardian,I led the company’s rebranding, beginning its transformation from a virtually unknown player to an award-winning industry-recognized data security market leader.”
“From overseeing our strategic vision to operations management, as CEO, I’m able to have a multitude of touch points within the organization. Given my roots in marketing – I’m always looking to craft, execute, and operate complex branding, marketing, product, and sales strategies across the entire business.”
“I also take great pride in developing talent and making Next a place where women can feel comfortable in a male-dominated industry. In both my professional and personal life, I have focused on hiring and mentoring women in cyber and at Next hired female executives to run Finance and Customer Success. Beyond just Next, I’m proud to have mentored women who became marketing executives and CMOs at Mimecast, Snyk, Threat Stack, Security Scorecard, LiveAction, and more.”
“Throughout my career, I have used my abilities to:
– Develop and execute a strategic vision that generates enthusiasm among employees, investors, clients, and prospects
– Dissect organizational issues and make necessary changes to accelerate growth
– Embrace change and exploit it as a strategic opportunity
– Turnaround underperforming teams
– Establish best practices, scalable procedures, and repeatable processes to ensure success
– Partner with global sales leaders to optimize selling outcomes”
Favorite Memory
What has been Stack’s favorite memory working for the company so far? Stack reflected:
“The completion of Q2 2022 is a favorite memory. When I joined Next, we did a bit of a pivot, or at least an extension of our capabilities, into the data loss prevention category and in complete candor, there was skepticism about doing that on the team. They’d heard the criticisms of legacy data loss prevention (DLP) and didn’t want to get painted with that same brush. I knew we would be, and could be, something different and special in that category. I laid out my vision and the team put their trust in me and in Q2 we knocked the ball out of the park! It was a super special moment to see all the fruits of our labor in the first three quarters of my tenure flourish. We demonstrated you can have success in DLP; customers can love their data protection solution and programs when they are powered by a platform that delivers so much more than the legacy players. What we did in combining insider threat management and DLP capability was unique in the market and it resonated. That was not only exciting for me, but for the entire company.”
Core Products
What are the company’s core products and features? Stack explained:
“At the core of Next is the Reveal platform – a modern data protection solution designed for today’s users, applications, and technology stack, offering simplified deployment, better alignment with business operations, and broad functionality in a unified platform to deliver DLP and insider risk management capabilities. Next, Reveal uncovers risk, educates employees, and fulfills security, compliance, and regulatory needs. Reveal uniquely delivers on insider risk and DLP use cases leveraging the same endpoint sensor and cloud-native backend.”
“We also added generative AI policy templates to the platform, which gives our customers enhanced monitoring and protection of employees using ChatGPT, Hugging Face, Bard, Claude, Dall.E, Copy.Ai, Rytr, Tome and Lumen5. The first policy educates employees on the potential risks of using the service. The second policy detects the use of sensitive information such as internal project names, credit card numbers, or social security numbers in generative AI conversations, enabling organizations to take preventive measures against unauthorized data sharing.”
“Most recently, Next announced the addition of XTND AI to our Reveal Platform. XTND is an AI-powered assistant that extends insider risk and data security analysts’ expertise, enabling every member of the security team from the analyst to the CISO to contribute to the business at a higher level.”
Evolution Of Next DLP’s Technology
How has the company’s technology evolved since launching? Stack noted:
“Since its launch, the Reveal platform has undergone a significant evolution. We started with a robust foundation in insider risk management and extended that into content discovery and policy enforcement to prevent the unintended sharing of sensitive information. Over time, our technology has advanced, incorporating machine learning algorithms to better understand context and intent, reduce false positives, and enable more nuanced control over data.”
“Beyond the technical, our integration capabilities have grown exponentially. Next now seamlessly fits into a vast array of IT environments, cloud services, and endpoint devices, offering more flexibility and easier deployment for our clients. We were very excited about our recent integrations with Torq and Splunk as they are clear evidence of the flexibility of our platform to integrate up and down the security tech stack to ensure our joint customers maximize the value of all their cybersecurity investments.”
Significant Milestones
What have been some of the company’s most significant milestones? Stack cited:
“Currently, as CEO of Next, my team and I have achieved numerous strategic milestones, including raising a $13M Series A funding round, rebranding the company from Qush to Next, extending Next’s platform focusing on IRM (Integrated Risk Management) to include DLP growing to 100 employees, entering the U.S. market, and doubling annual recurring revenue (ARR). This momentum has been recognized by multiple prestigious industry awards, including Cyber Defense Magazine (CDM)’s Top InfoSec Innovator Awards for 2023 in the Cutting Edge in the DLP category and being named leaders in top industry analyst reports.”
Customer Success Stories
After asking Stack about customer success stories, she highlighted:
“We have an excellent customer success story with Combination, a software development company focused on the gambling and casino industry. Combination was transitioning from physical slot machines to online gambling and needed robust Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI) compliance and data protection without slowing their system processes. After trying a competitor’s resource-intensive solution, which prolonged development times significantly, the company began searching for an alternative.”
“After previous experiences, they believed robust protection would inherently reduce speed. However, Combination was introduced to our Reveal platform. We enabled tracking of data movements, spotting credit card-like number patterns, and alerting the IT security team of potential misuse, all cloud-based. Reveal also ensured unbiased investigations by using anonymized and pseudonymized data, upholding employee privacy while maintaining compliance. Crucially, Reveal was lightweight, aligning with Combination’s need for speed and efficiency. The program’s flexibility complemented Combination’s innovative spirit, allowing transparency, employee privacy, and collaborative goals in its flat company structure.”
Total Addressable Market
What total addressable market (TAM) size is the company pursuing? Stack assessed:
“The combined TAM for insider risk management and data loss prevention is north of $10 billion annually, according to Grandview Research and Mordor Intelligence. That is what we are aiming at today with an eye on extending the platform even further into cloud data protection or CASB, which is estimated at another $5 billion annually.”
Differentiation From The Competition
What differentiates Next from its competition? Stack affirmed:
“DLP solutions have been in the market for a long time. There are a lot of organizations that still rely on legacy DLP, and those solutions pose a lot of security risks. Designed for a work environment that no longer exists, these solutions’ aging code cannot keep up with modern security requirements. Our technology is only three years old. It’s a contemporary technology built for how we work today. We’ve incorporated machine learning while being API-driven and cloud-native, creating a technology that thrives on flexibility and integration up and down the security stack. In a time when security teams struggle to fill open positions, we provide a platform that is easy to implement and manage. Unlike compliance-based on-premise solutions, we offer a modern cloud-driven solution that aligns with current technology trends.”
“I think there are not only technological innovations that distinguish us from our competitors but also just as powerful soft or qualitative things that separate us from a company perspective. We pride ourselves on our vital service and customer support that set us apart. As we battle this lack of talent, some of the typical tech behemoths have taken over aspects of the security industry. Still, it has degraded the level of customer service and support. The time it takes to resolve a customer support ticket can be lengthy. At Next, we pride ourselves on our noble and agile customer support. We truly listened to our customers and delivered the best solution as quickly as possible, delivering satisfaction every day. We don’t push our clients to a whitepaper or blog. We can put our customers before a product manager for a quality experience.”
Future Company Goals
What are some of the company’s future company goals? Stack pointed out:
“As we broaden awareness for Next and Reveal, continuing to grow our presence in North America is at the top of our priorities. When I was announced as CEO, one of the core goals of my appointment was to expand Next’s North American presence. While we’ve taken great steps in the past year, it’s crucial we continue looking forward. We see each product launch and every community engagement as a stepping stone not just toward growth, but toward becoming an integral part of the North American security landscape. We are also working to create deeper tech partnerships to further our integrations, not just in North America but across the globe. By doing so we can expand the availability and accessibility of the Reveal platform. By combining our user-centric, flexible, cloud-native, AI/ML-powered cybersecurity solution with the capabilities of other leaders in the cybersecurity space, we can improve security at a dramatic scale.”
Additional Thoughts
Are there any other topics you would like to discuss? Stack concluded:
“AI entered our security lexicon just one short year ago, and in that time, it’s gone from buzzword to must-have feature. The fast emergence of generative AI is of keen interest to me and all security practitioners. We are all excited about its possibilities and want to ‘adapt and adopt GenAI,’ as I like to say. But with that we also need to balance the acute risk and the burgeoning rewards of this emerging technology. We are doing just that at Next, we have introduced new GenAI features to help security and risk professionals to accelerate AI adoption without risking the security and privacy of their data.”
