2020 is behind us, but it was (surprisingly) not all bad

Date: 2021-03-15
Author: Will Houry, VP Sales

From my perspective, 2020 provided opportunities that kept our teams going, focused and positive, despite the pandemic, and it helped us emerge into 2021 as a much stronger company. Just saying our teams remained focused and in control, says a lot about our teams.

The nature of our business in identity and access management put us in the “must have” category for businesses that overnight had to accommodate a fully remote workforce. While much of the world was hunkering down and their work drying up, our teams were selling the tools that help companies keep their data safe.

We saw significant increases in our revenues, particularly as our sales spiked with essential businesses like healthcare and government agencies. Much of our sales growth came from the Americas, the Middle East and Africa regions. Egypt, the 50th country where we’ve initiated sales, proved to be among our top sales hotspots for the year.

The growing number of remote workers due to the pandemic, certainly meant many more people required high security clearances from remote locations. IT departments were also allowed the time, many of them have not had in years, to work on their infrastructure and build stronger security environments. That benefits Versasec. Also helping push our sales were fears of security breaches which prompted companies to move quickly and purchase solutions that would keep corporate data safe while their workers were in home offices.

Looking back on 2020 is bittersweet. There were many losses, but the year also ended with an all-time-high in sales for us. While many companies were laying off employees, we grew our team, providing much needed work for many families.

Just as many companies faced many strains with dramatically changed working conditions, we were no different. Our team is resilient and truly came together to get through all the challenges 2020 tossed our way. For the first time, we held our annual global company meeting virtually. It differed from the in-person meetings we’ve had in the past, but it was productive and a lot of fun. We participated in several trade shows – all online — but we all missed the face-to-face interactions with our partners and customers.

Would we like to see another year like 2020? If we could remove the pandemic and add in at least some real facetime with our customers and partners, it would be a resounding yes! I am so proud of how our company came through the strangest year any of us could remember, and it’s clear we’ve assembled a team that truly can handle whatever 2021 throws our way.

Photo by Chris Barbalis.