Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This Annual Report on Form 10-K contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including but not limited to, statements regarding our financial outlook and market positioning. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date they were first issued and were based on current expectations, estimates, forecasts and projections as well as the beliefs and assumptions of management. Words such as “expect,” “anticipate,” “should,” “believe,” “hope,” “target,” “project,” “goals,” “estimate,” “potential,” “predict,” “may,” “will,” “might,” “could,” “intend,” “shall” and variations of these terms or the negative of these terms and similar expressions are intended to identify these forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements are contained principally in “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Result of Operations” and “Risk Factors".
Forward-looking statements contained in this Form 10-K include, but are not limited to, statements about:
Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which involve factors or circumstances that are beyond Okta’s control. Okta’s actual results could differ materially from those stated or implied in forward-looking statements due to a number of factors, including but not limited to, risks detailed in “Risk Factors” in this Annual Report on Form 10-K as well as other documents that may be filed by the Company from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Moreover, we operate in a very competitive and rapidly changing environment. New risks emerge from time to time. It is not possible for our management to predict all risks, nor can we assess the impact of all factors on our business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements we may make. In light of these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, the forward-looking events and circumstances discussed in this Annual Report on Form 10-K may not occur and actual results could differ materially and adversely from those anticipated or implied in the forward-looking statements.
You should not rely upon forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot guarantee that the future results, levels of activity, performance or events and circumstances reflected in the forward-looking statements will be achieved or occur. Moreover, except as required by law, neither we nor any other person assumes responsibility for the accuracy and completeness of the forward-looking statements. We undertake no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements for any reason after the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K to conform these statements to actual results or to changes in our expectations.
Item 1. Business
Overview
Okta is the leading independent provider of identity for the enterprise. Our mission is to enable any organization to use any technology, and we believe identity is the key to making that happen. The Okta Identity Cloud is our category-defining platform that enables our customers to securely connect people to technology, anywhere, anytime and from any device.
Identity has always been the key to establishing trust between users and technologies. We founded Okta in 2009 to reinvent identity for the cloud era, where identity is the critical foundation for connection and trust between users and technology. The Okta Identity Cloud helps organizations effectively harness the power of cloud and mobile technologies by securing users and connecting them with the applications they rely on.
Every day, people use Okta to securely access a wide range of cloud applications, websites, mobile applications and services from a multitude of devices. Each of these users represents a unique user identification that authenticates into our platform. Workforces sign into our platform to seamlessly access the applications they need to do their most important work. Organizations also use our platform to provide their customers with more modern experiences online and via mobile devices, and to connect with partners to streamline their operations. Developers leverage our platform to securely embed identity into their software. As we add new customers, users, developers and applications to our platform, our business, customers and users benefit from powerful network effects that increase the value and security of the Okta Identity Cloud.
Given the growth trends in the number of applications and cloud adoption, identity is quickly becoming the most critical layer of an organization’s security. As the corporate perimeter has dissolved, identity has become the most reliable way to manage user access, adopt cloud and mobile technologies and protect digital assets. Our approach to identity eliminates duplicative, sprawling credentials and disparate authentication policies, allowing our customers to simplify and scale their IT and security infrastructures more efficiently as the number of users, devices, clouds and other technologies in their ecosystem grows.
We designed the Okta Identity Cloud to provide organizations an integrated approach to managing and securing all of their identities. Our platform allows our customers to easily provision their customers, employees, contractors, and partners, enabling any user to connect to any device, cloud or application, all with a simple, intuitive and consumer-like user experience. Developers leverage the Okta Identity Cloud to secure and manage the identities of their own customers accessing their cloud and mobile applications.
Our customers are able to achieve fast time to value, lower costs and increased efficiency while improving compliance and providing security that is persistent, perimeter-less and context-aware. These benefits are delivered through multiple products on a unified platform, our superior cloud architecture, and a vast and increasing network of integrations.
The Okta Identity Cloud is an independent and neutral cloud-based identify platform that allows our customers to integrate with any prevalent application, service or cloud that they choose. We offer a complete and integrated identity stack that is built on a single code base, rather than a point solution that needs to be integrated with other identity products. In addition, we do not push our customers to particular vendors or a specific proprietary software stack. This independence and neutrality enables our customers to easily adopt the best technologies, and is designed to securely connect their users to the technology that they choose. We prioritize the compatibility of the Okta Identity Cloud with on-premise infrastructures and public, private and hybrid clouds. Our customers value our open approach, which enables them to future proof their environments.
As of January 31, 2018, more than 4,350 customers across nearly every industry used the Okta Identity Cloud to secure and manage identities around the world. Our customers are comprised of leading global organizations ranging from the largest enterprises, to small and medium-sized businesses, universities, non-profits and government agencies. We partner with leading application and infrastructure vendors, such as Amazon Web Services, Box, Google Cloud, Microsoft, NetSuite, SAP, ServiceNow, and Workday. We had over 5,500 integrations with cloud, mobile and web applications and IT infrastructure providers as of January 31, 2018, which while not directly correlated to revenue, shows the breadth and acceptance of our platform.
We employ a SaaS business model, and generate revenue primarily by selling multi-year subscriptions to our cloud-based offerings. We focus on acquiring and retaining our customers and increasing their spending with us through expanding the number of users who access our platform and up-selling additional products. We sell our products directly through our field and inside sales teams, as well as indirectly through our network of independent software vendors, or ISVs, and channel partners.