Okta Study Uncovers Top Apps and Services as Firms Negotiate Covid-19

Organisations adopt collaboration and security tools with a vengeance, as they accelerate migration to the cloud

Okta, Inc. (NASDAQ: OKTA), the leading independent identity provider, today announced the findings of its eighth annual Businesses at Work report. The research explored how global and Asia Pacific (APAC) organisations and employees work today, and the applications and services they most widely use for productivity.

Businesses at Work 2022 takes a holistic look at Okta’s network of 14,000 global customers and more than 7,000 integrations with cloud, mobile and web apps, and IT infrastructure providers — to better understand the apps and services that powered work in 2021. The year’s top apps include a combination of productivity suites, security solutions, and scheduling software.

The hottest apps:

• Globally, collaboration and security tools are the two most popular categories of tools deployed through the Okta Integration Network, showing a 28% and 31% year-over-year growth respectively.
• The power trio Google Workspace, Zoom, and Slack have won a large number of new customers across APAC. Google Workspace grew 68% YoY in terms of number of customers in the region, while Slack and Zoom grew 40% and 37%, respectively.
• Also in APAC specifically, network security tool Palo Alto Networks GlobalProtect, workflow platform ServiceNow, email security tool Mimecast, and small business accounting software Xero were highly popular among customers.

• Globally, collaboration tools like Notion, Figma, Miro, Airtable and monday.com saw a surge in customers throughout the year, in tandem with the rise of remote working.
• Compared to the previous year’s report, 70% of the fastest-growing apps are new to the top 10. Clearly, the rapid shift to remote work drove firms to adopt new technologies to keep their workforces connected, secure and productive.

“Remote work has made content collaboration tools outright essential for corporations during the pandemic,” said Graham Sowden, Okta’s General Manager for APAC. “In particular, we see that videos and meetings continue to connect people in a remote world, especially in APAC, where employers are arming their employees with collaboration platforms such as Zoom.”

“We are proud to be recognised as one of APAC’s most-used productivity applications and services,” said Ricky Kapur, Head of APAC, Zoom. “Zoom is constantly innovating with our diverse ecosystem of partners, including Okta, to provide organisations with solutions that empower their hybrid workforce. With employees wanting greater flexibility in where and how they work, we are committed to driving secure and seamless collaboration for employee engagement and overall company success.”

Rise of multi-cloud platforms: Being able to access workflows and productivity tools from any location, on any device has turned into a business imperative. In fact, cloud migration isn’t just increasing—it’s doubling, and complexifying, with organisations choosing to use multiple cloud platforms instead of putting all their cloud computing in one virtual basket. AWS remains the runaway favorite cloud platform globally, showing a 32% YoY growth last year and contributing to a total increase of 152% since 2018. Meanwhile, Google Cloud Platform (GCP) is boasting an increase of 40% since 2020—a whopping 365% from where it ranked in 2018.

Continued investment in security: Firms are continuing to invest heavily in security apps, with security solution Netskope now the fastest growing app worldwide by number of unique users. In addition, rather than using simple and traditionally weak two-factor methods, businesses are increasingly turning to adaptive forms of authentication like Okta Verify to secure their workforces. Globally, SMS as a security factor dropped from 53% three years ago to 47% today, and security questions dropped 18% three years ago to 13% today. This suggests businesses are tackling employee security risks more seriously and intelligently.

Growing preference for best-of-breed solutions: Companies are leaning heavily into productivity suites, and they increasingly add best-of-breed functionality. Of Okta’s Microsoft 365 (the most popular app) customers globally, 33% deploy four or more best-of-breed apps, up from 20% four years ago, highlighting the growing importance of flexibility and functionality as employees work remotely. Some 38% also deploy Google Workspace, this year’s third most popular app by number of customers. Another 43% use AWS, the second most popular app.

This year’s report clearly shows that organisations across the globe are leaning heavily into two areas: choice and collaboration,” said Sowden. “This is a wise move and Okta is excited to be able to support some of APAC’s largest and most complex enterprises as they evolve their technology strategies.”

Access the full Businesses at Work 2021 report at https://www.okta.com/businesses-at-work/2022

About Okta

Okta is the leading independent identity provider. The Okta Identity Cloud enables organizations to securely connect the right people to the right technologies at the right time. With more than 7,000 pre-built integrations to applications and infrastructure providers, Okta provides simple and secure access to people and organizations everywhere, giving them the confidence to reach their full potential. More than 13,050 organizations, including JetBlue, Nordstrom, Siemens, Slack, Takeda, Teach for America, and Twilio, trust Okta to help protect the identities of their workforces and customers.