JumpCloud reports spiking biometrics demand at SMEs

It is important for new devices purchased by small and medium-sized enterprises to have biometric capabilities, according to 92 percent of respondents to a JumpCloud survey, and very important according to 58 percent. Only 2 percent say biometric capabilities are “not important.”

The survey results are shared in a new report, “From Chaos to Control: Simplifying IT in the Fast Lane of Change.” JumpCloud surveyed 900 IT decision-makers for businesses in the U.S., UK and Australia for the latest edition of its SME IT Trends Report.

The desire for biometric devices is mirrored inconsistently in adoption, with just under a quarter (24 percent) saying between half and three-quarters of their company’s devices have biometric capabilities. Between a quarter and half of devices have biometrics at 39 percent of SMEs, and 19 percent say between 11 and 25 percent of their devices have biometrics. The number with less than 10 percent of devices having biometric capabilities (10 percent) is greater than those where more than 75 percent have biometric capabilities (8 percent).

The majority of respondents (54 percent) say biometrics are the best tool for maintaining organizational security, just ahead of multi-factor authentication (43 percent), “strong, unique passwords” (33 percent) and password managers (32 percent).

Requiring biometrics would strengthen their company’s security posture, 85 percent say, with 40 percent strongly agreeing. Only 67 percent agreed in Q3, 2024, suggesting a sizable jump in belief in the security value of biometrics.

JumpCloud acquires Stack Identity

JumpCloud has boosted its digital identity and access management (IAM) capabilities with the acquisition of identity security and access visibility platform Stack Identity.

The deal gives JumpCloud technology to compliment its existing and planned offerings for identity governance and administration (IGA), privileged access management (PAM), identity security posture management (ISPM), identity threat detection and response (ITDR) and cloud infrastructure entitlement management (CIEM), according to the announcement.

“Mastering data is key to providing secure, frictionless access to corporate resources,” says Greg Keller, co-founder and chief technology officer, JumpCloud. “Stack Identity’s world-class team and advanced data analytics technology will accelerate our ability to productize the billions of data signals our platform generates each month. This will enable new forms of access control, improved identity visibility, and assurance that the right people have the correct access and entitlements every time.”

Stack Identity raised $4 million in a seed round in 2023 to further develop its IAM portfolio and reach more corporate customers with its software for mitigating the threat of shadow access to cloud data.

The transaction has already closed, but JumpCloud declined to disclose the terms of the deal.

Article Topics

acquisitions  |  biometrics  |  identity access management (IAM)  |  JumpCloud  |  market report  |  smartphones  |  Stack Identity