How Squadify uses Vanta to breakthrough into enterprise deals

The Company

Making teamwork work

Originally founded as a spin-off from a professional services firm, Squadify was created in 2019 as an innovative alternative to corporate training, by offering novel strategies to improve teamwork and performance through technology. Squadify’s unique platform provides data-driven insights and a range of services to laser-target team development and deliver results fast. Unlike conventional platforms that focus on individual performance or provide collaboration software, Squadify targets the very dynamics that foster effective teamwork and drive performance.

Since their launch, Squadify has experienced exponential growth. In just two years, they’ve successfully grown their user base to 30,000 employees across 3,000 teams globally. Their services have significantly boosted team performance for organizations, establishing their reputation as an important part of their customers’ culture.

In addition to the original team assessment platform, Squadify continues to expand their offerings to better cater to their customers’ needs. Their services now include coaching, micro-learning, team solutions such as development workshops, and access to a worldwide network of 120 expert coaches. 

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The Challenge

Compliance as a way to unlock enterprise partnerships

In their early stages of growth, Squadify catered to primarily smaller organizations and HR departments, who were less concerned about stringent compliance and security standards. This segment was easily reachable through their network of coaches, who facilitated their entry into these businesses.

However, as Squadify's vision expanded, they set their sights on moving upmarket, a move that prompted a change in their sales approach. These bigger organizations had robust procurement processes that demanded strict compliance assurance that Squadify was protecting their customer data. This change marked the moment when Squadify recognized the need for compliance certification, as the lack of external validation was becoming a tangible barrier to growth, preventing them from securing partnerships with potential enterprise clients. ISO 27001 certification emerged as the primary requirement to satisfy these procurement processes and continue their ambitious growth trajectory.

To meet this challenge, Squadify initially collaborated with a local auditor in Australia who performed security audits. The plan was to tackle the ISO 27001 certification process manually, using spreadsheets and manual evidence gathering. However, it proved to take up too much of the team’s valuable time, and the timeline by which they would become certified was not quick enough for the fast-moving Squadify team.

Squadify then began to explore alternatives — they needed a solution that could streamline the certification process and minimize manual effort, and thus, the appeal of compliance automation became increasingly clear.

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The Solution

Automating compliance to under half the time

Squadify knew that they required a solution that offered automation, expert guidance, and a robust support structure. They also knew that working with a technology partner would add value and credibility as a technology company themselves. Their search for an ideal solution ended when they found Vanta.

Navigating the labyrinth of ISO 27001 requirements can be time and resource-intensive — however, by integrating Vanta into their tech stack and automating evidence gathering, Squadify was able to reduce the number of hours spent on compliance tasks, allowing them to refocus on more business-essential tasks.

With Vanta, Squadify was able to set up their security workflows more effectively. They were able to easily assign security tasks to team members through Vanta’s two-way task-tracker integration and utilize Vanta’s included policy templates to create a robust set of 29 policies. “With Vanta, it wasn’t about ticking the policy boxes — it was about ensuring we had proper governance,” says Pia.

Vanta’s audit progress indicators also gave Squadify a realistic and accurate timeline of when they were ready for their ISO 27001 audit — in under half the time their original auditors quoted them. “Our research told us that it would take us up to a year,” says Juliet. “Vanta was able to get us audit-ready in under half the time we originally expected — we started with Vanta in July and had our ISO 27001 in hand by Christmas.”

Vanta provided Squadify with the ability to move quickly and, maybe more importantly, offered them the support and expertise they were looking for. Juliet especially credited the reassurance from their Vanta representative, saying, “Our Vanta rep gave us the support we were looking for, was super-responsive in providing advice and guidance, and helped to assure that we were in good hands.”

Squadify also chose to work with a service partner and an auditor from Vanta’s network, both of whom ensured that Squadify was well-prepared and that the audit was conducted smoothly. Their familiarity with Vanta allowed for a seamless experience from audit prep through the audit itself.

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The Impact

ISO 27001 as fuel for growth

ISO 27001 has allowed Squadify to venture into previously inaccessible business opportunities with larger enterprise customers. They especially credit deals won with several top five IT and professional services companies to the certification they were able to achieve with Vanta. “Vanta made it possible for us to pursue partnerships that we would have not otherwise gone after — it has helped us increase sales in larger customer sizes,” says Pia.

Juliet also praises Vanta’s ability to set guardrails as to what good security practices look like, saying, “The benefits of Vanta are the rigorous security standards it makes us adhere to… we’ve truly raised our game and it makes us confident we have the right processes in place.”

With Vanta, Squadify is now looking forward to the future and potentially exploring other frameworks to further expand their market presence.

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"The benefits of Vanta are the rigorous security standards it makes us adhere to… it makes us confident we have the right processes in place.”

Juliet Hammond

Business Analyst at Squadify

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