It is with much pride that I announce Druva has surpassed $200 million in SaaS annual recurring revenue (ARR). We stand at the forefront of the global data resilience landscape, unwavering in our mission to redefine data protection and provide customers with simple means to accelerate their journey to the cloud. In an era where evolving cyber threats shape the global IT landscape, Druva has proven itself as a disruptive force driving industry change and a more secure future.
Today, we manage over 275PB of data, driving more than 6 billion backups annually for more than 5,000 organizations, and achieving a 30% growth in our customer base in just the last year alone. Our path here has not been perfectly linear — and we have driven many disruptions to become the first (and only) 100% SaaS data resiliency platform to reach this milestone.
It (Re)Started in 2013
In its first four years, Druva was a software company — delivering traditional backup software much like Veritas, Commvault, or Veeam. We realized we were doing more of the same and were not really doing what we had set out to do — revolutionize data protection to remove operational headaches for customers. That’s when we decided to disrupt ourselves and pivot to an entirely cloud-native, SaaS-delivered business model.
Today, the cloud is an accepted reality, but back in 2013, the market was still skeptical of the cloud’s capabilities. To deliver real simplicity and security at scale, we saw cloud-delivered data protection to be the only real solution — and we decided to break out from the sea of sameness and make a monumental shift to SaaS. We quickly realized that we needed to revolutionize not just the architecture but every aspect of the business model. Druva was (re)born as a SaaS pioneer, boldly standing out as a shining star in the sameness of data protection software.
As with any disruptive innovation, we saw the legacy players first try to ignore Druva. Then, they downplayed Druva as a niche player. As customers gravitated to the natural simplicity of SaaS data protection, of course, they tried to imitate. They have yet to realize that true simplicity is not just taking legacy software and running it as a bulky monolith in the cloud. Nor is it just a cloud-hosted management UI masquerading as SaaS. It’s the entire SaaS business model delivered end to end with customer satisfaction as the only driver. Thanks to this conviction, Druva remains the industry’s first and only SaaS platform for data resiliency delivering end-to-end protection for all workloads — SaaS applications, public and private cloud environments, and end-user devices.
Our “Zero to One” Journey: Thinking Differently
"0-1 innovation" refers to an industry disruption that breaks from the status quo. It signifies moving from a state of non-existence or minimal development to creating something entirely new and revolutionary, rather than making just incremental (1-10) improvements.
We understood that managing clunky, difficult hardware and infrastructure-based applications is cumbersome and costly. Offering a cloud-native solution, we eliminated hardware, software updates, and maintenance. See, that’s what we mean by real revolution — Druva customers do not have to think about procuring backup hardware and managing supply chain issues, they do not have to spend weekends ensuring their hundreds of appliance nodes are patched with security updates, and they don’t have to worry about scaling their infrastructure to protect new applications — why? Because “Druva does it all for you!”
With our approach to autonomous protection, organizations can focus on core operations knowing their critical data is always secure, protected, and available. Our fundamental shift and continued commitment to an entirely SaaS-based approach was a 0-1 innovation — the positive impact, simplicity, and customer experience are monumentally different for the customer, and the industry will be forever changed.
Pricing that Works FOR You
Hand-in-hand with our SaaS model, Druva set a new industry standard through flexible pricing. While legacy vendors were packaging multi-term subscriptions as an alternative to expensive perpetual licenses, we had the courage to shift the paradigm with consumption-based, pay-as-you-go pricing. This key differentiator aligns costs with actual usage and empowers businesses to seamlessly scale data protection. This captures the essence of 0-1 innovation by catering to modern business dynamics, rendering old inflexible pricing obsolete.
Resiliency… Guaranteed
A recent study commissioned by Druva, in partnership with IDC, revealed that nearly half of organizations have fallen victim to ransomware in the last three years. Traditional data protection is not enough to prevent threats, and this grim reality has driven the need for a fundamental change. This drove us to pioneer data resiliency, going beyond standard protection and emphasizing the ability to rapidly respond to security incidents and recover quickly to prevent loss or downtime.
A testament to our commitment to customer resiliency was the introduction of our groundbreaking initiative, the Data Resiliency Guarantee. Scrambling to catch up, our competitors introduced warranties of their own — each with hurdles to overcome and extensive fine print to ensure they avoid ever having to pay. The bottom line is this: ONLY Druva’s guarantee provides customers with up to $10 million in coverage against key risks — not just ransomware. We have a proven track record as the true defenders of everything data, backed by a truly unique guarantee. And let’s face it — a guarantee is just not the same as a warranty!
Partnering to Drive Change
For any 0-1 disruption to yield customer benefits, the true change multipliers are forward-looking partners who are willing to champion the innovation. And we were lucky to have great partners joining hands with us and driving positive change for customers. Our cloud platform is hosted on AWS — as we scaled in size and grew in functionality, our close partnership with AWS enabled us to build the most secure and mature cloud platform for data resiliency. Our partnerships across the security ecosystem have delighted customers with well-integrated solutions delivering sustained value, not just transient buzz!
The next chapter of our hyper growth was fueled by our disruptive approach to strategic alliances, including our partnership with Dell Technologies as the foundation of its APEX Backup Services. Our partners, who share our vision and goals, have contributed to our ongoing industry disruption and growth with initiatives like the newly launched Partner+ program. MSPs are eager to move their business focus from managing infrastructure to managing outcomes — driven by this demand, we launched our MSP program and it has now grown by nearly 300% annually.
Disruption is Addictive
Our commitment to SaaS is not only a strategic decision but one that has garnered recognition and validation from the industry. In 2023, Druva was named among elite SaaS companies in the Forbes' Cloud 100 list. For a third consecutive year, we received Visionary status in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for enterprise backup and recovery. These acknowledgments are not just milestones — they are reflective of the trust and confidence the industry places in us and our cloud approach. As we continue to disrupt the market, these validations empower us further in our mission to redefine data protection.
Our customers have always been our ultimate priority, and we take pride in equipping them with outcome-based data protection. Druva’s NPS score of 89 is among the best in the industry and a strong indication of our customers’ loyalty — a result of consistent innovation, commitment to a user-friendly product, and a willingness to work with customers from deployment through restore and recovery projects. Our commitment to customer delight as the North Star differentiator will continue to drive every aspect of our business.
Of course, none of this would be possible without Team Druva. The unwavering commitment, tireless efforts, and passion of each and every member of Team Druva have been pivotal in ensuring customer satisfaction and propelling us to success.
What Happens Next?
The future of cloud adoption is vast, and we are at the forefront of this technological revolution. As customers are embracing a multi-cloud future, we are too — always ready to protect our customers’ data wherever it lives. Furthermore, the introduction of AI into our platform is another example of our commitment to delivering a customer-friendly product. These AI-powered features enable users to improve backup operations with automation, efficiency, and simplicity while reducing threat response and recovery time through trend analysis and orchestration. Stay tuned for exciting updates on our multi-cloud expansion with Azure protection and customer-centric AI capabilities coming soon!
Innovation Today for a Resilient Tomorrow
As we celebrate $200 million in SaaS ARR, we acknowledge that our disruptive journey is only just beginning. The digital landscape evolves rapidly, and data protection will remain a critical aspect of every organization's operations. Forging ahead, we will continue to push the boundaries and redefine what’s possible in the SaaS and data protection industries at large. In partnership with our valued customers, we will collectively drive positive change, stay ahead of emerging threats, and transform challenges into opportunities.
Thank you for being a part of our incredible journey. Here's to a future filled with innovation, collaboration, and an unyielding commitment to being your true defender of all things data!
Read more about Druva’s historic achievement in the press release, or take a product tour to see firsthand how we can revolutionize your journey to the cloud.