Twilio targets the enterprise with plan offering more security and regulatory controls

Twilio has introduced a plan that doubles down on its outreach to the enterprise. With it, the cloud communications platform company seeks to gain the attention of developers from large firms while providing assurances to their I.T. departments through advanced security, access management, and regulatory controls.

For more than 8 years, Twilio has been a resource for developers no longer interested in using technology from incumbent carriers. The company has provided telephony solutions for applications such as Uber, Box, DocuSign, and likely many of the apps you’re using today. Some enterprise companies are also using the service, but there are obstacles in place for others; Twilio believes its new enterprise plan will assuage any fears.

Twilio wants to give developers the flexibility and agility as their counterparts in smaller startups, while also addressing security, compliance, and procurement requirements that may exist. With the Twilio Enterprise Plan, companies can implement single sign-on, customizable role-based access control, auditing capabilities, public key client validation, and segmented billing and usage.

In short: Not only can I.T. administrators maintain who has access to what servers, but they can also efficiently manage invoicing and financial matters across multiple departments that use the platform.

All of the features are part of a package deal, meaning that it’s all-or-nothing and exclusively for those that purchase the enterprise plan. The company won’t be opening the above offerings to all developers any time soon.

“This is about listening to what our customers need, particularly large enterprises that have built on the platform,” said Patrick Malatack, Twilio’s vice president of product. While he wouldn’t disclose the breakdown of startups versus enterprise companies, Malatack revealed that single sign-on, role-based access control, auditing, public key client validation, and segmented billing and usage have become a common requirement among large-scale businesses, meaning that this hopefully will give I.T. departments peace of mind while enabling teams to leverage the rest of what Twilio can offer.

“Enterprises have to balance the desire to be more agile and innovative with the need for more stringent security and controls,” remarked Jeff Lawson, Twilio’s chief executive, in a statement. “With the Twilio Enterprise Plan, enterprises are free to innovate at the speed of startups while ensuring compliance with their more rigorous policies.”

The creation of this tailored program is the latest move to cater to an audience that could reap more financial rewards for Twilio than a typical startup. It comes three years after the first enterprise play, when Twilio announced its support for Session Initiation Protocol, allowing companies to create phone systems or call centers. This was followed up with Twilio Interconnect to transmit information across secure networks.

Some enterprise customers that leverage the platform include Nordstrom, Home Depot, ING, Twitter, Netflix, and Nike. Malatack shared that Twilio is seeing more large-scale companies signing up to use its service. “We’re ensuring that enterprises have granular management control of their Twilio account,” he said.

Doubling down on the enterprise gives Twilio more ammunition to show shareholders why it’s worth investing in. It’s possible that investors are cautious to see how a tech company can scale enough after going public to warrant their money. This renewed focus on the enterprise highlights that Twilio isn’t just a platform for the small startups, but can be applied in any use case.

Twilio’s enterprise plan is priced at $15,000 per month.