Rapid7, Inc. (NASDAQ:RPD) Q3 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Corey Thomas: Yes. So, first, we tend to be pretty focused on not trying to not to sell into news headlines just because that creates some weird incentives. It also hurts customers’ trust over time. That said, it is a backdrop that’s happening. So, look, here’s how I just at the backdrop at the most fundamental level, is that CISOs, especially with some of the SEC’s recent actions as it relates to solar winds and other things, are clearly very focused on security and their personal accountability. And so they have security as a top priority. And I still think we have a significant backlog of security projects and resources that are needed. The funding environment the CISO are going into is tight. And so the reconciliation of that demand backlog, the pressure CISO space, and the speed and the velocity of the budgets they’re getting is an underlying tension that underplays all the stuff that we actually see what the deal cycles and all the other things.

I think if you actually assume out that backlog of projects absolutely has to get resolved over time. So I think we actually have a healthy demand driver, healthy demand market. Again, I love the place that Rapid7 sits with the extended SOC, with the focus on the attack surface looking across the entire environment from the on-prem and endpoint to the cloud, I think we’re set up well. But I would just say the budget environment for CISOs is going to play out as a budget environment place for CISO. Our goal is to set ourselves up to be a great partner and to brought a great ecosystem as they have money, as they have funds to steadily only them. And this is where I think our methodical long-term approach will pay dividends.

Tim Adams: So, there was maybe one last piece of that question. Just does it benefit any products in particular I just go back to the packages, the way we fund.

Corey Thomas: Yes. Consolidation — absolutely, Tim, that’s a great point, is it provides leverage and scale, being able to actually say that I can actually manage my attack surface from the endpoint and on-prem to the cloud. It actually provides an economic value, which helps the CISOs do their job. It allows them if they choose to do it with us or our partner, augment with expertise. And so it provides an economic value, at the same time, it addresses core security concerns.

Trevor Rambo: Great. Thanks for the color.

Corey Thomas: Thank you.

Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Rob Galvin from Stifel. Your line is open.

Rob Galvin: Hi, this is Rob on for Brad. Thanks for taking the question. The international growth of 16% and 22% of revenue appears to be trending well. And I’m wondering if the offshore talent mix shift from the restructuring discussed last quarter had any impact on this growth, or if the offshore talent mix shift was more focused on operating cost efficiencies? Thanks.

Corey Thomas: Yes. So, I think it’s a great question. I would not say it’s a primary driver of growth because it’s actually too earlier. What I would say is that we did have some catch-up work to do to make sure that the distribution of our global service and support ecosystem was properly allocated around the world to make sure that the workloads better. The other thing is just the reality of cyberattacks is more of the attackers operate in time zones that are not the time zones of the US. And so as we actually make sure that our teams are operating around the clock, it’s important to actually have people that are operating in the same time zones, not just our customers, but also the time zones that attacker is actually operating in.

I think we will see more benefits and confidence because our teams both in Europe and in Asia are now able to actually talk more aggressively and directly about the ability to actually get local resources and commitment and availability. So, we think that, that will be a positive thing as we actually go forward. But I would just say it’s too early for that to actually have shown up in the Q3 specific results.

Rob Galvin: Great. Thank you.

Corey Thomas: Thank you.

Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Alex Henderson from Needham. Your line is open.

Alex Henderson: Great. Thanks so much. I was hoping you could talk a little bit about the partnership expansion programs, particularly the MSP that you noted in your call. How material do you think that will be as we look out into 2024 and 2025. Can it add 3%, 4%, 5% to your topline growth rate? And while you’re at it, would you mind just looking at the Splunk acquisition by Cisco, does that have any positive impact on you as a result of that consolidation? Thank you.

Corey Thomas: Yes. Two great questions. So, on the first one, what I would say is that it will be incrementally positive, I think in 2024. We did 1 big one. I think we’ll do some more. We’ve had some smaller ones actually prior to this. So I think it will be incrementally positive in 2024. The bigger they are, I would just say, the longer the ramp cycle is. So, I just want to be clear, it’s just like your — these are big organizations, and you actually have to — you turn the gears of the organizations. So, I would say some incremental movement in 2024, but I think it really picks up in 2025 and 2026. And we like this consolidated focus on partnering, yes, with the breadth partners going to be clear. We have a war partner post.

But having a few bigger, very focused partners that really move the dial, I think, it’s important. But these are big sophisticated organizations with lots of customers. So, the effort and investment is well worth it. And we’re going to be investing heavily with our partner, but it is also lots of sort of like investment in lots and some work that they do is to actually make this broadly available. So, we expect to see the benefits over multiple years. But we do expect to have, I would say, incremental positivity in 2024, but I would say really picking up in 2025 when you start looking at some of these larger organizations and how they actually operate. And then on the [Indiscernible] question, look, I have a lot of respect for Cisco, for Splunk.

And so there’s nothing specific about that or those teams and those organizations. What I would say is that when you actually have changes or disruptions to the market and you have — that’s always an opportunity. And I would say, especially in this environment where people are budget concerned, where there are talent concern, I think it’s an opportunity. Now, it’s just caused a lot of vans and they have probably a great consolidation story. But I think very spacious on the extended stock and the extended attack surface. I think we’re fairly unique in what we can actually offer here. And so I think that any time any competitor in the market has things that actually cause them to focus or shift focus, that’s an opportunity for us. And so I think from that perspective, yes, it’s an opportunity.