Action1 is a cloud-native endpoint management platform that offers automated patching, vulnerability detection, and remediation across operating systems and third-party applications, ensuring continuous compliance and security for distributed enterprise networks. With a scalable architecture configurable in minutes and no need for VPNs, Action1 provides real-time visibility and control over endpoints, making it a robust solution for IT operations and security teams.
In this episode, we speak with Mike Walters, president and co-founder of Action1, about the company’s innovative approach to autonomous endpoint management. We discuss the evolution of Action1, the importance of security and compliance, and the real-world impact of their solutions on businesses, particularly in high-stakes industries like healthcare and finance. Mike shares insights on the future of endpoint management, including the introduction of agent takeover prevention and the benefits of their free tier offering for businesses. The conversation wraps up with advice for IT leaders and personal reflections from Mike on his career journey.
Watch the podcast here:
Listen to audio only here:
Learn more about Action1.
Interested in appearing on the SourceForge Podcast? Contact us here.
Show Notes
Takeaways
- Action1 was founded out of frustration with outdated patch management systems.
- The shift to remote work highlighted the need for modern endpoint management solutions.
- Autonomous patching can significantly reduce the burden on IT departments.
- Security compliance is critical, especially in industries like healthcare.
- Agent takeover prevention adds an extra layer of security for customers.
- Almost any business can benefit from autonomous endpoint management.
- The free tier offering allows businesses to experience the full platform without upfront costs.
- Future innovations will focus on expanding platform capabilities and integrations.
- User feedback drives the development of new features and improvements.
- Staying focused on core competencies can lead to greater success.
Chapters
00:00 – Introduction to Autonomous Endpoint Management
03:03 – The Evolution of Action1
06:02 – Real-World Impact of Action1
09:08 – Security and Compliance Standards
11:53 – Agent Takeover Prevention and Its Importance
15:03 – The Benefits Across Industries
17:55 – Free Tier Offering for Businesses
21:03 – Future Innovations and Features
23:59 – Advice for IT Leaders
27:04 – Personal Insights from Mike Walters
Transcript
Beau Hamilton (00:05)
Hello everyone and welcome to the SourceForge Podcast. Thank you for joining us today. I’m your host, Beau Hamilton, Senior Editor and Multimedia Producer here at SourceForge, the world’s most visited software comparison site where B2B software buyers compare and find business software solutions. Today we’re talking with Mike Walters, President and Co-Founder of Action1, a company that’s redefining how businesses manage and secure their devices with their cloud native security platform.
Today will focus largely around autonomous endpoint management and the company’s approach to managing and securing all the devices used for business. And first of all, I think it’s good to get some definitions out of the way. So what are endpoints? Well, those are devices like laptops, desktops, and servers, autonomous that just kind of refers to automation and things like artificial intelligence and cloud technology. And then you have the management aspect and that sort of speaks for itself. That’s where Action1 comes in.
So to talk more about Action1 and how his company is tackling modern IT challenges, let me introduce Mike Walters, Mike, welcome to the podcast, glad you can join us.
Mike Walters (01:05)
Thanks, Beau. Glad to be here.
Beau Hamilton (01:08)
Yeah, before we just kind of dive into the company specifics, could you introduce yourself and talk about how you got into this industry?
Mike Walters (01:18)
Well, yeah, I’ve been part of this industry for close to 25 years. My career started at Quest Software. Back in 1998, as far back as that. I was a part of the product development team for SIM product called Entrust, which at some point became a part of Gartner Magic Quadrant for SIM. And then I went on to create a company called Netwrix, which is a data security company that grew into quite substantial. It’s a multi-billion dollar business now. And we took it all the way from bootstrap to then getting into some private equity capital to grow it even further.
And then, but both me and my co-founder, Alex Vovk, we really enjoyed building new companies, building startups. This thrill of building something new, something exciting, that led us to founding this new company, Action1, back in 2018, right before the, almost right before the COVID-19 pandemic. And we’re here now and I’m really excited about this new company.
Beau Hamilton (02:49)
Yeah, so okay, you started this company in 2018. What was like the moment you decided there was sort of a need to start this company? And then maybe you could also talk about how the company’s evolved over the years to become kind of the leader in autonomous endpoint management.
Mike Walters (03:07)
Well, the idea behind Action1 came from a deep frustration with the way patch management was being handled for decades. We all kind of assume that patch management was a solved problem. But when you really look at the landscape, that just isn’t the case. For years, companies have had to deal with outdated clunky systems like SCCM or WSUS. Then you have options like Tanium or BigFix, which while powerful, come with a hefty price tag that just isn’t feasible for everyone. And then there are the more basic remote monitoring and management, or they call them RMM tools that try to do a bit of everything, but just don’t dive deep enough into the patching side of things.
And the real turning point for us was realizing that the status quo just wasn’t cutting it. And especially as the world shifted with the advent of remote work, hybrid models, and the changes brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, many of these legacy systems started to falter. They required VPNs or just didn’t work well in a distributed environment and that’s where a huge gap emerged. Organizations needed something that could seamlessly manage endpoints regardless of where employees were located without the cumbersome workarounds.
We also noticed that the concept of autonomous patching was something that the industry hadn’t really embraced. There’s this underlying trust issue. People are hesitant to deploy patches in production environments because of the fear that something might break. It’s a delicate balance. You want to keep systems secure, but you can’t afford to disrupt business operations with buggy or ill-timed patches.
That’s why the idea of truly autonomous patching felt like such a game changer. We knew that if we could automate the process in a smart and reliable way, we could solve a major headache for IT departments everywhere. So we set out to create a solution that addressed all these challenges head on by building a platform that wasn’t bogged down by legacy limitations, was cost effective, and could handle the nuances of modern work environments. Not only we fill the critical gap in the market, we helped to set a new standard for autonomous employee management. And that’s really been at the heart of our growth and why we’re seen as a leader in the field today.
Beau Hamilton (06:05)
Gotcha. Yeah. I think that’s a, I definitely want to expand upon that because I think that’s the really fascinating part of your company is the autonomous aspect and, and how, yeah, how that’s going to evolve in the coming months, let alone years, with all these AI advances that we’re experiencing.
Before we expand on that though, I’m just curious, like you’ve worked with, you know, thousands of enterprises helping to manage millions of different endpoints, globally, you know, that’s the nature of, of this, the world we live in. Is there a real world example of a company you’ve worked with that really benefited from Action1, whether that’s in terms of security, efficiency, or cost savings? Is there anything that comes to mind?
Mike Walters (06:43)
Yeah, I can share a real world example that really highlights the impact of Action1. We work with a very large healthcare services company that had roughly 500,000 endpoints spread across multiple locations and divisions. Now imagine managing that many devices, especially when you’re dealing with a mix of operating systems like Windows, Mac, different flavors of Linux, network devices. There’s a multitude of devices. And this company was using a patchwork of legacy systems, including SCCM, Ivanti, like the old legacy versions of those, and even custom scripting that, you homegrown solutions basically, to keep their systems updated.
They had a dedicated team of, I figure, about a few dozen people just solely focused on packaging applications and updates. But even with that level of effort, they were still struggling to cover every division and keep up with the evolving needs of their environment. And the key challenge for them was not just managing the sheer volume of devices, but also dealing with the complexity of multiple tools and processes.
Every day, they were just faced with the headache of patching systems across a wide array of platforms, all while ensuring they met their security and compliance standards. And it was clear that maintaining these legacy solutions wasn’t sustainable. Not only it was resource intensive, but it left a lot of room for human error inefficiencies. And then when they started looking into Action 1, what really caught their attention was the simplicity and scalability of our cloud-based solution. They wanted to reduce the number of tools in their arsenal.
And frankly, to forget about patching as a constant burden with the Action1, the idea was simple. If you need to patch something critical, you just patch it. No matter what types of system it is or where the patch comes from, our platform takes care of all the underlying complexities from distribution to compliance in one streamlined process.
And the result? They’re able to significantly reduce the manual overhead and reallocate their resources to more strategic initiatives. And instead of spending countless hours juggling multiple systems and processes, their IT team could focus on improving overall security posture and operational efficiency on all the things they wanted to do.
Essentially, Action1 transformed their patching from a complex, time-consuming chore into seamless, almost invisible background process that just keeps their systems secure and compliant without the constant headache. That’s pretty much the essence of it.
Beau Hamilton (09:53)
Okay, yeah. I guess along the lines of the security, keeping things secure, I mean, that’s, that is so important for a business that’s in the healthcare industry. I mean, for any business online, it’s important, but especially in the healthcare industry, when you have HIPAA laws, and just private information, personal sensitive information. And then the bigger the company, the bigger the fallout, right? If there’s some sort of breach or security lapse that occurs.
So it’s obviously important to stay up to date with the latest security and compliance regulations. What kind of regulations or maybe best practices are you following to make sure your platform just meets those high standards?
Mike Walters (10:33)
Well, when it comes to security and compliance, we take a very rigorous approach in Action1. We have a twofold strategy. First off, we have invested significant resources to ensure that our platform meets the highest industry standards by becoming SOC 2 and ISO 27001 compliant. These aren’t just checkboxes for us. They are considered the gold standards for cloud service providers. And by adhering to these frameworks, we’re committed to following strict protocols and best practices that safeguard data integrity, confidentiality, availability, etcetera. This means our customers can trust that we are consistently working to protect their environments with the utmost care and diligence.
And the second part of our approach is particularly exciting. We are developing an innovative feature called agent takeover prevention. And here’s the idea. Even if in the worst case scenario, our cloud service were compromised, the agents that we deploy on customer endpoints have been designed to protect your environment. These agents are built to verify the authenticity of any commands they receive. So if a threat actor were to gain control of our back end, kind of the nightmare scenario of any cloud provider, these agents would simply refuse to execute any commands that aren’t coming from a trusted source, from you, the customer. This extra layer of defense could be a real game changer, helping to prevent incidents, reminiscent of what happened with Kaseya, SolarWinds, and even more high profile attacks like what happened to Microsoft and their federal, US federal government instances of Office 365.
And, you know, these, combination of these, there’s proactive security measures like agent takeover prevention and compliance with SOC 2 ISO 27001 where we’re setting a new benchmark for how security is handled in the cloud. And our goal is to ensure that even in today’s complex threat landscape, your environment remains secure. And because the last thing you want is a tool designed to increase your level of security actually increases your attack surface. And it’s just not acceptable.
Beau Hamilton (13:17)
Yeah, yeah, well, okay, that’s exciting. agent takeover prevention, I like the name, it makes it almost feel like I’m in like a James Bond film or something. But it also is very relevant nowadays. We see the term AI agents sort of increasing in popularity with various headlines and, not so much real world use cases just yet, but it’s coming.
But I’m so curious, like does this feature apply to every business? You know, every business, most businesses nowadays, they’re online in some way, shape or form, you know, everyone uses a smartphone, many of us use a laptop or a computer and business information is likely stored on some remote server somewhere. So I’m just curious, like are there any certain industries or businesses that benefit most from your platform, or could use this particular feature?
Mike Walters (14:11)
Good question. Well, when we talk about autonomous employment management, the truth is that almost any business, regardless of industry, can benefit from it. But when you drill down, the sectors that really gain are those that are most frequently targeted by threat actors and ransomware attacks like healthcare, finance, retail, and even government agencies. These organizations face constant pressure to reduce their mean time to remediation, what we call MTTR, so that even a zero-day, when a zero-day vulnerability pops up, it’s addressed as quickly as possible. And in today’s fast-paced threat landscape, even a few extra minutes can make all the difference between a contained incident and a major breach.
What’s really exciting about autonomous employee management is how it’s being integrated into advanced employee management tools. The critical piece here is the ability to configure automation in a way that it only kicks in when certain desired success thresholds are met, what we call external and internal confidence scores. Essentially, you can set the system to evaluate each patch or update against a calculated confidence level that aligns with your organization’s risk tolerance. That means you’re not just blindly automating, you’re making decisions based on hard data and predetermined criteria.
And this approach is a real game changer because it addresses the longstanding fear many organizations have of automation. There’s always that gut instinct, the worry that an automated patch might cause disruptions. Think, I don’t like this patch. Do I get fired if I deploy it? But you’re losing control over your environment. But by using these automated data-driven confidence scores, you’ve replaced guesswork with a more reliable and consistent approach. You know exactly where the system is ready to deploy a patch, and that minimizes human error while speeding up the remediation process.
And for everyday business scenarios that this means IT teams can finally set aside the endless cycle of manually checking, validating, and deploying updates. Instead, they can focus on higher value tasks while, you know, let the system automate it. And it’s all about shifting the operational burden and reducing the risk exposure at the same time.
And whether you’re a small business or a large enterprise, autonomous end point management offers a scalable risk adjusted approach to keeping your systems secure. It’s especially, going back to the question like which industries, it’s especially vital for those in industries that are high value targets for cyber criminals because it directly tackles the urgency of patching vulnerabilities automatically and intelligently helping organizations stay secure and compliant with far less effort.
Beau Hamilton (17:30)
Right. Okay. I want to pivot the conversation slightly to talk about, the offer that you guys have and that’s for, offering free 200. Basically you’re covering the first 200 endpoints for businesses, right? So they can kind of get a sample for what your platform offers, how it reforms. And I think this is really cool because I’m a big proponent of, you know, the phrase “proof is in the pudding” essentially. And I think that’s relevant here because, again, yeah, you’re offering a free trial. People and businesses can see firsthand how it works and let the benefits sort of speak for themselves. So can you just talk about this and how it offers, how it helps companies sort of get started with this whole modern endpoint management system you have?
Mike Walters (18:18)
Great question. I’m glad you asked about that. There’s often some confusion around the free models or freemium models, what they call, especially when vendors have offered limited free trials in the past or some crippled additions of the fully functional product. But our approach with the first free 200 endpoints is very different, if not radical. It’s not a trial. It’s not a light version with restricted functionality. It’s an entirely free tier that gives every organization or even an individual the full Action1 platform exactly the same robust product that our large enterprise clients use for up to 200 endpoints. Absolutely free forever and there’s absolutely no catch.
This model, it’s different for a variety of reasons. So for small businesses, it means you get access to modern cloud-based endpoint management without having to invest heavily upfront. It’s basically just zero. You don’t even need a credit card to sign up. You can deploy the same technology that large enterprises trust to secure and manage your endpoints and at no cost for those initial devices.
It just gets rid of this huge barrier to entry, especially for companies that might be on a tight budget but still need strong security and compliance capabilities because everybody needs those these days. For managed service providers, MSPs operating in budget-limited situations, especially that small MSP startups, this free tier is especially valuable. It allows you to get started with a fully functional platform, prove its value to your clients, and eventually scale up as needed without incurring any initial costs.
And even large enterprises can benefit from it. It’s a fantastic way to try out Action1 risk-free to see firsthand how it simplifies patch management and enhances security before deciding to integrate it fully or scale beyond the 200 endpoints threshold. Because they, even if you’re super large, like 100,000, 200,000 endpoints, you can deploy it in a smaller, in your branch office just to give it a run, see how it operates, and then scale.
In essence, this free for the first 200 endpoints model is designed to let you experience the modern endpoint management in its full capacity. You’re not being limited to a demo or restricted feature set. You’re getting the complete package. This approach, I think it not only builds trust in our platform, but also it helps organizations start their journey toward more efficient, secure and automated endpoint management without a hefty initial investment. And as you grow, as your needs evolve, you’ll already have a solid foundation in place.
And we so strongly believe in our product that when you sign up for Action1, you just go to the website, you don’t even have to talk to a live person. You just get in pretty much instantly. Put in your email address and you’re in. And if you want to use it for up to 200 endpoints, that’s it. You’re on your own. Again, we want everyone to use it. That’s why we made it so, so simple.
Beau Hamilton (22:03)
Yeah, no, I love, I wish every service had an offering like this because I, you know, trials are one thing. I mentioned it’s sort of like a trial, but it’s really not because a trial indicates it expires after a certain period of time. And this is a little bit more freeing in the sense of you get 200 endpoints. You can really get a full experience of like how this works for you and your needs.
And yeah, I just think, I think it’s great. I’m very supportive of this.
I wanna say, I wanna kind of also talk about, again, like the autonomous aspect. That’s a big buzzword for your company or for autonomous endpoint management. This kind of gets us into the world of artificial intelligence and like what’s coming down the pipeline. So I’m just curious, and you have mentioned agent takeover prevention is sort of this sort of a newer feature product offering of yours. What upcoming features do you have in the works for customers?
Mike Walters (23:02)
Looking ahead, we’re really excited about what’s coming next for Action1. One of the biggest innovations, the one that I’ve already mentioned, is the agent takeover prevention. And it’s a huge step forward, too. It’s that assurance that even if our cloud infrastructure were ever compromised, the agents in your environment would simply refuse to execute any unauthorized commands. This extra layer of protection is something we’re particularly proud of, and it sets the stage for a much more resilient security model.
But that’s just the beginning. We’re expanding our platforms across platform capabilities. One of our key priorities is to support Linux, which is a significant win for organizations running diverse environments that have the mix, Windows, Mac, Linux. Beyond that, we’re adding more enterprise grade features. Well, when I say enterprise grade, those are being asked by larger enterprises, but any business, when we start looking, like when we introduce something that we think would only be used by a larger enterprise, then we find out, it’s actually this could be an essential feature for much smaller companies as well.
And because they just make the platform even more robust. And think about things like roles-based access controls to allow for more granular permissions management so that every user in your organization gets exactly the access they need without any unnecessary risk.
And integration is another big focus we’re working on, tighter integrations with systems like ServiceNow, which can streamline workflows and help bring endpoint management into the broader IT ecosystem. Additionally, we’re looking at integrations with vulnerability management tools like Rapid7 and Tenable. What’s interesting is we do have, even without our knowledge, without any cooperation from our end, some of these companies like Rapid7 just recently created an integration with Action1 because I think it’s one of their, I think it’s not just one, it’s multitude of their customers who wanted this. And another one a few months before was Axonious, another company that just out of the blue, just we find out, there’s an app. Our customer tells us that Action1 is already integrated with Axonious. It’s like, wow, wonderful.
But by connecting these dots, because you can’t live on your own island, we aim to create a more holistic security solution that not only patches and protects you, but also gives you deeper insights into your overall security posture. And I think what’s really important is, our roadmap is driven by real user feedback. So much that our public roadmap lists nearly 500 hundred features directly related to patching. And that number isn’t just a metric. It’s a testament to our commitment to addressing the real world challenges our customers face.
We use a very data-driven approach to prioritize what we work on next and to make sure that every feature we develop delivers tangible value without spreading ourselves too thin. We remain laser focused on patching because we know that effective patch management is at the heart of keeping systems secure and compliant. That’s pretty much what we do.
Beau Hamilton (27:08)
Yeah. Yeah, it’s very true. Well, that’s a lot of exciting developments there. I appreciate you kind of breaking that down and then just sort of, it sheds a light on the future of where this space is going, which I always find interesting from an industry perspective to try to predict the future, especially with all these autonomous developments.
Now, for all the IT people listening to this podcast, maybe looking to modernize how they manage company devices, what should they do? Where should they start? Is there any solution or advice that comes to mind?
Mike Walters (27:44)
Well, yeah, absolutely. Here’s what I’d say for IT leaders looking to modernize their management practices. First off, it’s important to embrace modern approaches that don’t force you to reconfigure your entire network or expose your systems to new risks. Today’s solutions are designed to integrate seamlessly with your existing infrastructure. So instead of having to invest in additional hardware or complicated network adjustments, look for a cloud-based platform that just works out of the box. This not only minimizes set-up headaches, but also ensures that you’re not inadvertently opening up new security vulnerabilities.
And next, I think automation is key. Manual processes like patching, device management, they’re not only time consuming, but also prone to human error. Modern IT management solutions need to offer intelligent automation that handles routine tasks like patch deployment or compliance checks or what have you. With a solid automated system in place, you free up your IT team to focus on more strategic initiatives rather than getting bogged down with the, in repetitive manual work. This isn’t about relinquishing control. It’s about leveraging technology to ensure that everything is done quickly, correctly every time.
And simplicity of use is another crucial factor. The fewer products and tools you need to juggle, the better. And a consolidated, easy-to-use platform or limited to maybe a handful of platforms, like not some, I think Gartner’s estimates, a typical enterprise is using over a hundred different tools in the cybersecurity arsenal. But something that’s more consolidated and easy to use means less integration complexity, lower chance for misconfigurations or oversights. And when you streamline your tool set, you reduce not , not just reduce the operational overhead, but like you just reduce the risk of errors that can lead to downtime or security issues.
Beau Hamilton (30:13)
Okay, yeah, I think that’s great advice. And I think that at this point, we have a really good understanding of Action1 and sort of the solutions you guys offer. And I think that’s, I think it’s gonna be really invaluable for a lot of people listening.
And now that we’re kind of, we’re getting into like the 30 minutes mark of this interview, and I always like to kind of wrap up the interview with sort of focusing on you and your kind of experience working in this industry for the last, you know, handful of decades and experiencing so much change like the cloud atmosphere or migration and then now with this new AI wave that I keep referring to.
So I want to get a little bit introspective and just see if you can share some of your experience with our listeners. So my first question is, if you could go back to the start of your career, what’s one piece of advice you’d give yourself?
Mike Walters (31:04)
Well, that’s great. I finally have a time machine. Well, I probably tell my younger self to embrace the risk of entrepreneurship much sooner. I spent years as an employee working for someone. I was held back by the fear of losing a, you know, things like steady income and uncertainty that comes with starting your own venture. And eventually I found it, Netwrix, which grew into a multi-billion dollar company. Looking back, I realized that taking that leap earlier could have accelerated my growth, both personally and professionally.
And that’s just, and I mean, every person is different. Like I’m not saying that everybody has to be an entrepreneur. It’s not for everyone. And like there’s, you know, there’s pros and cons of, it all depends on how your mind operates or what lifestyle you want to have. And then again, being a founder, being an entrepreneur, it’s not a get rich quick scheme. It’s the last. of that, it’s probably the hardest way, right?
Well, so my advice in general would be, trust yourself, step out of your comfort zone, and don’t let the fear of uncertainty hold you back from pursuing your vision. If you believe in something, just, you know, there’s always gonna be all those naysayers telling you, okay, no, you shouldn’t do that, nobody’s ever done that before, or it’s not for you, only you know what’s good for you. In some cases, it’s just best to stop listening and then trust your inner self.
Beau Hamilton (33:03)
I love that. Yeah. Okay. So what, what about like a small change that you’ve, you’ve, your company has made that sort of ended up having a big impact. And I guess that could be for any of the companies you’ve, you’ve worked for doesn’t have to be necessarily just Action1, but is there maybe one particular pivotal moment, that, that had a really big impact that you can think of maybe had a big ripple effect.
Mike Walters (33:27)
Amazing question. Love this. I mean, it’s all about making the right decisions because one decision could make it or break it. It could result in exponential growth or a complete failure. But I think in a in in case of Action1, one small change with a huge impact was our decision to laser focus on patch management early on.
Instead of spreading our resources thin across multiple areas, which was tempting. I mean, you create a platform that is capable of doing so many different things. Instead of that, we concentrated solely on solving the critical pain point of patching. This focus allowed us to streamline our processes, innovate more efficiently, and deliver greater value to our customers.
It’s like avoiding tiny bee sting that can disrupt progress by, you know, just like this analogy, like why bee stings so painfully? Because it’s so thin and so laser focused. If it was like, you know, something much thicker, it wouldn’t be so painful. So I use this analogy. So stay focused, be like a bee stinger, this focus.
And you can turn any potential weakness into your biggest strength. And by making this decision early on, I think that going back when we, back in the Netwrix days, the previous company, we made the same decision. We had like early on, we had I think 35 different products. It’s like, I don’t know, it’s just impossible to be excellent in all of those. We killed the, most of them and picked only the one or two that were the most successful, which we believed in their potential and focused and became highly successful.
Beau Hamilton (35:40)
Yeah, I love that. I think that’s really, really important because, yeah, you want to do something, you want to do one thing really, really well before you start even thinking about, kind of, doing anything else. I mean, my mind just goes to, and listeners will kind of find this familiar with previous episodes, but like I have a YouTube background and there was a big, there was a moment in the kind of the YouTube arc where a lot of creators were pivoting, they’re, they’re separate channels for different like side hustles they were doing or like hobbies, whether it’s like, would focus on reviewing products and then, I would think about maybe doing vlogs or podcasts or something, and I would create a separate channel for each of these endeavors.
But then I started realizing, no, this is just watering down the main, my brand, my product. Instead, what I should do is just really focus on building out my main focus, which was product reviews, and just kind of go from there. And I think that kind of translates to a much smaller scale, of course, but I think it translates to Action1 and how you guys are so laser focused on the patch management. So I think, I think that’s really, it hits home.
Mike Walters (36:54)
Yeah, because I think it’s a natural instinct. You’re like, why limit yourself? But at the same time, like if you don’t limit yourself, if you don’t stay focused, you’re just like, you can’t, you can’t be successful in so many different things. But if you just pick one and make it a goal to become highly successful, that it’s just, that’s all about the rest is all about your perseverance and, you know, your patience and you can do, you can do everything once, once you, once you become focused.
Beau Hamilton (37:25)
Yeah. And doesn’t have to always be, maybe a business aspect, I mean, if it’s something you really like doing, you can be successful in one thing and then kind of keep, keep the hobby as a hobby, you know, sometimes the, the business aspect of trying to make it into a monetary exchange kind of ruins it maybe, you know?
Mike Walters (37:45)
Oh, it’s, it can never be monetized. Like once you set your mind on the monetary benefits, like you kind of lose, it lose the whole, you lose the fun. You lose the fun of it. Like you lose the thrill of it. It becomes a more mundane, you know, tedious task. I get it. You know, I got to improve my financial situation. That’s not, that should never be the goal. No, no successful person ever became successful because of making it of their goal. I mean, it’s nice to have, you know, lots of money, but it’s not it. You can’t, you can’t just become successful. Like, I just need to make more money. Like, that’s not that’s not the right path.
Beau Hamilton (38:29)
Yeah, even if that’s the case, you have the right, you have the wrong priorities, you know? Well, this has been a great interview. I really appreciate you taking the time to sit down talk with us. I guess one final question, and that’s just how can listeners learn more about Action1 and get in touch with you and maybe your team?
Mike Walters (38:47)
Well, it’s like I said earlier, getting started with Action1 is really as simple as it gets. If you’re interested in experiencing that, just head over to action1.com, sign up for an account and literally takes less than a minute. You have no need to talk to anyone or jump the hoops. All you need is your email address and some basic information you’re in.
What’s great is that once you sign up, you immediately get access to a fully functional platform for the first 200 endpoints, completely free, you know, small business or small MSB or you are just exploring options. You can try out the full range of features or, you know, without paying anything and the setup. And even if you’re a large enterprise, like I said, you can still use, you always get the first 200 free. Like even if you sign up, you start becoming paying customer, you still get the first 200 free. That’s the kind of a fair deal for everyone.
And, you know, from account creation to patching your first system, it really takes less than five minutes. We have a quick start guide that explains how to do that. And it’s, you know, seeing is believing. Try that. Sign up, follow through that, and you’ll see how simple and how easy to use it is.
And, you know, then some more advanced functions like, you know, there’s a lot in the platform. One thing to keep in mind is one interesting problem that we ran into is the threat actor abuse because just because it’s a free platform, we’ve noticed over time that some rogue accounts being created and they put those agents in random environments and then use Action1 as like command and control center.
So that’s why we put this verification procedure in place, but it’s super simple. We want like, you create an account, it’s a functional account, but you have to verify yourself by like if you have a LinkedIn account, there’s like check mark next to your LinkedIn accounts, free verification that takes you through a LinkedIn verification process through a third party like ID.me. And once we have that information, we just fully unlock all the functions for up to 200.
But again, it’s not a sales function. Like some people are like, they want our LinkedIn account so they can send junk messages to us. No, no, it’s really about this threat, actor abuse prevention. That’s like an unfortunate consequence of Action1 being too free, right?
Beau Hamilton (41:36)
Well, yeah, that’s awesome. I really like that aspect of the 200 free endpoints. I think that’s huge. And maybe, yeah, maybe one of these days we can have you back for a demo and you kind of walk us through what it looks like and how it works. But yeah, until then, I think this has been really insightful. I appreciate, again, all your time. This is Mike Walters, Co-founder and President of Action1. Thanks again, Mike. Appreciate it.
Mike Walters (42:00)
Thanks, Beau. Thanks.
Beau Hamilton (42:01)
Thank you all for listening to the SourceForge Podcast. I’m your host, Beau Hamilton. Make sure to subscribe to stay up to date with all of our upcoming B2B software related podcasts. I will talk to you in the next one.