Tell us about Liverton Security
Liverton Security is a cyber security product development business. We are passionate about helping keep people safe on the Internet. We do this by producing innovative, leading edge software products that protect people and their data. We have several software products that prevent accidental data loss, protect users from nefarious or unwanted emails and enable users to send files of any size securely and safely.
How did you come up with the idea for the company?
I started Liverton in September 2000 after building a product to provide users with controlled access to the Internet. The product was initially developed for an individual organisation however when multiple other organisations also wanted to use the software, I started Liverton to service these customers.
This led to several other products being built. In all cases, the innovation for new products and features comes from finding solutions to specific end-customer issues. Our strength is to identify real-world issues, create software solutions to resolve these issues and productise the solution into easy to deploy systems that anyone can use.
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What is your advice to aspiring entrepreneurs?
Believe in what you are doing, validate quickly with early adopter customers to ensure the solution works in the real world and is relevant for a cross-section of users. Knowing that if one customer has a problem that can be resolved, others are likely to face the same issue. Creating something that can solve the same issue across different organisations creates a market for your solution. This can take time, so perseverance is key to succeeding, which is true in almost every aspect of life.
What most excites you about Liverton Security?
The people at Liverton Security are exceptional. They are smart, committed and innovative. They produce product excellence to meet the requirements of our customers. To see a customer’s frustration trigger an idea that results in the development of a product, to resolve that frustration, is an exciting and addictive process.
How has the company evolved over the last couple of years?
During Liverton’s history we developed two independent streams of products. One was hospitality software solutions including hotel wifi systems and self-service hotel check-in kiosks. The other was cyber security products predominantly for the New Zealand government. In 2018 my business partner and I decided to separate the business into two separate entities. Liverton Technology continues to provide hospitality software, Liverton Security provides cyber security software products.
The output from our strategic planning for 2022 was the decision to expand internationally. We opened an office in London and have been growing the UK market. We now have several UK based customers and are well on our way to full fiscal independence. We are looking to replicate this expansion into Australia, Europe and Asia.
What can we hope to see from Liverton Security in the future?
Liverton Security continues to innovate, and we have a number of product additions in our roadmap. We are expecting a strong up-take in our SHIFT For Outlook Large Secure File Transfer system. The additions we have recently made to our MailAdviser data loss prevention system will also make it compelling. Both systems work in Microsoft Outlook and are available via the Microsoft Marketplace.
This means any Microsoft Outlook user can get the benefit of data loss protection (DLP) and large secure file transfer without needing to leave Outlook.
There is a strong uptake in our SmartGate email filtering solution. This is a real contender against traditional email filtering systems as an easier to use, cheaper and more fit-for-purpose email filtering solution.
We have also launched a Consulting division that focuses on guiding people through their cyber security journey. This includes auditing, certification support, penetration testing and code reviews. Our consulting focus is currently on New Zealand however we are looking to bring that capability into the UK by the end of 2025.
