Maxime Trottier is dedicated to driving growth and ensuring an exceptional customer experience at every stage. At Devolutions, he leads initiatives across revenue, support, product marketing, training, and documentation. Whether it’s helping the team achieve major goals, launching innovative ideas, or streamlining the user journey, Maxime is deeply involved in every aspect. He is also a strong advocate for collaboration, clear communication, and making technology feel more approachable and human.

For those who aren’t familiar, can you start by explaining what Devolutions does?

Devolutions provides powerful, yet accessible Privileged Access Management (PAM), password management, remote connection management and remote access tools — specifically designed for small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs). While most enterprise-grade solutions are too complex or expensive for SMBs, Devolutions offers a practical alternative that’s secure, scalable, and easy to deploy.

Our mission is simple: to help IT teams strengthen security without slowing down productivity. We believe cybersecurity should enable people to work — not get in their way. That’s why our solutions are built to help SMBs control the chaos, reduce risk, and empower teams to move fast, with confidence.

You just announced results from your global IT security survey. Give us the backstory about the survey and report. How many years has Devolutions conducted this survey? What was the motivation for creating such a report?

This is the fifth edition of our annual cybersecurity survey. Each year, we collect responses from IT professionals, security leaders, and executives around the world to better understand how SMBs are handling evolving cyberthreats.

We launched this initiative because there simply wasn’t enough data focused on SMBs. Most research highlights enterprise-level trends — yet SMBs face the same risks, often with fewer resources. Our goal is to uncover what’s working, what’s not, and where the biggest security gaps still exist.

Beyond the raw data, the report provides six key insights, a future outlook on where SMB security is headed, and practical recommendations teams can act on right away — no matter their size or budget. It’s designed to help SMBs benchmark themselves and make smarter, faster decisions.

Tell us about some of the highlights from the new report. What were some key takeaways?

There were six major takeaways from this year’s survey:

• Confidence is high — but capability still lags. 71% of SMBs feel confident handling a cyber incident, but only 22% report having an advanced security posture.
• Manual PAM is still the norm. 52% of SMBs still rely on spreadsheets or shared vaults for privileged access.
• AI is gaining interest — but adoption is slow. While 71% plan to increase AI use, 40% aren’t using it at all yet.
• Budgets are growing — but many still invest less than 5% of IT spend into security.
• Insider threats are widely acknowledged but rarely addressed. Just 20% have a formal plan in place.
• Training remains inconsistent. Only 39% offer continuous training, while 17% offer none at all.

These insights point to a broader theme: SMBs are aware of the risks — but many haven’t yet operationalized that awareness.

Was there anything that surprised you about the findings? If so, what?

Yes — a few things genuinely stood out. One of the biggest surprises was just how many SMBs are still managing privileged access manually. Despite all the awareness around ransomware and insider threats, 52% of respondents are still relying on spreadsheets or shared vaults to manage sensitive credentials. That’s not just a tooling gap — it’s a visibility and accountability gap. It means that when access needs to be revoked or audited, too many teams are still relying on guesswork or outdated processes.

Another major gap was around insider threats. 78% of SMBs said they’re concerned, yet only 20% have a formal strategy to address them. That’s a huge disconnect — and frankly, a missed opportunity. Insider threats aren’t hypothetical. They happen through poor offboarding, shadow IT, and everyday mistakes — not just malicious actors.

What these numbers really highlight is a broader theme we saw throughout the survey: awareness is rising, but operational maturity isn’t catching up fast enough. Teams know where the problems are, but too often they don’t have the tools, time, or support to fix them.

Does any of the information gleaned from the report impact Devolutions’ product / service offerings? If so, how?

Definitely. The survey not only confirms the pain points we hear from our community — it also shapes our product roadmap. It helps us stay aligned with what SMBs actually need, not what the enterprise world assumes they need.

For example, the fact that 52% of respondents still manage privileged access manually reinforces our focus on making our PAM solution even easier to adopt and scale, especially for smaller teams with limited resources. That means faster onboarding, simpler policy setup, and more intuitive role-based access controls — all without sacrificing security.

We also saw strong feedback around AI and training gaps, which ties directly into how we’re evolving Devolutions Academy. More customers are asking for flexible, role-specific learning — not just technical how-tos, but content that helps users understand the why behind security decisions. That’s where we’re headed.

And on a broader level, the survey continues to validate our mission: cybersecurity should be built around SMBs — not retrofitted for them. These findings give us the insight to keep building products that are practical, affordable, and powerful, without adding complexity SMBs can’t manage.

Have you received any reaction yet from early recipients of the report? Was there anything that surprised them?

Yes, we’ve already had great engagement. One thing that stood out to many readers was how widespread certain manual practices still are — especially around PAM and training. A lot of IT pros assumed these were isolated cases, but the data showed that these challenges are the norm, not the exception.

For many, the report has been a source of clarity — not just in highlighting gaps, but in providing clear guidance on where to improve. It’s helped teams reframe their next steps, knowing they’re not alone, and that solutions designed for SMBs — like the ones we offer — are available to help them strengthen their posture without adding complexity.

That’s exactly what we hoped the report would do: spark progress, not panic.

Devolutions was recently named a 2025 Champion in Info-Tech’s Emotional Footprint Report for PAM. Tell us a little more about what that signifies.

Being named a 2025 Champion in Info-Tech’s Emotional Footprint Report for PAM is a huge honor — especially because it’s based entirely on feedback from real users. For us, it’s a validation of everything we’ve been working toward: bridging the gap between strong security and everyday usability for SMBs.

Let’s face it — most PAM solutions out there are built for large enterprises. They’re complex, expensive, and often out of reach for smaller teams. At Devolutions, we chose a different path. We listened to SMBs, understood their pain points, and focused on building solutions that are powerful, but also accessible, cost-effective, and easy to deploy.

This recognition means a lot because it confirms that you don’t have to sacrifice simplicity to get serious security. SMBs are not only using our products — they’re genuinely satisfied with the experience, the support, and the results.

So yes, we’re proud — but more importantly, it’s a sign that accessible PAM for SMBs isn’t just a concept. It’s working. And we’re just getting started.

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