"There is an axiom of 'Don't repeat yourself' in software development," said Elizabeth Lawler.
Lawler is the CEO behind Conjur, the startup that has created a common platform for all stakeholders involved in cloud security to manage applications and protect data within the cloud. The newest addition to Boston's burgeoning cloud community has been working in stealth mode for the past two years, bringing its cloud security framework to perfection before putting it on the market Wednesday.
"Conjur provides a framework for developers, DevOps, IT and security teams to use a common platform to do just that... make security, access control, and governance rules, or as we call them on our website, 'patterns,' that everyone can use and deploy routinely," explained Lawler. "And with that security in place, there is tremendous opportunity for novel software application architectures in the cloud."
Lawler and her husband, Kevin Gilpin, first began building out the idea in 2011.
"We founded Conjur because of a headache my husband and I shared together from two different perspectives," said Lawler. "The day-to-day pain was that we wanted to share data more effectively."
The wife and husband pair were working in healthcare, an industry that deals with highly sensitive information but wants to catch up with technology and move into the cloud, added Lawler.
The power couple began speaking with pharmaceutical companies, research institutions and healthcare entities, and distilled the idea down into what is now Conjur's proposed solution: a single cloud security system that's accessible and understandable to all stakeholders.
The now nine-person company first tested the tech on Lawler and Gilpin's other venture, a mobile app tool called eClinical Diary, which they were working on prior to Conjur. According to Lawler, they let eClinical Diary slide because of the transformative opportunity they found within Conjur.
While the company was initially spawned to meet the needs of the healthcare industry, Conjur's service could aid all sectors that require tight security, including finance, software and biopharmaceuticals. Said Lawler:
We really think we have an opportunity to change the conversation... We want to help [developers, DevOps, IT and security teams] rethink architectures to make them safe and secure, while also work on things that are really changing people's lives and opening up a greater opportunity for people to leverage the cloud better.
Avalon Ventures, Amplify Partners and local angel Andy Palmer are willing to pay up to get a piece of the startup's opportunity, as well. The aforementioned investors contributed to Conjur's clandestine seed round, for an undisclosed amount, back in July.
The company has been working out of Palmer's Harvard Square co-working space Koa Labs, but is looking for a space of its own, most likely within the Porter Square area, according to Lawler.
"Boston and Cambridge host such an opening and welcoming health and IT community," noted the CEO. "There are so many different types of companies in the area large and small that have worked around this issue, and they've really influenced our understanding of the problem."
