Dispel.com is a cybersecurity company offering a zero-trust platform for secure remote access to operational technology (OT), IT, and cyber-physical systems (CPS). Their platform focuses on protecting critical infrastructure by ensuring secure access for remote users and devices, integrating features like identity and access management, moving target defense, and OT DMZ unification.

As Technical Product Manager at Dispel, I led the initiative to modernize our cybersecurity platform’s functionality while maintaining FedRAMP High compliance. Our platform required significant improvements to user workflows, administrative capabilities, and backend systems to meet the growing demands of our customers and evolving security requirements.

My role involved defining, scoping, and implementing platform-wide improvements that enhanced user experience, strengthened security, and streamlined administrative functions. These changes needed to align with our FedRAMP High compliance requirements while supporting the company’s strategic goals for market expansion.

I began by conducting user research and gathering feedback from our customer support team to identify areas of pain on the platform. This research revealed several key areas for improvement, including admin workflows, user interface consistency, and backend logging capabilities.

For admin workflows, I designed new dashboards that consolidated previously scattered functions into a cohesive interface. Using Figma, I created wireframes that showed how administrators could manage user permissions, monitor system health, and access audit logs from a single location. These designs went through several iterations based on feedback from our power users and security teams.

The user interface needed consistency across different platform sections. I mapped out the entire user journey and identified areas where behavior differed unexpectedly. Working with engineering, we established a standardized pattern library for common actions like authentication flows, error handling, and navigation. This not only improved usability but also eliminated potential security vulnerabilities that could arise from inconsistent implementations.

One prominent feature I defined was session video recording, crucial for security auditing and compliance requirements. I wrote detailed technical specifications covering storage requirements, encryption standards, and retention policies. The feature needed to strike a balance between security needs, privacy concerns, and storage costs. I worked closely with our legal team to ensure compliance with various privacy regulations while meeting our security requirements.

Backend improvements focused on system logging and architectural changes. I specified comprehensive logging requirements that would capture necessary security events while avoiding performance impacts. This included defining log formats, retention periods, and integration with security information and event management (SIEM) systems.

Throughout the development process, I wrote technical user stories in Jira that broke down complex features into manageable tasks, allowing for clear understanding and practical implementation. Each story included acceptance criteria that emphasized both functional requirements and security considerations. For example, the session recording feature had stories covering the recording mechanism, storage encryption, access controls, and user notification systems.

I established regular prioritization meetings with business stakeholders to ensure that our technical roadmap aligned with the company’s strategy. Using data from customer feedback, support tickets, and security requirements, I developed a scoring system that objectively prioritized features based on their business impact and technical complexity.

Working within our SDLC, I guided features from conception through deployment. This involved regular code reviews to ensure security standards were met, coordinating with QA for comprehensive testing, and managing the staged rollout of new features to minimize risk.

The platform improvements delivered significant measurable outcomes. Admin workflow efficiency increased by 40% based on the time it takes to complete everyday tasks. User support tickets related to interface confusion decreased by 60% after standardizing the UI patterns. The session recording feature has become a key differentiator for our government clients, resulting in three major contract wins. The improved logging system reduced our incident response time by 50% and strengthened our security posture to meet FedRAMP compliance requirements.

Most importantly, we achieved these improvements while maintaining our security standards and FedRAMP High compliance. The standardized approach to feature development created a template for future improvements, making it easier to scale the platform while maintaining security and usability.

This project demonstrated my ability to balance technical requirements, security compliance, and user needs while managing the development of complex features in a highly regulated environment. The success of these improvements validated our approach to product development and strengthened Dispel’s position in the cybersecurity market.