Here's a number worth sitting with: by 2027, Gartner predicts 75% of employees will acquire, modify, or create technology outside IT's visibility. For distributed teams, that number is probably already a reality. When your workforce is spread across locations, working from different environments, and leaning on a growing stack of virtual tools to stay connected, access management is beyond complicated.
A Q&A with Phillip Walters, Principal, Urban3
Urban3 is a nationally distributed analysis firm that helps clients across the country make sense of complex data. Their team operates virtually, coordinating across locations with a lean structure that demands flexibility, trust, and reliable access to shared resources. We spoke with Phillip Walters, Principal at Urban3, about the access challenges that came with building a remote-first culture, and how LastPass helped them build a more secure foundation without adding overhead their team couldn't sustain.
Q: Can you tell us about Urban3 and how your team operates?
A: We're a geographically distributed team that provides analysis for clients all over the nation, which means we spend a lot of time in virtual meetings and rely heavily on shared digital tools. Coordination is everything for us. When your team is spread across different locations, the systems you use to stay connected and keep things running smoothly are critical.
Q: What challenges were you running into before finding a solution?
A: Manual sharing of credentials is slow and cumbersome. When you have multiple principals and logistical staff who need access to the same accounts, the old-fashioned approach just doesn't scale. We wanted ease of sharing and resiliency — a system that wouldn't break down if someone was unavailable, whether it was a sick day or something more serious.
Q: What made solving this a priority when it did?
A: Our first fully remote employee was the turning point. After that, the COVID era accelerated everything. Suddenly the need was impossible to ignore. When your entire team is working from different places, you need infrastructure that makes that possible without creating security gaps.
Q: What made LastPass the right fit for Urban3?
A: Honestly, it started with word of mouth — one team member had a positive personal experience, and that moved LastPass to the front of the line. What sealed it was the concept of a secure, controllable digital nerve center. We needed something that could give us functionality and confidence in our newly distributed reality. LastPass delivered that.
Q: What has the impact been since adopting LastPass?
A: The password vault has become our go-to tool. The most immediate impact? Meetings actually start on time. One of our logisticians can pull credentials from LastPass in minutes, which means a meeting starts three minutes late instead of being rescheduled altogether. It sounds small, but for a team of high-value thinkers, that kind of efficiency adds up. It's comparative advantage in action — our principals stay focused on high-level work while our logistical staff have everything they need to keep things running.
A secure foundation to solve access challenges
The challenges Phillip describes are ones that distributed teams everywhere will recognize. When your workforce is remote and your tools are virtual, access management becomes the connective tissue that holds everything together — and when it's handled informally — the exposure is real. Unapproved AI tools and SaaS apps, shared credentials over email, accounts tied to individuals who may not be available: these aren't edge cases. They're the norm for lean, fast-moving organizations.
Password management is where the Urban3 story starts — and it remains a critical foundation of secure access for any organization. But as teams grow, tools multiply, and remote work becomes permanent, the need for visibility and control across the entire access landscape grows with it. LastPass is built to meet teams where they are today and scale with them as those challenges expand.
Ready to give your distributed team the same foundation? Discover how LastPass Secure Access Essentials helps lean teams secure access, manage credentials, and stay productive — without the overhead.
