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Because no data is stored on the device, it is inherently secure: A thief would get away with a 3.5-inch box -- albeit one worth several hundred dollars -- but the liability would end there. Nor can anyone tunnel into the data from the outside -- it simply isn't there.

"You just can't breach security when there is nothing on the device and no operating system running," Loof said.

As a result, certain vertical markets such as financial and healthcare companies -- as well as other industries subject to regulatory mandates such as HIPAA or SOX -- are critical segments for Pano Logic's business. For smaller companies, compliance with such mandates can be major resource drains. That, in part, explains the breakdown of Pano Logic's current customer base: 75% have less than 600 devices deployed, and while it's not necessarily one-to-one device-to-employee ratio, it gives a good indicator of company size. Pano Logic has roughly 1,000 customers and 30,000 devices running in production environments. The company targets its direct sales to SMBs and essentially outsources the enterprise market through its OEM relationship with Fujitsu, which offers a Pano-powered zero client that includes a monitor.

"We're a small company and we want to focus on the technology and improvements in the technology," Loof said. "With our existing sales force, we're really focused on the SMB space."

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