About
Built by someone who saw the problem from the inside
Stratum started with a simple observation: the platforms PEOs depend on were built for vendors, not operators. Pricing that compounds with growth. Compliance that flags problems after they happen. Infrastructure you can never truly own.
Founder & CEO
Dillon Flack
Ex-Microsoft, then eight years at a PEO leading business process and automation.
For years I watched PEOs overpay for underwhelming software that billed more for every employee they added — a tax on their own growth. I became convinced PEOs deserved a real choice: self-host on a flat perpetual license so your cost never moves as you scale, or hand us the infrastructure and go fully managed instead.
Our mission is to give PEOs that choice, instead of locking them into whatever model happens to benefit the vendor most.
What we believe
The principles behind every decision
Owned, not rented
The SaaS model benefits the vendor, not the operator. We built Stratum to be licensed, self-hosted, and owned — because a PEO's platform should be an asset on its balance sheet, not a recurring liability.
Compliance isn't a checkbox
Most platforms validate transactions against rules. Stratum validates the rules themselves — catching misconfigured leave plans, withholding edge cases, and multi-state worker issues before they become audit findings or client attrition.
Growth shouldn't force a hard choice
Self-host and your license cost is fixed the day you sign, no matter how many employees you add. Prefer not to run the infrastructure yourself? A fully managed option is available too. Either way, you pick the model — not us.
Built with operators, not for them
Stratum was designed with input from PEO frontline staff — payroll administrators, HR coordinators, compliance managers. The people who live in this software every day. That shapes what we build and how we build it.
The Platform
Eight years of PEO operations, distilled into software
Stratum covers the full PEO lifecycle: payroll engine with 50-state coverage, workers' compensation, HR and onboarding, benefits administration, leave compliance, CRM, and reporting. Every module was built to handle the edge cases that generic HRIS platforms push back to your ops team as manual exceptions.
The architecture is microservices — independently deployable, and available either self-hosted on your own infrastructure with a perpetual license that keeps your platform cost fixed the day you sign, or fully managed if you'd rather not run it yourself.
Explore the platform →Work with us
We're building a small number of implementation partnerships with PEOs that want to compete differently. If that's you, let's talk.
Get in Touch