Of all the SaaS metrics, remaining performance obligations (RPO) is the one most often quoted and least often understood. Okta's (OKTA) DEF 14A proxy, filed May 7, 2026, gives a clean number to anchor on: RPO, which the filing explicitly calls "subscription backlog, was $4.827 billion, an increase of 15% year-over-year."
RPO is, in plain terms, the value of subscription contracts a company has already signed but has not yet recognized as revenue. It is the committed backlog — money customers are contractually obligated to pay over the life of their deals. A growing RPO means Okta is booking durable, multi-period commitments faster than it is burning down the existing book; the 15% increase says the committed pipeline is still expanding.
The proxy also points to the distinction that separates careful readers from careless ones: total RPO versus current RPO. The filing notes current RPO is the "contracted" portion expected to convert within roughly the next twelve months. Total RPO can grow because a vendor signed very long contracts that mostly pay out years from now — which is fine, but it is a different signal than current RPO accelerating. The near-term growth read lives in current RPO; the long-term commitment read lives in total.
For Okta specifically, RPO carries extra weight because the company's story since its identity-platform repositioning has been about durability — whether large enterprises keep committing to Okta as their identity layer. A $4.827 billion backlog growing 15% is a tangible, filed answer to that question. Read Okta's proxy at sec.gov; surfaced via EdgarBeast, the SEC filing data API and evidence index.
The takeaway: $4.83 billion in RPO is a measure of demand already locked in, not revenue already earned. To read Okta correctly, separate total RPO from current RPO — the first tells you how committed the base is, the second tells you how fast that commitment becomes revenue.