Dreaming Amongst the Clouds: Xactly Rests Easy with Okta

Without transparency or data to drive decisions, employee incentive programs can be challenging to manage. Xactly, a company that designs and manages employee incentives, makes difficulties a thing of the past with real-time visibility, enterprise analytics and end-to-end automation of sales compensation.

By implementing Okta’s identity management and single sign-on solution, Xactly improved their management and security. We sat down with Robert Genchi, director of IT at Xactly, to hear how Okta helped make that transformation.

What was IT like before Okta?

We were, and still are, focused on solving problems by automating tasks that are done manually or cause a lot of problems. We like to make the lives of our employees easier. I really try to automate where possible and rally the team around that concept. While automation made individual tasks easier to accomplish, it resulted in a lot of password reset requests and people complaining about not remembering URLs. I knew we needed a solution, and selected Okta.

Why did you choose Okta specifically?

It came down to three things: AD integration, single sign-on and ultimately, identity management. We connect to as many applications as humanly possible. I really push my end users to take advantage of both business and personal applications. For example, we added a Jimmy John’s button and I got a big pat on the back for that one. I know, it sounds funny, but Xactly loves Jimmy John’s and Okta makes it possible to add applications like that without all the headache of another sign-on and URL to remember. Our employees are happy because they get freaky fast delivery with the click of a button, and we’re happy because they’re back to work faster than ever.

What’s the biggest benefit you’ve seen since implementing Okta?

That’s a really hard question to answer because everything Okta has done for Xactly has been a huge benefit to the company. We’ve seen a major reduction in password reset requests, which is great operationally speaking because it saves a lot of time. I can easily give people access to applications when they need it and have that access removed when they need it. Another great benefit has been the ability to build an identity architecture with an application that can support it. I couldn’t be happier.

What impact will Okta have on Xactly long term?

Securing and managing our identity, as a company is very important to us. I know that single sign-on is the bread and butter of Okta, but it’s Okta’s ability to solve our employees application identity problem that will help us scale as a company. With Okta we can add as many applications as we need without worrying about lost passwords, forgotten URLs or how to keep our company secure.

To hear the rest of our conversation with Robert, check out Xactly’s customer testimonial page or the interview below.