Enabling Our Customers’ Success Is at the Core of Everything We Do

There’s no instruction manual for digital transformation. Modern organizations know that to streamline operations, defend data, and secure customer applications, moving to a cloud-based IT infrastructure supported by strong identity and access management (IAM) is critical. But where does this journey begin? What does it entail? When does it end?

Those are questions that every enterprise is trying to answer—and we’ve made it our mission to help. Whether it’s supporting Major League Baseball (MLB) in allowing more people to seamlessly engage with the sport across multiple platforms, or partnering with Albertsons to create streamlined experiences for its 30-million weekly shoppers, Okta takes pride in being a key player at every stage of our customers’ journey.

We know that no two challenges are alike

At Okta, we understand that every organization is unique. We start every new engagement with a conversation, encouraging our customers to tell us what they envision for their identity journey. Then, we help them design and implement a solution that helps them successfully achieve their business objectives.

For MLB, everything depended on Opening Day 2019. They had to plan a comprehensive cloud architecture, create integrations, conduct tests, and migrate millions of accounts over in less than nine months. Working with our Professional Services team, they built out a strategy that set up the organization—and its users—for success.

Likewise, Albertsons had a monumental task at hand. With more than 20 banner brands under the company’s name, responsible for 2,300 stores across the U.S., they are the go-to grocery retailer for 30-million customers every single week. Modernizing their infrastructure was going to be a huge undertaking, which is why IT leaders started by talking to Okta’s Customer First team, gathering the knowledge and insight they needed to move forward.

We set our customers up for success

It’s important to us that our customers can drive their vision with Okta while harnessing the power of our features and functionality. That’s why Okta offers several types of training courses to customers, ensuring that they’re equipped with the tools and information to continue innovating.

• Instructor-led training enables learning through hands-on workshops online or on-site.
• On-demand training provides access to our library of recorded sessions so you can learn at your own pace.
• Private classes can be commissioned and designed to help your team address a specific need.
• Okta training units, launched last year, allow you to invest in upskilling your team over time.

When the team at Albertsons set out to strengthen the company’s security posture by eliminating excess identities and improving security around sensitive data and apps, they turned to Okta’s Educational Services to learn more about IAM and the customer identity and access management (CIAM) products available to their engineers and developers.

We believe in a phased approach to deployment

Deployment is an iterative process: Okta stands by our customers to help map out projects, deliver quick wins, and strategically meet longer-term milestones. “The Okta team members might as well have had mlb.com email addresses,” says Neil Boland, Major League Baseball’s chief information security officer. “The whole team functioned as if they were on my team.”

For MLB, the most important milestone was launching on Opening Day. To start, we had Okta Professional Services working with the MLB launch team. Then, Okta Engineering rigorously tested the solution with them, and the Customer First team stayed on deck as the new system was rolled out.

We partner with customers for continuous growth

In today’s ever-evolving ecosystem, a successful launch doesn’t mean an organization is future proof. There are going to be changes and challenges ahead, as well as new goals to achieve. This is why a Customer Success Manager stays on with each of our customers throughout their partnership with Okta, helping to measure adoption and the effectiveness of their solution and keeping them in-the-know about new products, features, and future opportunities.

As MLB expands the omnichannel experience for its customers, it continues to work with Okta for IAM. And Okta is also enabling Albertsons to build out the customer interfaces for its latest innovations, including its third-party app, OneTouch Fuel.

“From the beginning, we knew Okta had to be a partner in this journey, from training to technical implementation to day-to-day workshops,” says Roopa Acharya, VP of software engineering at Albertsons. “The partnership helped us dot every ‘i’ and cross every ‘t’, and ensured every risk was assessed. This is our customers’ front-facing experience. It wasn’t something we could fail.”

Okta’s follow-the-sun support model means our customers are supported, no matter where they are in the world. Are you looking for a team that’s always on and able to assist with your mission-critical identity and cloud initiatives? Contact our team and let’s have a conversation.