Innovation Ignited: How technologists spark innovation with Identity
Maintaining a technology stack that scales to meet the needs of employees, partners, and customers is increasingly complex, yet the stakes for managing app and data access are higher than ever. The tools and strategies that chief information officers and IT directors implement for managing identities and access have a direct impact on security compliance, innovation potential, and user experience.
How organizations manage digital identities also determines their effectiveness in protecting their data and reputation. Complex solutions that involve fragmented Identity silos and manual processes make it difficult to gain enterprise-wide Identity insights and implement consistent controls. These challenges increase the risk of errors and vulnerabilities that can easily lead to compliance and security missteps. Operational complexity also slows innovation and drives up costs by hindering onboarding, scalability, and integrations with new technologies, including AI.
By equipping teams with a unified digital Identity platform, IT leaders can mitigate operational complexity and extend the value of their technology stack. As a result, they can simplify management, governance, and compliance and deliver delightful user experiences.
How Mirador uses digital identities as a foundation of growth
In 2015, Mirador wanted to provide individuals, wealth managers, and other organizations with a one-stop solution for understanding the collective performance of their financial investments plus risks and opportunities. This would require integrating with platforms like Fidelity and Schwab, and third-party financial tools including Addepar and eMoney.
From the time of their launch, Mirador engaged Okta to build a flexible and scalable unified Identity solution powerful enough to meet fintech regulations but easy to use and administer. With it, developers implemented single sign-on (SSO) so users could gain holistic access to their financial tools and reports. This reduces their risk and improves their experience because they only need to manage one set of credentials for their financial apps and insights. The company’s support teams also now field fewer password-related calls.
In addition, Mirador implemented multi-factor authentication (MFA) to ensure users logging in to the portal are who they say they are. The company also built a universal directory with Okta to centralize their insights and controls over users’ profiles. This makes it easier to deactivate accounts when employees leave, and staff can see when users haven’t been able to complete the enrollment process and reach out to help them.
By building a unified Identity solution with Okta, Mirador has been able to meet customers’ and partners’ stringent security requirements and deliver seamless experiences that drive growth. Today, the company helps their customers manage $369 billion in wealth using 30 financial reporting platforms. Employees can quickly add and swap third-party services to meet customers’ needs. And the company’s two-person IT team manages all services for 160 employees.
How Varo Bank simplifies governance and compliance
Varo Bank decided to implement a unified digital Identity strategy when their disparate Identity and Access Management solutions could no longer meet their requirements. The bank needed to simplify onboarding and offboarding for their growing workforce and had to improve how they complied with an increasing number of financial industry regulations.
By implementing an easy-to-use digital Identity solution from Okta, the bank established a single control plane for organization-wide access controls in just two days. Consolidating identities into a single repository made it easier for IT teams to verify and demonstrate compliance to auditors and gave IT teams comprehensive insight into who could access what. IT teams also used built-in tools to facilitate role-based access, automate Identity lifecycle processes, and simplify integrations with nearly 50 applications, including the company's BambooHR solution.
Today, any changes made to employees' status in BambooHR are immediately reflected in Okta. As a result, employees now enjoy 90% faster onboarding. IT teams also reduce risk by helping ensure people only have access to the resources they’re authorized to use.
Role-based access controls (RBAC) also make it easier to manage ad hoc requests and add temporary access privileges. For example, by using RBAC, IT teams implemented self-service approval flows for employees. As a result, instead of waiting possibly months for access, managers only need to click one button to authorize requests. Additionally, using the same capabilities, IT teams reduced the time for completing recurring certification campaigns by 50%, which meant they could focus more on new strategic projects.
How Blackhawk Network optimized technology stacks with unified digital identities
Blackhawk Network began by creating brand gift cards sold at grocery stores. The company has since expanded their offerings to include eGifts, customer reward and incentive programs, and payment services for corporate customers. However, all the rapid growth resulted in a complex web of global Identity solutions.
Siloed Identity repositories and password practices created significant risk and slowed IT staff efficiency. Teams lacked comprehensive Identity insights, and disparate tools and strategies slowed onboarding and compliance with financial regulations in the 25 countries where Blackhawk Network operates.
To deliver seamless user experiences and improve security with a Zero Trust strategy, the company implemented a unified digital Identity solution from Okta that’s centralized and scalable. With it, Blackhawk Network built a universal directory to give IT teams a single, consolidated view of every user in their organization, including what apps they have access to and where they're accessing those apps. The company also deployed SSO and MFA to improve password policies, deliver seamless user experiences, and help secure login processes for their 3,500 global employees.
Blackhawk Network later expanded their digital Identity solution and Zero Trust strategy with Okta to further support their partners’ and corporate customers’ ecosystems, and to help comply with financial regulations. Today, partners and customers save time with SSO.
IT teams have reduced risk and increased insights by adding partners and customers to the company’s universal directory solution and implementing MFA for them. Developers who manage Blackhawk Network's B2B portals and B2B APIs are also saving time in handling authentication and authorization because the company has expanded their digital Identity solution to manage API access.
Blackhawk Networks is now considering using the Okta platform as a foundation for new B2C offerings that will give consumers direct access to the branded products offered by their network of partners and corporate customers.
Ignite innovation at your organization
A unified Identity strategy makes mitigating operational complexity, delivering seamless user experiences, driving competitive differentiation, and preparing for what's next in the world of cyberthreats, regulations, and emerging technologies easier. Okta equips organizations with an intelligent, unified Identity platform that can empower employees, partners, and customers with faster onboarding and seamless access. Additionally, IT teams can deliver these differentiating experiences in less time, with less frustration, and in a way that can improve security outcomes.
Empower your workforce through incredible user experiences with Okta Workforce Identity Cloud.
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