Okta secures U-Shin Europe's move to the cloud

Focusing on product quality and innovation

U-Shin develops and provides innovative access mechanisms systems for the automotive industry ensuring user’s safety and comfort.

Founded in 1926 in Japan, the company benefits from a long lasting expertise as a leading automotive supplier. 

U-Shin's vehicle access solutions are developed and manufactured in 17 countries around the world. U-Shin designs modular systems and components supporting the major car manufacturers’ platform strategies while adapting to local needs and requirements. 

In cooperation with car manufacturers, U-Shin is constantly improving its products for better comfort, practical safety, crashworthiness, acoustics and aesthetics.

In 2019, U-Shin became part of the MinebeaMitsumi Group, a global Japanese company producing ball bearings and electronic components, opening up to new technologies for even more innovative systems. 

In order to make the most of these opportunities for development, U-Shin Europe has been modernising its technology stack by transitioning to cloud-based tools. As it deals with sensitive client information, security is a priority, so U-Shin Europe began looking for an Identity and Access Management (IAM) solution to help it automate processes, while ensuring they meet its stringent audit requirements. It chose Okta as the best fit for its needs, thanks to the flexibility offered by the Okta ecosystem of tools.

Moving to the cloud while putting IT security first

Over the past five years, U-Shin has been implementing more and more cloud tools to help boost employee productivity and IT efficiency, including key platforms such as Google Workspace. As the number of applications it uses grew, so did the number of manual tasks associated with onboarding and offboarding employees. "Previously, we didn't have a centralised platform for managing identities, and relied on an outdated script-based application," explains Vincent Neant, Systems and Networks Administrator, U-Shin Europe. "It required a lot of maintenance, and a few months before we implemented Okta, it stopped working completely, which meant even more manual tasks."

To reduce the time IT was spending on creating and managing accounts, U-Shin decided to implement an IAM solution and automate as many processes as possible. Following a benchmarking trial of several IAM solutions, Neant chose Okta amongst other solutions as he appreciated the flexibility offered by Okta Workflows. "Workflows really differentiates Okta from other tools on the market. With Workflows, I was confident we would be able to adapt the platform to meet our specific needs, and easily create Flows without needing development expertise."

Working with Lyvoc to ensure a successful implementation

To ensure a successful implementation, U-Shin Europe chose to work with Okta implementation partner Lyvoc. "IAM was a completely new area for us, so we wanted a partner with IAM-specific expertise,' says Neant. "Working with Lyvoc was a very positive experience, as they were always quick to respond, and their replies were always helpful. It's one of the most successful projects that we've undertaken."

With the help of Lyvoc, U-Shin Europe was able to complete the initial implementation project in four months. Lyvoc also provided change management support to help the IT team communicate with employees about the implementation. "We followed a number of strategies that Lyvoc proposed, including communicating with every single user via email, using top-down and peer-to-peer communication to spread the message, and holding regular on-site meetings," says Neant. "Lyvoc also created slides to walk people through key processes, such as logging on for the first time, or configuring multi-factor authentication."

Leveraging Okta to automate onboarding and offboarding

Six of U-Shin Europe's key applications, including Google Workspace, AWS, Office 365 and Cisco WebEx, are now integrated with Lifecycle Management. To manage custom onboarding processes, U-Shin Europe also uses Workflows, so accounts are automatically scheduled to be created on the day employees are due to arrive, for example. It also uses Workflows for offboarding, to ensure accounts are deleted at the correct time, with automatic alerts emailed to the relevant HR manager.

For the 3,000 users who require computer access, U-Shin Europe also wanted to create an experience that was more user-friendly. Thanks to Single Sign-On (SSO), users can easily log into 26 applications without having to remember multiple passwords, and use self-service password resets. U-Shin has also implemented Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) for all applications integrated with Okta, ensuring user connections are always secure.

Making IT and HR processes faster and more reliable

Previously, Neant was responsible for maintaining IAM-related scripts, which was time-consuming and frustrating. It took the IT team up to an hour per employee to create the necessary accounts for new starters. "Before, I was losing a lot of time on managing the system: if four or five new starters arrived at once, onboarding could take up to half a day of employee time," explains Neant. "Now, it takes 30 seconds to choose the right applications and the new starter is ready to go."

The onboarding script used to run once a day, but now Okta creates new employee accounts immediately. "The fact that accounts are created immediately means our HR team are very happy with the transition," says Neant. "By automating processes we've also reduced the number of manual errors, meaning greater security in terms of accounts being deleted on time."

Building more connections for its users

U-Shin is now working on building more custom System for Cross-domain Identity Management (SCIM) connectors for its applications that aren't compatible with Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML), to enable access to even more applications via SSO. It's also planning to explore the possibility of implementing Advanced Server Access, and Advanced Multi-Factor Authentication, in order to provide partners with secure access via bastion servers.

"Thanks to Okta, I have more confidence in our processes," says Neant,"I know the platform is continuously updated, providing the IT team with the support it needs."