Keeping essential services running with safety and security in mind
As information flow became crucial for EG Group to continue delivering services while rolling out new processes, the Group’s first step was to ensure that remote communication could happen effectively and securely across teams. To do this, the Group took several measures on a country-by-country basis to ensure that its new processes mirrored local demands.
In Germany, for example, EG Group started by building intranet sites for its stores across the country so that all staff and thousands of relevant external partners could access information about new processes and safety measures in a distanced and secure way. Much of this information is company confidential, so the Group needed to have full visibility and control over the access rights of users requesting to see it. To do this, EG Group selected Okta Universal Directory as a repository of user identities to establish different access rights for different user groups. Then, the Group integrated its Intranet sites with Single Sign-On and Adaptive Multi-Factor Authentication to enable stakeholders to access them after verifying their identities in a secure and practical manner.
“Okta was a key enabler for us to make our training information available for thousands of staff, third-party organisations, and external business partners, quickly,” explains Graham of the project. “As our first-line of defence, Okta helps us to ensure that only those who should be accessing our systems are actually using our systems, no more and no less. We’ve never had a breach since transforming our operations, which is crucial for maintaining our essential services running,” he adds.
Globally, information flow was also essential for managerial teams to ensure that EG Group could continue serving its customers while controlling costs for the business to stay sustainable. For this, the Group uses SAP Analytics Cloud to aggregate data about key aspects of the business, such as the sales performance of each site, and makes that data available for management teams by integrating the solution with Single Sign-On and Multi-Factor Authentication.
EG Group also integrated Single-Sign On with Zoom to enable worldwide collaboration, as its Zoom usage went from 1,000 minutes a month to more than three million minutes a month, globally. “In the second quarter of 2020, EG Group moved overnight from having 6,000 locations, including forecourts and head offices, to 12,000 locations as people began to work remotely,” explains Graham. “Linking our key collaboration tools with Okta was essential for the IT team to support people in double the number of locations because it automates identity verification processes without complicating the user experience,” he explains. “Okta gave us the confidence to continue performing as an essential service and ensured that we could transition smoothly to a new modus operandi.”
Unifying IT systems to unite a global group
One reason why EG Group was able to adjust to the new circumstances so promptly is that it had already established the foundations for its Okta deployment since December 2019, with the aim of simplifying its architecture. “We’re a very acquisitive company that has grown massively since its inception. For the last three years alone, we’ve been doubling in size year on year,” explains Graham. “For the IT team, this has meant that every quarter there were up to five different companies being acquired and integrated into the business, each with their own footprint of AD, user base, and security practices. We selected Okta as the best tool for simplifying our complex setup of isolated systems so we could become a truly unified group,” he recalls. “The need to stay open and enable employees remotely merely sped up our implementation journey.”
Because EG Group is continually expanding, simplifying its technology landscape is an ongoing project, Graham explains. But already in its early stages of deployment, 4,000 employees and 1,000 external partners rely on Single Sign-On and Adaptive Multi-Factor Authentication to access EG Group’s key systems and applications, as well as innovative reactive products being built in-house such as the German intranet sites.
Continuing to innovate and exceed the expectations of customers
As the health and safety concerns of 2020 demanded that people had less contact with physical objects, EG Group is now focusing on developing new digital services for its customer base. “We're developing digital applications for our customers, and we’re looking at Okta customer identity capabilities to enable them to access these services securely,” says Graham, explaining that EG Group wants to enable customers to purchase goods and fuel through an app.
A quarter of EG Group’s global sites already enable digital payments for fuel and convenience items, as well as transactions in quick-service restaurants, through brand apps provided by EG Group’s partners. But in the near future, EG Group will enable customers to navigate all of its services in just one place, using its own app, reducing the number of physical touch points to access what they need.
“Digital security is key in bringing this vision to life successfully because our customers will be using this app as a digital wallet to collect loyalty points and rewards. We want to ensure that their personal data and money are as safe as can be, and Okta will play a key role in helping us do that,” says Graham. “So we look forward to continually innovating our services with Okta.”
