Protecting the Modern Enterprise: Zero Trust Architecture with Zscaler
As part of their journey to an identity-based zero trust architecture, NTT DATA wanted to implement a tool that would allow its employees to be productive from anywhere, at any time, on any device, without compromising security.
Recognizing this challenge, NTT DATA sought a solution that would seamlessly integrate with its existing infrastructure while enhancing the user experience and maintaining a high level of security. The Zscaler zero trust solution allows employees to connect to company resources securely with no extra steps required, regardless of where they work.
Business Needs
Charting a zero trust future
With employees in more than 50 countries, NTT DATA needed to ensure secure access for all employees to company applications and systems.
Traditionally, remote employees had to connect via VPN, which required significant infrastructure and management overheads and offered a restricted user experience. To provide every user with a seamless experience regardless of their location, the decision was made to move to a zero trust security architecture.
This journey started in 2018 when NTT DATA embarked on a journey that would allow their workforce to be productive anywhere, on any device, at any time.
The challenge in implementing zero trust was to make it intuitive for users. The organization didn’t want to add friction to the process or leave users wondering what they needed to do before they could access information or systems to do their work.
The experience had to be the same in the office, at a client site, traveling, or at home. The ideal scenario was to create an environment where the user felt that things just worked.
The organization chose to implement Zscaler, first in North America, and later across their global operations.
Outcomes
- Enables productivity anywhere, at any time, on any device
- Provides zero trust architecture with a seamless user experience
- Delivers advanced cyberthreat and data protection policies
- Scales to accommodate organizations of any size
Solution
Seamless transition for users
Zscaler is instrumental to NTT DATA’s goal of implementing zero trust, allowing employees to connect to the company no matter where they are.
Critical to implementing a zero trust strategy is full visibility of all devices connecting to the network. Adopting the approach that to secure a device, you need to be able to manage it, and this requires visibility of all devices.
Zscaler enabled just that: the company can look across the network space, see where users’ devices were, and even manage some elements of workforce security.
The rollout was as smooth as the user experience was likely to be. For the initial deployment, the NTT DATA team rolled out the solution to 50,000 people within 30 days — one of the fastest deployments of all Zscaler functions to this number of users.
Zscaler is a critical platform in the continued integration of previously separate NTT DATA operating companies into a unified NTT DATA, Inc. The zero trust principles at the heart of Zscaler ensure that once all their 150,000 users have been migrated, the user experience across the world will be identical.
As NTT DATA, Inc. continues to consolidate its technology platforms, more users are being added to the system, with the learnings from previous rollouts being leveraged to accelerate the transformation.
A single solution enables three business values
Implementing Zscaler's zero trust architecture delivered the business value NTT DATA wanted: for its users to be productive from anywhere, anytime, on any device.
Seamless user experience with no training required
Employees now have streamlined access to resources, but the change didn't otherwise affect them. There was no need to train them on how to use the solution.
Increasing visibility, enabling quick resolution of issues
The full visibility that Zscaler provides allows NTT DATA’s support teams to identify devices on the network and quickly resolve issues, improving the productivity of both the end users and the support team.
Combining productivity and security
The solution replaced traditional networking and security technologies with a cloud-native zero trust platform that connects users to applications, applies advanced cyberthreat and data protection policies, and optimizes the end-to-end digital experience.
About NTT DATA
NTT DATA is one of the world's largest digital consulting and IT service companies. It is ranked as one of the world's most valuable brands, listed in the top 10 global business and IT services companies, and recognized as a leading global data services company.