Challenge:
Leading packaging solutions supplier Huhtamäki Oyj wanted to digitalise its business and upgrade from its existing teamwork tools to the modern and versatile, cloud-based Microsoft Office 365 platform. In addition to more efficiency, the company was particularly looking for a solution that would ensure security and could be accessed from staff’s mobile devices.
Solution:
VMware Workspace ONE delivers user authentication, mobile access and end-user device management all in one platform. It promotes the use of digital business solutions and facilitates teamwork in a global organisation such as Huhtamäki.
Thousands of Huhtamäki employees now have access to the applications that are the most critical for their work – easily, securely and in the same way regardless of time, place or the device they use.
Huhtamäki wanted to go digital
Huhtamäki Oyj is a global organisation on a mission to support its customers’ business through the provision of fit-for-purpose packaging solutions for food, beverage and personal and home-care products.
In 2017, Huhtamäki set out on a new strategic path to digitalise its business and improve teamwork within its worldwide organisation. The key goal was to retire the company’s outdated teamwork tools and upgrade to the modern and versatile, cloud-based Microsoft Office 365 platform.
‘The tools on their own are not enough to ensure security, which is why we also had to find a solution that delivers user authentication, mobile access and end-user device management’, explains Aki Kemppi, Huhtamäki’s Global IS Infrastructure Manager.
Centralised device management and information security in a single solution
Huhtamäki found what they were looking for in VMware Workspace ONE, a solution developed by Advania’s predecessor Aerion, which enables not only centralised device management but also user access to traditional e-mail and virtual meetings as well as other applications of all kinds, on any device, anywhere in the world, easily and securely.
According to Kemppi, the solution also makes it possible to create rules for different users or user groups and supports – in addition to Microsoft – a vast range of other system suppliers and practically all hardware platforms.
‘Office 365 naturally played an important role in our project, but we wanted a user authentication service that was not focused exclusively on Microsoft, as we also have a wide array of other systems. We were looking for something more universal, and that is exactly what Workspace ONE is’, Kemppi says.
Single sign-on for multiple applications
One of the biggest benefits for Huhtamäki, in Kemppi’s opinion, is the fact that the solution makes it easy and secure for users to log into applications. Huhtamäki’s staff can now access their applications with a single click with no need to enter usernames and passwords, regardless of the device they are using.
The solution only manages corporate applications and the associated information security features on mobile devices, and does not interfere with users’ personal applications, photos or other personal content.
‘Not having to carry two phones makes life easier for our staff. Everything can now be done on a single device’, Kemppi says.
According to Kemppi, the company’s IT department can also use Workspace ONE to create a variety of security-enhancing rules for individual users or groups of users. For example, multi-factor authentication can be enabled for any potentially high-risk user groups.
User-friendly login process increases efficiency
‘When we embarked on this project, our focus was Office 365 and our goal to increase staff productivity. And that is exactly what easy and secure access to applications delivers. If, for example, an employee who was not able to immediately access the application they need had to call IT support for advice, a half an hour of working time could easily be wasted. This way of working would in fact be less productive.’
It is difficult to measure the impact on productivity. One metric that can be helpful in Huhtamäki’s case is the number of new Office 365 applications that staff use compared to old software. According to Kemppi, the number of users in some applications has doubled, and many other services are also now used more than before.
‘Virtual meetings, for example, have become more popular. Although virtual meetings do not automatically mean higher productivity, our staff are certainly spending less time on travel. They are also sending fewer e-mails and learning to use the new instant messaging tools instead. All of these changes translate into higher productivity’, he says.
According to Kemppi, Huhtamäki’s staff have been extremely happy with the new, easier login process and wider range of mobile services. Even high-risk users who have to use multi-factor authentication to sign in find the new system user-friendly, despite the fact that MFA is traditionally thought of as difficult to implement and inconvenient to use.
Having a knowledgeable partner certainly helps. The support provided by Advania’s experts has impressed Kemppi both during the project and post-deployment.
‘Any problems that we have encountered have been solved incredibly quickly. Advania is an extremely flexible partner with fast reactions.’
