As a recognized brand leader of valves, fittings, and flow-control products, NIBCO’s bread and butter is in manufacturing. We have over a century of experience in a family-run business and have entrenched core values of safety, integrity, teamwork, improvement, and philanthropy at the heart of what we do.
Finding partners to guide us through our digital transformation journey means that we look for excellence in IT knowledge and expertise, but we also seek to work with partners who understand our culture and can make a real difference to our in-house capabilities.
Our journey to zero trust with the Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange provided us with the expertise to leverage the technology we already owned but also to build upon it to deliver a comprehensive approach to cybersecurity that fits within our organizational culture. There are three key elements that Zscaler has excelled in since the beginning of our partnership.
1. Understanding our users’ needs
Cybersecurity is an issue that no company, no matter their culture, can afford to ignore. For us, it was important to ensure that any shift in security strategy did not affect the productivity of associates by making them feel restricted in their ability to access data, information, or applications.
NIBCO worked closely with Zscaler to find a balance between a new world where we have shifted to work-from-anywhere, determining the core requirements for our associates, and delivering it within the parameters of zero trust security. Zscaler Internet Access (ZIA) provided associates with direct, fast, and secure connectivity to the internet and SaaS applications via the cloud.
The team was also sensitive to our core values. For example, when salespeople are traveling, they may need access to websites and cloud services for personal use, but the same functionality wouldn’t be needed in a customer service department or on a manufacturing floor. Using Zscaler Private Access (ZPA), NIBCO is able to restrict access as necessary to ensure data and assets are kept safe, without affecting the user experience
2. Delivers total confidence
For NIBCO, total confidence in the Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange and the advice and recommendations received has been the secret sauce of our success. It’s vital to trust your cybersecurity partner implicitly – trust is a big thing. Being able to close your laptop for the evening, walk away from it, and know that you’re protected has allowed us to focus on what we do best, knowing that Zscaler has it under control.
Having reassurance in the technologies, as well as a roadmap ahead, in terms of how Zscaler can adapt to changes in the threat landscape, also means we’re keen to hear about new products and are willing to adopt them as they come along. Cybersecurity used to keep me awake at night, but now I trust that the Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange will do its job of protecting us.
I consider any new threats daily and look at the risk footprint, but fundamentally knowing that you have the best technology running in your environment and the best people behind it to support you is completely invaluable.
3. Access to an irreplaceable breadth of expertise
It’s not an overstatement to say if we had to achieve the same success working with an in-house team alone, we couldn’t afford to deliver the same bench strength needed to research and develop the tools and technologies required to do the job. It simply wouldn’t be feasible, and we’d be spending millions of dollars versus what we’re spending today.
NIBCO is a mid-sized organization with a wide global footprint across the USA, Mexico, China, and Poland. By having the Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange in place, we're able to leverage top-level security solutions, with best-in-class technology. NIBCO has maintained a lean, dedicated internal IT team, but with Zscaler, it doesn’t take a gigantic IT organization to manage, implement, and keep it running.
To learn more, I invite you to read the accompanying case study that details how our zero trust journey in partnership with Zscaler is helping us achieve our business goals.
