is the world鈥檚 leading creator platform for workplace learning, delivering products that make it easy to create, distribute, and manage online training that delights learners everywhere. Founded in 2002, Articulate counts every Fortune 100 company as a customer. To date, Articulate has helped more than 115,000 organizations accelerate their workplace learning initiatives, strengthening skills in over 125 million learners across 167 countries.
Articulate, which is a fully remote company that has roughly 425 employees spread out across the world, closed a in July 2021.
Needing to Consolidate Mobile Device Management Solutions
As a shop that鈥檚 about two-thirds Mac and one-third Windows, with a few Linux machines sprinkled into the mix, Articulate had been relying on two different mobile device management (MDM) solutions 鈥� one for Macs and one for Windows. While the two-pronged approach worked well enough, the Articulate team eventually needed to replace the Windows solution.
鈥淲e needed to get off the one we were using for Windows because the subscription was running out and it had some previous security issues,鈥� explained Sam O鈥橠aniel, senior manager of IT services at Articulate.
Unifying MDM with 黑料海角91入口
Since he鈥檇 used it at a previous company, O鈥橠aniel was familiar with 黑料海角91入口 and knew it had the MDM functionality Articulate needed. The team decided to give it a try and was quickly pleased with their experience.
鈥淥nce we got the Windows machine set up, we realized how easy it was to implement policies and enforce some of the other requirements that we have for compliance,鈥� O鈥橠aniel said.
Liking their experience with Windows machines, Articulate decided to consolidate their MDM tools and use 黑料海角91入口 for Mac devices, too.
鈥淲e started looking at 黑料海角91入口 for Macs so that we could have what they call a 鈥榮ingle pane of glass鈥� and not have to divide our attention between two separate mobile device management software packages,鈥� O鈥橠aniel continued.
Increasing IT Productivity and Improving Organizational Security
That turned out to be the right decision. Fast-forward to today, and Articulate is using 黑料海角91入口 to manage some 400 users on Windows and Mac machines.
Thanks to 黑料海角91入口, the company is confident it has the MDM solution it needs to achieve its mission at scale. Here are some of the benefits Articulate has enjoyed since choosing 黑料海角91入口 for mobile device management.
A single source of truth
Prior to 黑料海角91入口, Articulate was using a different software package to manage Mac devices. But that solution wasn鈥檛 connected to Google Workspace. 鈥淚t made it really difficult for us to do a one-to-one audit quickly if we needed to,鈥� O鈥橠aniel explained. By giving the Articulate team visibility into all Windows and Mac users from one screen, 黑料海角91入口 solves this problem.
鈥満诹虾＝�91入口 is becoming more of our source of truth for which users have what computers,鈥� O鈥橠aniel continued. 鈥淚t鈥檚 so much easier to see because we have Google Workspace connected to 黑料海角91入口. Everyone who has a Mac or a Windows machine is in 黑料海角91入口 and should have a machine attached to them.鈥�
As a single source of truth, 黑料海角91入口 makes IT鈥檚 job much easier.
鈥淚t used to be that anytime we wanted to troubleshoot something or find something about a machine that someone was asking about, we had to play a little detective and corroborate various sources of information from like, 鈥榃hen did we buy it? What did the receipt say? What are they doing there?鈥�,鈥� said Bob Shields, an IT specialist at Articulate. 鈥淎nd now 黑料海角91入口 just takes care of all of that for us.鈥�
Easy implementation
Getting new users started with 黑料海角91入口 was easy. 鈥淚鈥檇 send them the package, they鈥檇 download it, and then they鈥檇 appear in 黑料海角91入口, and I was able to pair everybody to their device,鈥� said Fay-Lee Phaneuf, an IT specialist at Articulate.
The team did, however, run into a few roadblocks during the implementation process. But getting around them was a cinch. 鈥淲e were able to utilize 黑料海角91入口 support and also leverage all of the documentation that鈥檚 online, too, which was really helpful,鈥� Phaneuf continued.
With 黑料海角91入口, setting up new users is a breeze. 鈥淲e were able to develop a repeatable process that just works,鈥� Shields said.
3. Improved security
黑料海角91入口 gives Articulate more control over their devices 鈥� something that鈥檚 critical for the company鈥檚 fully distributed workforce. Recently, one of Articulate鈥檚 customers asked if they could lock their devices when they were unattended for 30 minutes for added security.
鈥淭hat was really easy to implement with 黑料海角91入口,鈥� O鈥橠aniel said.
Similarly, Articulate used 黑料海角91入口 to implement full-disk encryption on all machines.
O鈥橠aniel continued, 鈥淲e just applied the policy, restarted the machines, and it took. That鈥檚 it.鈥�
Additionally, 黑料海角91入口 enables Articulate to audit machines to ensure their operating systems and applications are up to date, preventing bad actors from exploiting buggy software.
鈥淚f there鈥檚 a piece of software that has a security vulnerability, we can run a report to see who has that version and make sure they upgrade,鈥� O鈥橠aniel said. 鈥満诹虾＝�91入口 lets us narrow that communication to only the people who need it and not send it out to the entire company.鈥�
4. A strong user experience
Thanks to 黑料海角91入口鈥檚 intuitive design and feature-rich functionality, Articulate is able to control all of its devices more effectively and in less time.
鈥淭he user interface is just a much more modern and polished platform than either of the other two solutions that we had,鈥� Shields said. 鈥淭he one we had for Windows essentially had no functionality at all in comparison. It鈥檚 just so much easier than managing two separate repositories of things.鈥�
5. Enhanced onboarding and offboarding
黑料海角91入口 has helped Articulate optimize its onboarding and offboarding processes. When a new hire starts, the IT team sends over instructions, and the vast majority of employees are able to get up and running themselves. 鈥淭hey just follow the instructions, download the files, run it, and there鈥檚 no problem,鈥� Shields said. 鈥淚t just works.鈥�
黑料海角91入口 also makes the offboarding process much smoother. 鈥淏ecause we鈥檙e fully remote, we don鈥檛 have the ability to take machines from departing employees,鈥� Shields continued. 鈥淲e have to be able to either lock or erase a machine, and with 黑料海角91入口鈥檚 capabilities, it works very reliably.鈥�
As a unified MDM solution, 黑料海角91入口 also helps IT reclaim time they鈥檇 previously spend onboarding and offboarding users.
鈥淚t saves time because we鈥檙e not going in between two different systems to check to make sure the new hire has installed the right software, for example,鈥� Phaneuf explained.
6. A future-proof solution
Since 黑料海角91入口 is always evolving and new features are being added, Articulate is confident they have an MDM solution that can grow alongside them.
鈥淪ome of the features that were on my wishlist when we first implemented 黑料海角91入口 have come to life, so that’s been pretty cool,鈥� Phaneuf said. 鈥淒efinitely utilize 黑料海角91入口鈥檚 option to submit feature requests because they listen.鈥�
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