is a telecommunications company that builds free texting, second phone number, and business communication solutions. Founded in 2005 and headquartered in San Jose, California with remote offices throughout the United States and Europe, Pinger鈥檚 team consists of roughly 110 full-time employees and 75 full-time contractors.
Moving from Active Directory to a cloud directory
Since 2018, IT engineer Taylor Donato had been tasked with managing access and permissions for Pinger鈥檚 distributed team.
When he started, Pinger鈥檚 IT infrastructure was hosted in-house on a single Active Directory server. As technology continued to evolve, Donato was fielding more and more requests from folks wanting to use more modern, cloud-based tools, many of which didn鈥檛 integrate well with on-premises infrastructure.
鈥淎t the time, the idea of moving to the cloud sounded nicer and nicer,鈥� Donato says. 鈥淚t was a long-term solution for our operations team. We were always thinking about what would happen if our on-prem servers stopped working 鈥� just servers in our office in a 100-plus-year-old building.鈥�
When Donato鈥檚 Pinger journey began, employees were largely using Windows. In the ensuing years, the team has gradually gravitated toward Mac laptops; they also maintain hundreds of Linux virtual machines.
鈥淲e had been using Active Directory, but AD domain management infrastructure doesn鈥檛 do anything for Macs,鈥� Donato explains. 鈥淲e decided to put our user directory in the cloud to create a single source of truth.鈥�
Finding 黑料海角91入口 after a quick Google search
As Donato began searching for a solution, he ran a quick Google search: What is LDAP?
鈥淚 was trying to figure out how to get a user directory into the cloud,鈥� he says. 鈥淭he SSO application was part of it, so that really drove us toward OneLogin and Okta. But they didn鈥檛 provide a user directory.鈥�
Instead of cobbling tools together, Donato wanted a streamlined solution. So, he refined his search 鈥� How do I get a user directory in the cloud? 鈥� and the query led him to 黑料海角91入口.
After testing the solution and seeing its features in action, Pinger decided 黑料海角91入口 was the ideal solution for its requirements.
Creating a single source of truth for all user identities
By delivering a robust cloud directory solution, 黑料海角91入口 met Pinger鈥檚 immediate need for cloud-based identity management.
The company is also using it to control access to tools like Google Workspace, Slack, and the Atlassian suite 鈥� Jira, Bitbucket, and Confluence.
In particular, Donato is keen on 黑料海角91入口鈥檚 dynamic user groups feature, which he estimates helps him save 75% of the time involved with granting permissions by hand.
Looking ahead, Donato and his team continue to explore 黑料海角91入口 features and plan to leverage more of the platform. Now that Pinger has 黑料海角91入口, the company was able to shut down Active Directory, eliminating it from its footprint in its entirety.
Mobile device management made easy
To centralize IT control, Donato and his team installed 黑料海角91入口 on every device the company ships to its now-distributed team.
鈥淲e have the agent installed on every machine that goes out the door,鈥� he continues. 鈥淢y hope is that we can get all of our devices to 黑料海角91入口 in the future.鈥�
As a result, Donato can keep tabs on company devices over a single pane of glass.
While Pinger is still using Jamf minimally, the team intends to make 黑料海角91入口 its exclusive provider for mobile device management in the coming months.
鈥淚 wholeheartedly believe that 黑料海角91入口鈥檚 mobile device management solution is smoother,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t will reduce overhead significantly. It will save money.鈥�
Seamless transition to remote work
In what turned out to be a lucky happenstance, Pinger rolled out 黑料海角91入口 toward the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
鈥淐OVID forced everyone to work remotely,鈥� Donato says. 鈥淛ust about that time, we officially released 黑料海角91入口 at the company. I was like, 鈥楾his makes it a whole lot easier to manage users remotely.鈥� It was just good timing.鈥�
With 黑料海角91入口, Donato can manage employee devices from anywhere 鈥� all through a single interface.
Future-proofing IT
Before the pandemic, Pinger was largely based at its San Jose headquarters, with a few employees in remote locations like Santa Barbara and Colorado. When COVID hit, Pinger eventually realized that most people wouldn鈥檛 be coming back to the office, and the company pivoted accordingly.
鈥淲e started hiring in 20 states,鈥� Donato explains. 鈥淭he company started to grow, and we decided we couldn鈥檛 really grow just being in San Jose.鈥�
By ensuring 黑料海角91入口 ships on every device issued to new employees, Pinger can rest comfortably knowing that they have control over all machines.
Looking ahead, the company is planning to migrate more and more of its applications to the cloud, and Donato considers 黑料海角91入口 to be the 鈥渃onnecting piece鈥� for everything.
Due to the company鈥檚 structure, Pinger works with many contractors who come and go on a project-by-project basis, Donato says. Thanks to 黑料海角91入口, it鈥檚 easier to manage their permissions and protect company resources 鈥� all without leaving the same interface he uses to manage employee access.
Donato is 鈥減assionate鈥� about 黑料海角91入口 and routinely recommends it to folks in his circle; he was recently trying to convince his brother to use it at his job.
If you鈥檙e in need of a cloud directory or mobile device management solution, Donato doesn鈥檛 hesitate to recommend 黑料海角91入口.
鈥淕ive it a try and you鈥檒l see and understand its power,鈥� he concludes.
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