HENNGE One was adopted to implement Microsoft 365 and Zscaler, and the system has been used securely and stress-free.
— Please give us an overview of Shizuoka Gas’s business.
We were founded in 1910 and have been engaged in the production and supply of city gas mainly in central and eastern Shizuoka Prefecture. With the deregulation of energy, we entered the electric power business and have also expanded into Southeast Asian countries. Today, we are also focusing on renewable energy initiatives with an eye toward a decarbonized society.
In recent years, we have been promoting reforms in the way we work under the leadership of the group headquarters so that each and every employee can perform at a higher level in accordance with diversifying lifestyles. We are actively working to balance productivity improvement and work styles that are not restricted by time or place, while utilizing ICT technology, such as the introduction of a flextime system and the development of an environment that encourages teleworking.
— Please tell us why you adopted HENNGE One.
We first adopted HENNGE One in March 2017, when we introduced Microsoft 365. when we introduced Microsoft 365, we first considered ADFS, which was the mainstream authentication infrastructure at the time. However, ADFS required a large workload and was estimated to be very costly, so the vendor introduced us to HENNGE One as a new option. The ease of implementation of the service was outstanding, and the fact that it was less expensive than ADFS was most appealing, so we decided to adopt it. In addition, we decided to introduce Zscaler in March 2021, at which time we upgraded our HENNGE One plan to HENNGE One Business. Currently, Zscaler is installed at approximately 60 locations, including group companies and cooperating construction companies.
— We heard that you were conscious of the linkage with HENNGE One when you introduced Zscaler.
The reason we implemented Zscaler is because we wanted to increase security for laptops and other devices taken outside the company as part of our work style reform efforts, and since it was the first time in seven years that our internal network was being upgraded, we wanted to create an environment where users could work from anywhere in the company in the same way as they do in the office. We wanted to create an environment where users could work from anywhere in the company.
In the past, we used a VPN. We wanted to take the opportunity of installing Zscaler to make logging in as easy as possible.
We decided to integrate HENNGE One and Zscaler because we already had HENNGE One and knew how easy it was to use, and we did not need to go through the trouble and expense of building a new authentication infrastructure.
At the time, HENNGE One did not have any experience with Zscaler, but HENNGE One’s support staff met with Zscaler and carefully and kindly tested the operation, so we were able to introduce and integrate Zscaler without any particular problems.
— Please tell us about your current use of HENNGE One.
Currently, HENNGE One is being used at all of our offices, including overseas, with approximately 1,900 users. The HENNGE Device Certificate functionality allows access only to company-paid terminals. For email security, HENNGE Email DLP automatically encrypts attachments, and HENNGE Email Archive investigates emails with security risks.
— How about the support system of HENNGE One?
Actually, we have appreciated the support since the introduction of HENNGE One. When we introduced Microsoft 365, we had to synchronize ID and password authentication between our internal AD and Azure AD, but we did not fully understand the mechanism. This caused errors and other difficulties, but HENNGE One’s support staff worked with us to find ways to improve the system, and we are now operating without major problems.
Also, we had to migrate HENNGE Email DLP from the old platform to the new one once, and the support we received during the migration was very generous.
— Please tell us about the benefits of HENNGE One.
Up until now, our VPN environment only allowed up to 100 users to access the system at the same time. The combination of Zscaler and HENNGE One has made it possible for all 1,900 employees to access the system securely anytime, anywhere, which is a very significant effect. Compared to the VPN, which frequently caused session breaks, access with HENNGE One is seamless, and we have heard from management as well as employees who work outside the office that they can now use the system without stress.
Security is an invisible part of the system, so from the user’s point of view, it is difficult to see what has improved just by using the system normally. However, we believe that the ideal is to create a state in which security is ensured even if users do not care about it. We are of course pleased to hear that HENNGE One has become easier to use, but we have yet to hear any major complaints about the system, which we consider to be a highly commendable point.
— Please tell us about your company’s future development in terms of cloud computing.
We started using cloud services about six years ago, and we will continue to actively utilize any services that lead to better business results in the future, in order to respond quickly to the changing times. We have been able to achieve single sign-on with HENNGE One, so we will continue to use various cloud services while ensuring security in the future. We will continue to ensure security while utilizing a variety of cloud services to achieve business results.