YubiKey as a Service Case Study: Major Japanese Manufacturer Achieves Seamless Large-Scale Deployment

Challenges Faced by Major Japanese Manufacturer Company A:

Company A operates cutting-edge R&D divisions worldwide and needed to achieve the highest authentication security without compromising convenience. While YubiKey met their requirements, deploying it to approximately 4,000 staff members across various countries presented several challenges.

The main challenges were as follows:

• The need to raise the company-wide security level to a certain standard while keeping initial costs low.
• The necessity to prepare a certain number of spare keys to prevent disruptions if users lost or damaged their YubiKeys.
• The requirement to distribute appropriate YubiKeys to users working in various operating systems and devices across different countries.
• Identifying a credible distributor capable of handling post-purchase shipping procedures, YubiKey inspection, and user deployment support.
• Establishing a support system capable of handling the above in both Japanese and English.

To address these issues, Yubico, the manufacturer of YubiKey, introduced Company A to ISR, the only company in Japan authorized to sell YubiKey in a subscription model, "YubiKey as a Service."

Problem Solving with YubiKey as a Service

YubiKey as a Service resolved Company A's challenges as follows:

Reduced Initial Costs, Simultaneous Company-Wide Deployment

To maintain a consistently high level of security, a company-wide simultaneous deployment of YubiKeys was essential. However, this incurred significant initial costs. By contracting through a subscription model, they were able to reduce the initial investment required for deployment.

Distribution of YubiKey Models Tailored to User Environments

Distributing YubiKeys to users across various countries with diverse working styles not only meant different PC operating systems but also required compatibility with various firmware, such as development equipment. By contracting YubiKey as a Service, they were able to deploy a combination of YubiKeys from the various available models that supported different firmware.

Administrator Time Savings

Inspection, Shipping Procedures, and Initial Setup Handled within the Subscription Plan
ISR also handled the inspection of YubiKeys and arranged shipping to branches in various countries, reducing the workload for the administration department.

Annual Backup with Spare Keys: Reducing Business Interruption Risk and Management Effort

With YubiKey as a Service, you can receive replacement YubiKeys annually during the contract period. This mitigates the risk of business interruption due to issues like "unable to log in to PC due to lost YubiKey," and also reduces the effort involved in replacements.
Company A's users, who frequently travel or work in overseas offices, can use the service with peace of mind.

Reasons for Deciding to Implement Through ISR

Purchasing YubiKeys directly from Yubico requires not only knowledge of security keys but also significant time and effort for import/export procedures and initial setup.

Especially for Company A, with its global presence, international shipping was a major hurdle. However, by contracting YubiKey as a Service, ISR handled all necessary procedures for procurement from Yubico and international shipping to branches in each country, resolving the problem in one go.

Furthermore, ISR's practice of inspecting YubiKeys before delivery to customers was another reason for choosing ISR for implementation. If YubiKeys couldn't be properly implemented upon arrival at branches, it would create a significant burden for the Japanese headquarters. Therefore, having ISR inspect and then ship the keys led to confidence that YubiKey usage could begin smoothly immediately upon receipt.

Deep Dive into YubiKey Case Study! ISR's Official Distributor Commentary Section

Introducing YubiKey as a Service Inspection Process

When implementing YubiKey as a Service through ISR, we inspect the YubiKeys before shipping them to the customer.

① Unpacking

Unpack YubiKeys received from Yubico's overseas facility and confirm no items are missing.

② Inspection

Check each serial number and register it in the ledger. *Depending on the contract, pre-setting of PIN codes is also performed.

③ Packing and Shipping

Carefully pack and ship the items.

The inspection process is highly appreciated by enterprise companies with many users across multiple locations.

How to Purchase YubiKey

YubiKey can be acquired either through a subscription model or as a one-time purchase.

Only available from us in Japan!

Subscription for
"YubiKey as a Service"

​For enterprises, government agencies, and large organizations

Deploying YubiKey across many users often comes with high initial costs and a significant deployment burden. That's why "YubiKey as a Service" is your best solution. It drastically reduces costs, offers the flexibility to change YubiKey types as your needs evolve, and provides comprehensive support for a smooth operation.

In Japan, only ISR has a distributorship agreement with Yubico headquarters to provide this service. Entrust your YubiKey implementation to us for maximum security and assurance.

Learn more about YubiKey as a Service

One-time Purchase Through Reseller

This involves purchasing the necessary YubiKeys as a one-time transaction from a reseller, including us.
A disadvantage of one-time purchases is that resellers may not support firmware updates or changes to different types of YubiKeys after the initial purchase.
We also support YubiKey sales on a one-time purchase basis, so please feel free to contact us.

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