Adobe is dedicated to designing and delivering digital-experience products. Organizations and individuals around the globe rely on those products for essential workflows, from creating marketing assets and editing videos to digitizing forms and enabling electronic signatures.
A few years ago, Adobe wanted to enhance employee experiences when remotely accessing enterprise applications. The goal was to empower distributed employees to work from anywhere using their preferred devices. By deploying VMware Workspace ONE, the company enabled its 22,000 employees to more simply access enterprise apps with less friction, while enjoying consistent experiences across devices.
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Safeguard digital workspaces, apps and endpoints by combining conditional access control with industry-leading endpoint management.
Addressing complicated management while maintaining user choice
Adobe employees have the ability to use a variety of devices for work, including desktops, laptops, tablets and smartphones. For the IT group, managing those different devices can be complicated. In addition to supporting several device types, IT administrators have to accommodate multiple operating systems and platforms. In the past, they used one tool for managing Windows devices, another for Mac devices, and a third for mobile platforms.
The Adobe IT group launched a new initiative to address IT challenges while continuing to allow employees to use a range of devices. “It’s all about simplification,” says John Mockett, director of employee technology and support at Adobe. “We wanted to take our point tools and provide a consistent experience for both IT and users across all devices.”
Simplifying workspace management and improving user experiences
After considering several available solutions, Adobe chose to deploy the VMware Workspace ONE digital workspace platform—a VMware Anywhere Workspace solution that integrates endpoint management, application management and access management. Workspace ONE is available as both an on-premises solution and a SaaS-delivered VMware Cross-Cloud service. For Adobe, the platform offered a way to eliminate administrative complexity, providing a single solution for securely delivering and managing any app on any device.
Adobe employees can use their preferred devices and the best ones for their particular jobs. They have a similar experience no matter what they use. Whether they need to access an app on a laptop or a mobile phone, they can quickly log in and access all necessary software—including Adobe creative applications as well as a full range of productivity and enterprise apps.
Overcoming major business disruptions by enabling remote work
Adobe completed deployment of Workspace ONE more than a year before the COVID-19 pandemic started. So when local and national governments around the world began issuing stay-at-home orders in the spring of 2020, Adobe was ready.
The company transitioned its entire global workforce to a remote workforce in one weekend. VMware digital workspaces—along with other collaborative tools for messaging and videoconferencing—enabled employees to stay productive while working from home. They could access the same applications they would have in the office, whether they were using company-owned or personal devices.
Today, the Adobe IT group manages more than 47,500 devices used by the company’s 22,000 employees. Adobe can also easily add contractors and part-time employees, whether they are using company-issued devices or personal ones.
Implementing Zero Trust security without complicating the user experience
Providing fast, frictionless access to apps was a top priority—but the IT group did not want to sacrifice security. By working with VMware, Adobe implemented a Zero Trust approach. Built on the idea of never trusting and always verifying, Zero Trust enforces strict identity and device verification procedures.
To maintain conditional access to resources, Adobe employs VMware Carbon Black Cloud, another VMware Cross-Cloud service offering, plus Okta Identity Cloud management. Access can be conditioned on device posture, user identity, location and other criteria. The IT group can set different conditions and implement distinct security policies for different users, groups, types of devices and so on.
For users, Zero Trust security is invisible. They sign on once and have a frictionless experience accessing apps from within Workspace ONE.
Accelerating onboarding with self-provisioning capabilities
With the new solution in place, Adobe has significantly streamlined the onboarding experience for new employees and contractors. “An employee wants to start immediately. They want to be productive. They want to make contributions. From an IT perspective, we want to get IT out of the way,” says Mockett. “With VMware Workspace ONE, an employee can self-provision a desktop just like they do their mobile device. And they can be up and running in 15 to 20 minutes.”
Fast onboarding is particularly useful for corporate acquisitions. When Adobe incorporates new businesses into its own, the company is able to integrate new employees rapidly. IT administrators then have the option to manage those new business divisions separately, with distinct policies.
Looking forward
Even as some Adobe employees return to in-person work, the company’s leadership now knows that Adobe is well positioned to welcome a variety of future changes, including additional corporate acquisitions. By using VMware Workspace ONE, Adobe can simplify IT management while delivering seamless, consistent user experiences to employees—no matter how and where they work. ▪