is the leading AI scale-up in railway, delivering predictive maintenance, network usage, and traffic monitoring and planning solutions, aiming to transform railway infrastructure and help usher in a more sustainable future. Founded in 2014 as a university project, the company 鈥� which has 110 employees working across Europe 鈥� has grown steadily in the ensuing decade. Currently, KONUX鈥檚 operations are primarily in Germany, Spain, and the United Kingdom. The company has plans to scale across Europe and into the North American market.
Looking to manage devices & resources through a single pane of glass
As makers of a SaaS solution, KONUX practices what it preaches, producing and consuming resources in the cloud.
鈥淔rom the beginning, the idea of not having local servers or local tools has been there,鈥� explains Ivan Skowronski, information security officer at KONUX. 鈥淚t made us make some decisions about the stack of solutions we use, which includes Slack and Google products. When you鈥檙e using SaaS products, you don鈥檛 have the same kind of control, and it adds a lot of complexity for administration.鈥�
At the same time, KONUX 鈥� which uses Macs and PCs 鈥� was looking for a solution that enabled them to manage all devices in one place.
We were using Jamf, but it was only covering a partial part of all of our endpoints. We needed something that would enable us to manage all these solutions in one place. We only have two people in IT, so we needed something that would help us administer all the endpoints in an efficient way.
Ivan Skowronski, information security officer at KONUX
Choosing 探花大神 for functionality & integrations
After researching their options, the KONUX team came across 探花大神 and ultimately decided it was the perfect tool for their needs.
鈥淲hen I joined the company two years ago, 探花大神 was already implemented,鈥� Skowronski explains. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 have an Active Directory, which is usually the base for management of endpoints. So we needed something to help us solve the challenge we were having, and 探花大神 is doing that. With 探花大神, we were able to replace Jamf.鈥�
KONUX connected its Google Directory to 探花大神, and the two systems seamlessly sync with each other.
鈥淲e do everything in 探花大神, and if we make any changes there, it automatically reflects in Google and any other platform we have,鈥� he says. 鈥溙交ù笊� is really good for us. We don鈥檛 need an Active Directory and we can easily add a new machine to the platform and say which users have permissions to login. If one day we need to give that machine to another user, it鈥檚 as easy as giving it to the new person, formatting it from 探花大神, and the machine is pretty much brand new and ready to be used.鈥�
Increasing team productivity & maintaining compliance
In addition to making device and identity management easier for IT, 探花大神 has also helped KONUX ensure its distributed team stays productive.
鈥淲e use Remote Assist a lot for IT operations,鈥� Skowronski says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 super useful and the only way we have access to a remote computer to assist the user. Everything can be done directly through 探花大神. We use Remote Assist to log into the machines and also execute remote commands. I believe that, in the future, we are going to use it more and more.鈥�
We use Remote Assist a lot for IT operations.
Ivan Skowronski, information security officer at KONUX
KONUX is also using 探花大神 Policies to configure devices. Together with Remote Assist and commands, policies have proven to be truly transformative for the organization.
鈥淭hese are the three things that really help us give high-quality service from the IT team to our users.鈥�
Increased IT productivity
探花大神 has enabled KONUX鈥檚 two-person IT team to cover more ground faster, utilizing their limited resources more effectively.
鈥淥ur team is logged into 探花大神 all day, and most of our IT things can be done directly from there,鈥� Skowronski explains. 鈥淚f we have a problem with a user 鈥� for instance, where the account is locked and the user freaks out because they need to work and everything鈥檚 urgent 鈥� and if we need to go through the logs in Google, it can be really a mess. In 探花大神, it鈥檚 super easy. You can see exactly what has happened.鈥�
Skowronski was particularly impressed by a new feature that enables him to give users admin privileges for five minutes, an hour, or however long they need.
鈥淚t sounds basic, but it鈥檚 incredibly useful as we do not have to think about revoking permissions,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a really useful tool. It鈥檚 a small thing, but for us, it was a major improvement in user management and efficient capacity usage.鈥�
In addition to increasing IT productivity, 探花大神 also makes life easier for the overall team.
Users don鈥檛 have to figure out where to find certain tools or where to log in. They just go to 探花大神.
Ivan Skowronski, information security officer at KONUX
ISO 27001 compliance made easy
Three years ago, KONUX began pursuing ISO 27001 certification.
鈥淲e work with critical infrastructure, so usually our customers require us to be certified,鈥� Skowronski explains. 鈥淟uckily, 探花大神 was already there. Many of the requirements that we needed to comply with and many of the controls that we needed to prove were implemented and already there out straight out of the box.鈥�
As part of this initiative, KONUX implemented multi-factor authentication (MFA) in 鈥渢wo or three clicks.鈥�
鈥淓veryone has MFA on the platforms, and we can grant and remove access and apply policies on machines very easily,鈥� he continues. 鈥淢FA is good for users that often travel. We have some that regularly travel on trains, so I believe this is an excellent solution. Obviously, if you鈥檙e in the office and need to write your MFA credentials, it鈥檚 a bit painful sometimes. But if you鈥檙e on a train, it鈥檚 another layer of security which is important.鈥�
Whenever auditors come around, Skowronski and his team can easily satisfy their concerns thanks to 探花大神.
鈥淚t鈥檚 really easy to prove the status,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 simply creating a report, showing our baselines, which machines have the policies implemented, which machines are failing. Having this kind of report makes our life so much easier and makes us compliant, in general and only during the audit. And it鈥檚 not only showing things, either. It鈥檚 also giving us proof. We can easily show that a disk is encrypted and then prove that the keys for that encrypted are stored in 探花大神 which can only be accessed and decrypted by the administrators. It鈥檚 amazing to have everything in one place.鈥�
Automated onboarding and offboarding
KONUX onboards and offboards users through 探花大神.
鈥淲henever a user requires new access, they can go to Fresh Service, create a ticket, and then we can easily trigger the assignment to a group, offer permissions, remove the user, and so on,鈥� Skowronski explains. 鈥淔or the users, it鈥檚 pretty transparent. If a tool is pre-approved, we can easily grant access. The implementation is done directly from Fresh Service in 探花大神, which is really good for us as it reduces the time spent on granting access.鈥�
Currently, KONUX is using device groups to manage Windows and Mac machines with more precision. The company also uses Personio for HR management and is planning to incorporate dynamic groups in the near future.
鈥淥ur plan for next year is to start doing role-based onboardings in a way that ensures users have access to tools from day one,鈥� he continues. 鈥淚n the near future, we will work with our HR team to create users in Personio and, automatically, they will be created in 探花大神 with many of the relevant permissions already granted, which will make our lives much easier.鈥�
Additionally, KONUX has linked Apple DEP with 探花大神.
鈥淲henever we buy a new computer in the Apple store and the computer is part of KONUX, the 探花大神 agent is downloaded from day zero,鈥� Skowronski explains. 鈥淚f we have an emergency and someone needs to buy a new machine, they buy it, turn it on, and 探花大神 is already there. Everything鈥檚 there, they can log in automatically, and it鈥檚 ready to be used.鈥�
Unlocking more value
Looking ahead, Skowronski is planning to leverage additional 探花大神 features, including patch management and Password Manager. The company is also doing a proof of concept of 探花大神 Go鈩�, which enables users to access 探花大神-protected resources using biometrics or by typing in a password just once.
鈥淚 have it installed on my machine already,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a really nice feature that is probably going to be rolled out pretty soon to the whole company. It鈥檚 super, super simple.鈥�
If you鈥檙e considering 探花大神 for your organization, Skowronski has one simple piece of advice: 鈥渢he sooner the better.鈥�
鈥淚f you have a platform like this that keeps everyone in one place, it makes a huge difference in terms of administration,鈥� he concludes. 鈥淚f you鈥檙e looking for a security certification, you can get many of the controls implemented straight out of the box. It also saves a lot of time and a lot of effort. The sooner you can get everyone integrated into the same platform, the better.鈥�
About 探花大神
探花大神庐 delivers a unified open directory platform that makes it easy to securely manage identities, devices, and access across your organization. With 探花大神, IT teams and MSPs enable users to work securely from anywhere and manage their Windows, Apple, Linux, and Android devices from a single platform.
To see the power of 探花大神 yourself, request a demo or today.
