Founded in 2018, Kandji provides a platform for seamlessly managing iOS, Mac, and Apple TV devices at scale. Its customer list reads like a “who’s who” of the tech world, and includes the likes of Rackspace, Digicert, and UK neobanking giant Monzo. 

Kandji aspires to follow in Apple’s product design footsteps by providing a simple-yet-powerful tool for configuring, managing, and deploying devices in an Apple fleet. “We try to understand the needs of both end-users and administrators. We want to provide a seamless experience both in terms of managing devices and using them,” said Tim Gumto, Senior Technical Product Manager at Kandji. 

To meet those lofty goals, Kandji selected Auth0 as its dedicated customer identity tool. Designed with rapidly-expanding SaaS companies in mind, Auth0 has improved Kandji’s appeal with larger enterprise clients, while building upon its already strong UX foundations. 

Modern Identity Key to Becoming Enterprise-Ready

Windows computers have historically dominated the world of big business. In recent years, this has begun to shift, with blue-chip companies using Apple computers and phones in greater numbers, as Dustin Thompson, Head of Partnerships for Kandji explained. 

“There’s a growth pattern across the use of Apple in the enterprise. It’s not just younger, smaller companies. We see this upward trajectory continuing as Apple takes significant market share from the PC world,” says Thompson. 

This presents both an opportunity and a challenge. Enterprises need a tool to orchestrate their ever-expanding Mac fleets, but must adhere to stringent data privacy and information security requirements. 

“Things like BYOD have removed the centralized security that was the norm, where we all came into the office and worked from behind the same firewall. We can’t just think about security in terms of devices and applications, but how they interact,” says Thompson. “I can’t overstate how important it is to our customers to know that we’re providing the most secure experience, both from the administrative perspective to the end-user.” 

The network is no longer the firewall. Identity has taken its place. With its support for role-based access control (RBAC), as well as its straightforward user administration and extensive compatibility, Auth0 was an obvious choice for Kandji. 

“Once we built Kandji’s core product, we thought about how we could appeal to larger businesses. It really does start with authentication as that’s the first touchpoint a user has with an application. As we grew, we realized that we had to include an SSO solution that could cover a good amount of the market,” says Gumto. 

Self Service Onboarding Equals Faster Time to Value

Kandji needed a solution that could seamlessly work with clients of all sizes, from plucky startups with just a few hundred devices in their fleets, to some of the largest companies in the world, which have complex and expansive IT systems. Auth0 proved itself capable on this front.

“Implementing Auth0 wasn’t long or difficult for us or our customers,” says Gumto. “Some were working with a quick time-to-market. They could spin up our product really quickly thanks to Auth0, which was plug-and-play.” 

Quick and easy customer onboarding was a priority for Kandji. Having Auth0 in place, Kandji customers only need to configure a few fields to connect their directories, using protocols like SAML. Shortening and simplifying the process delivers a faster time to value for customers, leading to “stickier” customers and a healthier bottom line for Kandji.

“We have seen per customer revenue trending up, so there’s definitely a correlation,” says Thompson. “We’re able to provide best-in-class flexibility, and customers know we can scale with them, too.”

Auth0 Organizations Improves Customer Support

As a B2B organization, Kandji wanted a way to manage and customize workflows for customers at scale. Using Auth0 Organizations, Kandji can activate SSO, customize branding per organization, and even set up one tenant per organization, which keeps that customer data isolated and reduces the number of API calls needed.

It accomplished this in a fraction of the time it took to implement the previous DIY solution. “Implementing Auth0 took about four months, compared to 12-to-16 months. We’re looking at a four-times increase in speed,” said Gumto. 

“But the real dividends will become apparent over time. By using a commercial product, backed with rock-solid support and comprehensive documentation, Auth0 is easier to maintain and operate.”