BDO selects Microsoft Azure for identity and access management
30 July 2018
BDO continues to leverage its long-standing strategic alliance with Microsoft and announces its decision to implement Azure Active Directory as its IAM solution.
BDO is one of the fastest growing global organisations in the accounting and auditing profession, operating in 162 countries and connecting over 73,000 people in 1,500 offices. As BDO firms’ digital resources and communications expand across the cloud and on devices, the organisation needs its advisers to benefit from secure access to information and from remote collaboration, and to be confident that they’re aligned with compliancy requirements in their region.
Ensuring firms’ independence, while maintaining their ability to collaborate, is essential to BDO: hence the decision to move much of its on-premises data to Microsoft Azure. Azure’s robust identity access management not only allows single sign-on, insight and control over access to applications and data, but also secure collaboration. Multi-factor identification and authentication through mobile apps, phone calls and text messages heightens security while still meeting the demand of BDO employees for a simple sign-in process.
Russ Phillips, BDO’s Global IT Director of Infrastructure and Services: “We’re connecting all BDO firms to a single IAM environment where they are empowered to manage their own onboarding and exit processes. The collective vision of all BDO’s firms is to be the leader for exceptional client service, so our people and our firms are set up to serve and support their clients – at every level, day-in, day-out.”
With Microsoft Azure’s ability to scale services as needed, BDO no longer has to upgrade or expand its infrastructure. Another key consideration for BDO in its cloud choice was Microsoft Azure’s global presence. With 50 Azure regions across the globe, BDO can specify the region where its client data will be stored, meeting local data residency regulatory requirements.
BDO will continue to benefit from a very close partnership with Microsoft in the identity space. As a global organisation that continually harnesses the value that collaboration amongst its firms brings for all its stakeholders, BDO is dedicated to delivering on its digital first vision.