Elevating security connectivity
Every day, two billion people use KONE elevators and escalators. Behind this success lies a global team of people working around the clock to ensure every journey is safe, convenient, and reliable.
KONE recognised the opportunity to evolve its connectivity infrastructure. To prepare for future growth and ensure a consistent user experience, the organisation sought to modernise its existing security connectivity, which was based on multiple fragmented platforms. KONE’s primary objective was to move from complexity to a unified, scalable solution. For an organisation supporting 11 global R&D centres across seven countries, a worldwide network of distributors, and 1.8 million units, security connectivity being stuck in the basement was a real problem. KONE’s challenges were to:
- Reduce complexity: KONE had disjointed platforms for its VPN environment, URL filtering, DNS security, and firewalls.
- Secure diverse environments: KONE’s rapid adoption of cloud applications had changed the requirements for security. All its applications needed to be secured – not just those in the data centre.
- Improve performance: Slow connectivity and overly complex processes hindered productivity.
- Facilitate scalability: Significant manual work was needed to expand the VPN-based secure access to multiple applications and data.
“Speed is key in our business. Elevator maintenance, for example, needs to be acted on immediately. Palo Alto Networks gives us the resilience and agility not only to win business but also to deliver great customer service.”
Lassi Hokkanen
Head of Global Connectivity, KONE
Work without limits
To achieve its vision of a unified, high-performing security model, KONE transitioned from its existing, multi-vendor VPN architecture to a single, cloud-delivered Prisma Access platform. Developed and deployed in partnership with Verizon, this modern approach secures access to all applications – in the data centres, internet, and public, private, and hybrid clouds – while maintaining 360-degree traffic visibility.
“We were already a Palo Alto Networks firewall customer,” says Lassi Hokkanen, Head of Global Connectivity, KONE. “The single-platform approach gives us centralised management, highly resilient security, and a simplified user experience.”
Verizon played a key role in this success. “Verizon understood exactly what we needed to achieve and worked shoulder-to-shoulder with our team to implement this SASE programme worldwide in two months. Their commitment and expertise were vital to this success,” says Aswin U, Platform Owner, Network Security, KONE.
Mikko Pohjasmaki, Senior Client Partner at Verizon, adds: “We are driving transformation with confidence on a unique multi-cloud architecture.”
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Ensured trusted security across global operations
![Ensured trusted security across global operations]()
KONE has secure, least-privileged access to all applications, eliminating implicit trust and reducing its attack surface. Using Palo Alto Networks natively integrated Cloud-Delivered Security Services (CDSS) delivers consistent best-in-class protection within KONE’s Networks.This, in turn, has led to an 80% reduction in security cases across the entire infrastructure. “The main reason for the reduction in alerts is the simplicity of the infrastructure. We’re now watching one platform – not three different ones from different vendors,” says Lassi.
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Global deployment in just two months
![Global deployment in just two months]()
With the incumbent VPN contracts set to expire, KONE was on a tight timescale to deploy Prisma Access. Working as a unified team, KONE, Palo Alto Networks Customer Success, and Verizon architected and deployed the platform at remarkable pace.In a subsequent, separate implementation, KONE launched Prisma Access in China to thousands of users in only one month. “Once we knew Prisma Access was available in China, we deployed it immediately to create a single global Prisma Access footprint,” says Lassi.
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Cut costs by 40%
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By unifying security connectivity around one platform, KONE has slashed its number of connectivity contracts and reduced its maintenance overhead. This has ultimately led to a 40% reduction in global connectivity costs.Lassi continues, “We no longer have duplicate platforms or management – plus the energy costs have been reduced.”
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Reduced security administration by 50%
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Fewer platforms, less administration, and one common view of the security infrastructure have contributed to a 50% reduction in time spent monitoring security – and, at the same time, increased visibility and security efficacy.“Previously, we had one owner for each of the three VPN systems; now we are just one team – all speaking the same language. The one person we have saved is redeployed to more strategic security tasks,” says Lassi.
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Improved network performance by 80%
Instead of backhauling traffic to the data centres, Prisma Access connects applications in different locations through its connectivity layer, so users can access all applications – whether in the cloud or the data centre.
This, in turn, has led to an 80% improvement in performance. “The connectivity layer allows us to establish secure access to public cloud, software-as-a-service, and data centre applications,” says Aswin.
KONE has secure, least-privileged access to all applications, eliminating implicit trust and reducing its attack surface. Using Palo Alto Networks natively integrated Cloud-Delivered Security Services (CDSS) delivers consistent best-in-class protection within KONE’s Networks.
With the incumbent VPN contracts set to expire, KONE was on a tight timescale to deploy Prisma Access. Working as a unified team, KONE, Palo Alto Networks Customer Success, and Verizon architected and deployed the platform at remarkable pace.
By unifying security connectivity around one platform, KONE has slashed its number of connectivity contracts and reduced its maintenance overhead. This has ultimately led to a 40% reduction in global connectivity costs.
Fewer platforms, less administration, and one common view of the security infrastructure have contributed to a 50% reduction in time spent monitoring security – and, at the same time, increased visibility and security efficacy.share this story
