Zscaler > Case Studies > Empowering Remote Work with IoT: A Case Study on Coca-Cola Consolidated and Zscaler

Empowering Remote Work with IoT: A Case Study on Coca-Cola Consolidated and Zscaler

Technology Category

Application Infrastructure & Middleware - Middleware, SDKs & Libraries
Networks & Connectivity - Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS)

Applicable Industries

Buildings
Telecommunications

Use Cases

Tamper Detection
Traffic Monitoring

Services

Cloud Planning, Design & Implementation Services

About The Customer

Coca-Cola Consolidated is the largest bottler of Coca-Cola products in the United States. The company produces, sells, and distributes more than 300 different Coca-Cola products to more than 66 million consumers. Founded in 1902, Coca-Cola Consolidated has grown to include more than 110 locations across 14 states and the District of Columbia. The company is deeply committed to its customers, the communities they serve, and the more than 17,000 teammates at manufacturing facilities, distribution and sales centers, and its corporate headquarters. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Coca-Cola Consolidated encouraged its employees to work from home to ensure their safety.

The Challenge

Coca-Cola Consolidated, the largest bottler of Coca-Cola products in the United States, faced a significant challenge during the COVID-19 pandemic. The company, which serves over 66 million consumers and operates in more than 110 locations across 14 states, had to ensure the safety of its over 17,000 employees by encouraging them to work from home. This shift presented a communications challenge for the company, which heavily relies on Microsoft Teams and other latency-sensitive applications for internal communications. Traditional VPN connections often reported latency, which could affect Office 365 productivity. The IT team had to remove as many variables as possible to provide remote workers with a safe and predictable user experience, one that is comparable to or better than at the office—especially for Office 365 because the Company is so heavily dependent on this suite.

The Solution

Coca-Cola Consolidated had been an Office 365 platform member for a number of years and began working with Zscaler in 2018 to help complement that experience. Zscaler, fully compliant with Microsoft’s Office 365 connectivity recommendations, helped Coca-Cola Consolidated’s Office 365 users avoid VPN performance impacts by delivering a fast, direct connection and enhancing the user experience, while keeping open internet traffic secure with Cloud Firewall, CASB, DLP, and Cloud Sandbox defenses, among others. With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the relevance of Zscaler Client Connector (formerly Zscaler App) became hyper-relevant. With Client Connector, Coca-Cola Consolidated was able to route traffic through one single checkpost, streamlining connections to internal applications, improving user experience, increasing security, and keeping infrastructure costs low.

Operational Impact

The implementation of Zscaler Client Connector allowed leadership at Coca-Cola Consolidated to monitor key business metrics, ensuring continued productivity in the new work-from-home model. It gave them peace of mind that important work was getting done, and enabled Company leaders to make informed decisions moving forward. With teammates using an array of devices, Coca-Cola Consolidated needed a solution that would keep its users secure, no matter the device or location. Client Connector was able to deliver that security, while also easily deploying to thousands of users.