Case Study: Merck KGaA achieves secure, enterprise-wide collaboration and streamlined identity management with Microsoft Azure

Securing a healthy dose of collaboration

Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany—a 50,000-employee global leader in healthcare, life sciences, and performance materials—faced a tension between protecting sensitive intellectual property and enabling collaboration across an increasingly mobile, geographically dispersed workforce. Growth through acquisitions and a move to cloud SaaS apps created identity and access challenges: routing traffic through on-premises VPNs was becoming untenable and did not support required multifactor authentication or seamless external partnerships.

Merck replaced disparate platforms with EVA (a SharePoint-based digital workplace) and deployed Microsoft solutions—Azure AD Premium, AD Application Proxy, and Azure Information Protection—integrated with Office 365 to provide single sign-on, publish on-premises apps without VPN, and secure access from managed devices. The result is a streamlined, more secure identity environment that supports SaaS and mobile connectivity, enables cross-division and external collaboration, and boosts employee productivity and enterprise agility.

Merck KGaA

Conor O’Halloran

Head of Identity