Case Study: San Mateo County achieves rapid scale to a 90% remote workforce and seamless Zero Trust security with Zscaler

Creating a Remarkable Experience with the Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange

San Mateo County, a Silicon Valley–based local government with about 10,000 employees and contractors, needed to provide secure, fast, and reliable access as it shifted to widespread remote work during the COVID‑19 crisis. With only 35% of its workforce on flexible schedules before the pandemic, the county faced the urgent challenge of scaling remote access rapidly while maintaining service delivery to residents and support for first responders.

By adopting Zscaler’s Zero Trust Exchange (ZIA and ZPA) alongside other cloud services, the county implemented cloud‑delivered security that peers with SaaS like Microsoft 365, performs unlimited inline TLS/SSL inspection, and delivers identical access and protection for users anywhere. The solution enabled the county to scale remote work from 35% to over 90% within days, ensured smooth, consistent user experience in and out of the office, and supported uninterrupted delivery of critical public services.

San Mateo County

Sean Thakkar

Deputy CIO