Secure cloud access with Okta at the Norwegian Refugee Council

Secure cloud access with Okta at the Norwegian Refugee Council

The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) partnered with Cloudworks to support its cloud-first strategy by implementing Okta as its identity and access management platform. The solution simplified secure access, strengthened security, and provided a scalable foundation for more than 14,000 employees worldwide.

About the Norwegian Refugee Council

  • Independent humanitarian organization
  • 14,000 employees worldwide
  • Operating in 39 countries
  • Headquarters: Oslo, Norway

 


NRC logo Norwegian

Many of our employees work in crisis regions and depend on mobile and secure solutions. Okta’s Identity and Access management platform, provided by Cloudworks, simplifies the everyday lives of our 14,000 employees and is the foundation of our cloud venture.

Mads Grandt, former ICT Manager, NRC

Delivering aid where needs are greatest

The Norwegian Refugee Council is an independent humanitarian organization helping people forced to flee. Operating in some of the world's most challenging environments, NRC supports displaced people while promoting and defending their rights and dignity.

With more than 14,000 employees worldwide, most working in the field, secure and reliable access to business-critical applications is essential.

A cloud-first strategy

Software as a Service (SaaS) applications are NRC's preferred delivery model, providing greater flexibility, continuous updates, and access to best-of-breed cloud services.

As the organization expanded its cloud-first strategy, it needed an identity platform that could simplify user access, improve identity security, and scale with the growing number of cloud applications.

A scalable identity platform

At the core of NRC's cloud strategy is Okta, providing centralized Identity and Access Management across the organization's cloud applications.

Employees access applications through Single Sign-On (SSO), allowing them to securely access the resources they need without managing multiple usernames and passwords.

For the IT team, centralized identity and access management simplifies administration while ensuring users only receive the access required for their roles. This scalable approach enables centralized access management while making it easier to scale cloud applications securely.

Strengthening authentication with MFA

As cloud adoption increased, protecting user identities became increasingly important.

To strengthen security while maintaining a good user experience, NRC implemented Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) through Okta. Instead of relying solely on passwords, users verify their identity using additional authentication factors such as one-time passwords generated on mobile devices or delivered by SMS.

This significantly reduces the risk of compromised credentials while providing secure access for employees working around the world, including in remote and crisis-affected regions.

Improving security and user experience

By implementing Okta as its centralized identity platform, NRC simplified access to cloud applications while strengthening identity security across the organization.

The solution enables employees to access the applications they need through Single Sign-On, while centralized access management and Multi-Factor Authentication provide stronger security, improved scalability, and a better user experience for a global workforce.

 
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