Rolling Out Duo in EMEAR – Answers to the Top 3 Customer Questions
In Customer Success, we help customers get the most from Duo, which means getting to security fast, integrating Duo with all sorts of applications, and enabling a smooth end user and admin experience. I have been a Senior Customer Success Manager at Duo in the UK for two years and have had most customers ask me for advice on how to best deploy Duo. There is a method to the madness and in the blog I will lay out the three top best practices for deploying Duo.
Pro Tip: Consider Adding Duo Care
Duo Care is our Premium Support package that will partner you with a team of Duo experts and trusted security advisors, consisting of two people to guide you through the life of your subscription to ensure you get the most from your Duo subscription:
Customer Success Manager who is a Project Manager, focused on communication, Help Desk training, strategic advice, and acting as a liaison to other teams within Duo.
Customer Solutions Engineer who is the Technical Expert, point person for technical troubleshooting, integration advice and best practices.
Duo Care is hands-on help throughout the Duo deployment and once established, your Duo Care team will highlight any new features that are coming out with the opportunity to join a private preview or an active development program. On an ongoing basis, your Duo Care team will run through security health checks and account reviews with you. You can regard us as an extension of your team, there for you with continued guidance through the changing security landscape.
Answers to the Top 3 Customer Questions on Deploying Duo
Let’s look at the three questions that we hear from customers and break them down below:
1. Is My Timeline for Deploying Duo Realistic?
After a customer purchases Duo and Duo Care, they usually have an idea how long it might take to deploy Duo based on previous solutions they have rolled out or based on change control processes they have in place.
I’ve worked with a government customer who recently asked if rolling Duo out to a few hundred users in six months was realistic.
Previously, our teams have enabled customers to roll out Duo over a weekend to thousands of users in a breach situation.
More recently, we have rolled out Duo with shortened timelines due to the recent pandemic for customers and loads of new remote workers who need secure access.
My standard answer to this question is that we can run or walk as fast as the customer needs. We have experience with all situations and can share recommendations based on previous experience in that sector.
2. What Factors Should You Take Into Consideration When Choosing Which Applications to Start With During Deployment?
Usually, I recommend starting with a risk assessment to the business and user groups and the most commonly used and applications with sensitive data like Microsoft O365.
During a kick-off meeting with the customer, we will run through the customer’s specific situation and define the goals of phase 1 of the roll-out: which applications (sequential or at the same time), go-live dates, user numbers, etc. together as well as metrics to hit. Depending on the technical resources available and the specific customer context (breach, compliance requirement) the top priorities may change.
The CSE (customer success engineer) is the technical expert who will work on the various technical integrations that can all be found in our documentation laid out here.
3. Why Is End-User Communication Such an Important Element to the Duo Deployment?
As creatures of habit, changing any bit of the daily end user workflow may be met with resistance initially. Asking for any modification to the way someone starts their work day with their login process and coffee or tea requires succinct communication. We suggest that the user guide and the end user communication templates are used as they help explain to the end user why the change is coming, what is required of him/her and when.
As a Customer Success Manager, I work closely with the customer’s communications department to advise how to best reach the various end users. (Hint: it may not always be email and we may have to get creative with posters in warehouses).
In addition, Customer Success can point you to the most relevant bits in a wealth of marketing resources we have available, such as the customer deployment kit or security education, or other customer’s intranet pages with FAQs and enrollment tips.
Our Duo Care team is on hand to help tailor the messaging and work on a communication strategy as this is key for a successful deployment. When a deployment is done well, the impact on the Help Desk will be low. At Duo, we pride ourselves that our technology is drop-dead simple to use and Duo Care enables you to work through complex IT environments, challenges of advanced deployments, and limited resources while ensuring speed to security.
If you’re interested in Duo Care and would like to learn more, click here Duo Care. If you’d like to learn more, please speak to your Duo or Cisco Account Executive.
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