High Tech
The world’s leading travel search engine, KAYAK, enhances employee experience and bolsters security with Kisi
6 min reading time
Story shared by
CISO
IT Director
IT Engineer
As the world’s leading travel search engine, KAYAK processes billions of queries across its platforms each year, helping millions of travelers around the globe make confident travel decisions. Supporting travelers in finding the right flights, hotels, rental cars, and vacation packages, KAYAK is aligned with Kisi’s mission of connecting people and spaces.
The passion for secure spaces where connection, collaboration, and seamless user experience are top priority was evident when talking with KAYAK’s Tom Parker, CISO, Andrew Bolton, IT Director, and Jace Cangiano, IT Engineer. Growing from a small tech company into an enterprise spanning across international brands and locations, KAYAK is always on the lookout for modern solutions that streamline operations and boost employee experience, like Kisi access control.
"Using an outdated management system, built in the days of Windows XP, is difficult and really hard to do", according to Tom. KAYAK admins needed to log into a computer to actually manage anything. As a modern, cloud-based access system, Kisi enables admins to manage everything remotely behind a single pane of glass and automate a substantial part of it.
Dealing with keycards as access credentials proved inconvenient. As Tom shares, "People lose their cards all the time. People forget to bring them. They leave them in their pants when they go through the wash. No one forgets to bring their phone to the office. In fact, if people leave and forget their phone at home, they’re probably going to go back home and get it. So mobile access makes so much sense."
Tom turned to Kisi for a modern, innovative solution. “Kisi is not only listening to feedback but is also open to building custom features,” says Tom.
KAYAK (and its sister brand OpenTable) operate globally across 22 offices and the goal is to connect these offices through Kisi.
While they had a full deployment in their Kaunas, Lithuania office, covering all the internal doors and a connection to the car park, they use Kisi's customizable deployment options to tackle the landlord barrier in some of the US offices.
Andrew takes the gradual approach, "What we end up doing is having Kisi internally while people still need their manual cards to get in the building. Of course, we can then manage these cards with Kisi. This puts the cards behind Okta, which helps with a lot of the existing problems. We then have automation and control with granting access to people."
The Copenhagen office, on the other hand, is the perfect ground for the complete Kisi solution, "We can install the system from the streets into the office, and the office in Copenhagen is over three floors. It has about 15 entryways and elevators. It's a very complex building space, and we have the green light to do whatever we need to do", says Andrew.
Besides the deployment possibilities, another attractive option for landlords is Apple Wallet access, given it is platform-independent, so there aren't any problems with different keycards or standards. Integrating with Kisi can be especially easy and fruitful for landlords using VTS, building management, and tenant experience apps.
The Kisi-secured KAYAK locations enjoy:
Let’s dive into the specifics.
KAYAK employees waiting in front of the office can be a thing of the past, thanks to Kisi's mobile credentials. This is one of the biggest motivators to migrate to Kisi in all locations.
Mobile access ensures convenience and can enhance security, given that everyone can account for their cell phone, which can't be said about keycards.
The Okta integration is essential in bolstering security and streamlining operations, enabling the KAYAK IT and office managers to focus on their core activities. This Kisi integration automatically grants access privileges to people onboarded in Okta and revokes access to the ones terminated in Okta.
This improves the onboarding experience for new employees, reinforcing the KAYAK culture and just how modern the company is. On the other hand, it reduces security risk by ensuring former employees don't walk away with valid access credentials.
Tom sums up the company-wide benefits of Kisi:
The streamlined on- and off-boarding processes we talked about save time while ensuring swift transitions for employees. The user-friendly Kisi dashboard reduces the administrative burden, enabling admins to create different user groups and automation and assign permissions as needed.
Using mobile credentials instead of easily misplaced keycards prevents unauthorized access, reducing the risk of data breaches and system compromises.
Tom is also focused on the employee experience. "We really enhance our employee experience. It’s a factor when it comes to employee retention and employees feeling that this is a modern company doing modern things."
With Kisi, employees don't have to worry about forgetting or misplacing their credentials or waiting in front of the office to be let in. They enjoy the modern feel of unlocking doors with a wave of their hand.
KAYAK employees from offices that haven't rolled out Kisi yet are impressed by the mobile experience.
"We see that the reaction from the employees is so positive. That shows that we made the right choice. That shows that Kisi was the right vendor for us.", adds Andrew.
The seamless user experience is complemented by frictionless, remote management on the admin side. Jace can grant guest employees access to branch offices on their phones in seconds wherever they are.
The enhanced security, streamlined operations, and seamless user experience enable KAYAK employees to focus on their core and make it easier for everyone to experience the world.
As a cloud-based, scalable, future-proof solution, Kisi is the perfect access control system for any company that needs reliable security and a convenient user experience.
Want to see how Kisi can work for you? Contact our security experts for a complimentary consultation.