Time to Upgrade: OpenSesame’s Journey to a Better Credential Management Solution

OpenSesame, a leader in workplace learning, empowers businesses with impactful training solutions. Behind the scenes, their operations rely on hundreds of SaaS apps—from engineering tools and Google Workspace to Slack, Zoom, and ADP. But as their tech stack grew, so did the challenge of ensuring secure, seamless access for effective collaboration without slowing teams down.

The Challenge: An Enterprise Password Manager That Couldn’t Keep Up

Like many organizations, OpenSesame started with an enterprise password manager (EPM) to handle app access and credential storage. But what should have simplified security quickly became a source of frustration.

Frequent reliability and password syncing failures left employees locked out of accounts, disrupting their work and overwhelming IT with support tickets. Many apps also sat outside OpenSesame’s identity provider, Okta, meaning they lacked the protection of single sign-on (SSO). Bringing those apps under SSO required costly enterprise upgrades—a prohibitive price that didn’t make sense.

And then there was collaboration. Teams across the business needed to securely share passwords and secrets to work effectively, but the process was anything but smooth. When employees left the company, offboarding became a manual headache—revoking access, rotating passwords, and ensuring everything stayed secure ate up hours of IT’s time every week.

At OpenSesame, it was clear something needed to change. “Employees were frustrated, IT was overwhelmed, and valuable time was slipping away. I kept thinking, ‘There has to be a better way.’

Marilisa Justiniani, Systems Administrator

OpenSesame

The Search for a Better Solution

When OpenSesame discovered Cerby, the difference was clear from the start. It wasn’t just a better password manager—it was a smarter way to manage access, automate security processes, and bring all their apps under centralized control.

At first, OpenSesame was simply looking for a solution to securely store and share passwords. But during the product demo, they realized Cerby could do so much more. Logins became seamless and reliable—Cerby autofilled credentials and even handled MFA verification automatically. “It’s like magic,” one user noted. Password updates, once a tedious manual task, were now automated with a single click.

Collaboration between teams also improved. Cerby made it easy to securely share credentials and secrets without sacrificing control. But the real game-changer? Cerby’s ability to connect apps that didn’t support native SSO. Instead of paying for costly license upgrades, OpenSesame could extend Okta’s protection to every app in their ecosystem—bridging the SSO gap without breaking the budget.

“The automation blew me away,” Justiniani shared. “Passwords rotating in a click, logins happening seamlessly—it was everything we needed for efficiency, security, and usability.”

A Smooth Transition with Hands-On Support

Migrating to a new system can feel daunting without the right partner. The OpenSesame team knew how easily these migrations could become disruptive, and asking employees to take time out of their day was a big ask.

But Cerby made it effortless. With hands-on support, robust documentation, and a seamless import tool, they delivered a smooth, efficient transition with minimal lift for the team.

The Results & Tangible Benefits of Switching

With Cerby, OpenSesame turned credential and access management from a daily frustration into a streamlined, secure process that supports their growing SaaS ecosystem:

  • Effortless access sharing: Teams can securely share credentials and secrets, enabling smooth collaboration without compromising strict access controls.
  • Advanced security automations: Repetitive tasks like password updates and user deprovisioning became one-click processes, saving hours of manual work.
  • Extended SSO to every app: Cerby brought apps outside of Okta’s coverage under its protection, delivering security, visibility, and access control without costly upgrades.

“Cerby didn’t just fix our access issues—it gave us time back,” Justiniani said. “Tasks that used to take hours now take minutes. It’s hard to imagine going back.”

A Trusted Partner for the Future

Cerby doesn’t just replace outdated tools—it redefines what’s possible, giving OpenSesame’s IT team new levels of control, efficiency, and peace of mind. By automating the manual and securing every app, OpenSesame is building a stronger foundation for the future, ready to scale with confidence.