Client Testimonial
ASSA ABLOY

The challenge: Scaling IT infrastructure alongside aggressive M&A

As the global leader in access solutions, ASSA ABLOY’s physical footprint is massive. Its products—ranging from shutter doors in high-rises to hotel keycards and hospital automation—pass through millions of hands each day.

Behind the scenes, managing the digital infrastructure for an organization of this scale is a complex undertaking, especially given their aggressive acquisition strategy.

Historically, the company operated with a decentralized domain portfolio. Multiple subsidiaries managed their own registries, resulting in conflicting rules, varying billing cycles, and limited visibility for their IT department.

This fragmentation also introduced operational friction. When domains were registered separately across multiple providers, it created security blind spots and exposed the organization to the risks of unauthorized administrative changes or accidental lapses.

To support its growth securely, ASSA ABLOY needed to eliminate this multiprovider setup and establish strict corporate governance under a single, enterprise-grade platform.

The solution: Centralized governance and strict KYC verification

The company’s IT leaders knew they needed a tier-1, ICANN accredited partner that could secure their digital perimeter and enforce strict operational accountability and rigorous know your customer (KYC) verification protocols.

Ultimately, ASSA ABLOY chose to partner with CSC.

“We are a global group operating in a security landscape, which means we require a tier-1 provider. CSC being an accredited registrar is a perfect fit for us. It ensures we have the necessary checks and balances in place for change management and building trust with our customers,” says Ryaco Hendriks, Group IT, ASSA ABLOY.

A core component of this transition was preventing unauthorized modifications. CSC now acts as a strict gatekeeper, ensuring that ASSA ABLOY’s infrastructure can’t be altered without proper verification.

“When administrative requests are made, CSC ensures they are routed to Group IT for proper approval. We cannot afford critical domains experiencing downtime due to unauthorized changes. Knowing CSC runs these requests by us to do the checks and balances provides peace of mind,” Ryaco adds.

Acting as the central point of contact for domain inquiries

Beyond technical Domain Name System (DNS) management, CSC serves as the official proxy and point of contact (POC) for ASSA ABLOY’s domain portfolio. By managing external communications, CSC filters out noise and safely escalates legitimate inquiries or acquisition offers directly to Group IT.

Ryaco says, “CSC is taking care of a lot of communication issues whereby they are representing us when it comes to domain contact information. Whenever something comes in—for example, somebody is willing to make an offer on a domain of ours—we get reached out to by CSC. We can then push this further into our organization to either provide an answer or stop it cold. That’s working exceptionally well.”

Proactive threat intelligence and global presence

As a multinational enterprise, ASSA ABLOY requires a partner with an operational footprint that matches its own. CSC’s global presence ensures continuous availability and regional expertise.

“CSC is headquartered in Delaware and available in all regions on a 24x7 basis. For a group like ours where we get 24x7 support requirements from all divisions all the time, that’s super important” says Ryaco.

Transitioning to this global, tier-1 architecture also equipped ASSA ABLOY with advanced, data-driven visibility to actively monitor and defend its digital assets. This capability matters a great deal to the company’s leadership.

According to Ryaco, “CSC’s DomainSec^SM has added great value to me and my team. It has been invaluable in giving us the data we need to effectively see where in our domain portfolio the biggest threats are so we can take remedial action accordingly. With DomainSec, we can really make our domain portfolio work for us, in terms of getting the threat intelligence that we otherwise wouldn’t have access to with a more dispersed, multiprovider portfolio.”

The verdict—it’s a “no-brainer”

For ASSA ABLOY, the value of partnering with CSC extends beyond domain consolidation. With a centralized, secure framework in place, the company can maintain oversight of its growing digital portfolio, support the ongoing integration of acquired businesses, and respond more effectively to emerging threats. Combined with CSC’s global support model and rigorous governance processes, ASSA ABLOY has established a foundation that aligns with both its security requirements and ambitious growth strategy.

“CSC is not the cheapest provider out there, but they are among the best, which means they are worth every penny we spend in terms of friction reduced and security gained. With many large registrars, you are just a number on a spreadsheet. But with CSC, you get dedicated experts who intimately understand your business and provide an enterprise-grade experience. Committing to CSC is a no-brainer,” concludes Ryaco.