Takeda’s 70,000 employees and contractors are known for their leadership in oncology, gastroenterology, neuroscience, rare diseases, and plasma-derived therapies. Over the past few decades, Takeda product teams around the world introduced new therapies to market through various product launch campaigns, which invariably included websites or customer portals—each with its own authentication process. 

That approach resulted in fragmented experiences for some individuals who interacted with the company digitally. “Each therapy had its own brand experience and separate login, ideally Takeda wanted a single login for all brands across the portfolio,” says Bob Durfee, head of digital engagement and DevSecOps at Takeda. 

“That’s when we decided to start handling things differently,” he says.

As a cyber digital trust organization, the team also realized that they needed to take stronger ownership of security policies for each digital Takeda property. “We needed to ensure that those passwords were secure,” says Durfee. 

Scale was also a concern as the company grew, he says: “Some of those branded websites had a million users, but could they handle a million people all logging at once?”

To secure and simplify digital experiences, the Takeda team recognized that they needed to centralize identity across the company. “Rock-solid identity has become key to security and to the user experience,” says Durfee. “Identity is the crux—the baseline of our trusted digital services.” For the next stage in Takeda’s centuries-old evolution, the team would revolutionize their IAM approach.