3 Lessons Learned about the Indispensable Chemistry Between Zero Trust and Innovation Zia Akhtar

Securing innovation with indispensable chemistryIn a world where organizations are fueled by innovation, security is often seen as the gatekeeper that hampers creativity and productivity in order to maintain control. But at Indorama Ventures (IVL), we see things differently. Just as chemistry is indispensable to creating the materials that power modern life, zero trust security has become indispensable to innovation in our digital operations.

As a global leader in the chemical industry, Indorama’s reach spans 35 countries and 26,000 employees. Our products—critical in everything from textiles to packaging—are the result of years of refining processes and technologies. But the same philosophy that fuels our success also exists in how we approach digital transformation. Partnering with Zscaler, we embarked on a journey to implement zero trust security, not just to protect our global operations, but to enable secure innovation across all fronts.

Indorama Ventures: chemistry and connectivity in action For us at Indorama ventures, the need for secure, reliable access to data and applications wasn’t just about protecting information—it was about enabling our teams to work seamlessly across borders. Our operations rely on a complex supply chain and continuous communication between manufacturing sites, suppliers, and customers. And to maintain this delicate balance, our IT infrastructure had to be equally robust.

We chose Zscaler because it offered more than just a security solution—it gave us the opportunity to align our goals of security and innovation. By deploying Zscaler for Users, we ensured that our global teams could securely access critical applications like SAP and SuccessFactors from anywhere, without the complexity of traditional VPNs.

The result? Indorama’s operations became more flexible, connected, and future-proof, and our security framework became indispensable to our success. We also measured 15-20% improvement in network reliability and connectivity speeds and generated significant TCO savings As a result, we learned three key lessons.

Lesson 1: Zero Trust is a continuous journey—keep evolving in securityOne of the most important lessons we learned is that zero trust isn’t a “set-it-and-forget-it” solution. Like the chemistry behind our products, security must evolve to meet changing needs and threats. Implementing a zero trust architecture with Zscaler allowed us to continuously innovate with the knowledge that our systems could adapt to future challenges.

Zero trust requires ongoing adjustments—updating policies, reviewing security postures, and ensuring teams stay informed on the latest threats. Taking an ever-evolving, proactive approach allowed us to innovate before problems arose, helping us to avoid costly reactive measures and achieve smooth transitions—even during global disruptions like the COVID-19 pandemic.

To ensure a successful journey, we recommend comprehensive hands-on training at the outset and a strong focus on change management around global policy settings during the initial deployment. This approach helps to avoid disruptions and ensures a smooth transition.

Lesson 2: Security and innovation—the perfect chemical bondAt Indorama Ventures, we quickly realized that security and innovation aren’t mutually exclusive. In fact, they’re two sides of the same coin. Zscaler empowered our teams to work efficiently across the globe, accessing applications securely, without disruptions. This seamless access decreased latency and freed up our people to focus on innovation, knowing their work was protected by a strong security framework.

By eliminating VPNs and firewalls (which aren’t designed for a modern world with remote work and cloud apps), we were able to speed up operations, improve productivity, and enable innovation. Security didn’t slow us down—it became an invisible yet indispensable part of our innovation strategy, enabling our workforce to push boundaries. Today security is a foundation, not an afterthough.

Lesson 2: Security and innovation—the perfect chemical bondPerhaps the most valuable lesson we learned was the importance of staying ahead. By adopting Zscaler’s zero trust architecture early on, we were able to preempt evolving threats and keep our operations secure. This proactive stance allowed us to maintain business continuity when the unexpected struck, and it has proven to be a critical advantage in navigating today’s unpredictable landscape. Investing in zero trust early ensured that we could scale securely as our global operations grew.

Chemistry meets zero trust—what’s next for IndoramaOur zero trust journey with Zscaler has shown us that security is not a barrier to innovation, but rather an enabler. As we look to the future, we plan to extend this indispensable chemistry between security and innovation even further. Next on our agenda is exploring Zscaler Digital Experience (ZDX) to improve visibility into user experiences and application performance, ensuring our workforce remains agile and connected.

We’re also considering Zscaler for Workloads as we migrate more systems to the cloud. And as we expand, our zero trust framework will evolve, ensuring our operations remain secure, adaptable, and ready for the future.

For us at Indorama, the connection between chemistry and security has become clear: just as our products are indispensable to modern life, zero trust is indispensable to our continued innovation.  

​[#item_full_content] [[{“value”:”Securing innovation with indispensable chemistryIn a world where organizations are fueled by innovation, security is often seen as the gatekeeper that hampers creativity and productivity in order to maintain control. But at Indorama Ventures (IVL), we see things differently. Just as chemistry is indispensable to creating the materials that power modern life, zero trust security has become indispensable to innovation in our digital operations.

As a global leader in the chemical industry, Indorama’s reach spans 35 countries and 26,000 employees. Our products—critical in everything from textiles to packaging—are the result of years of refining processes and technologies. But the same philosophy that fuels our success also exists in how we approach digital transformation. Partnering with Zscaler, we embarked on a journey to implement zero trust security, not just to protect our global operations, but to enable secure innovation across all fronts.

Indorama Ventures: chemistry and connectivity in action For us at Indorama ventures, the need for secure, reliable access to data and applications wasn’t just about protecting information—it was about enabling our teams to work seamlessly across borders. Our operations rely on a complex supply chain and continuous communication between manufacturing sites, suppliers, and customers. And to maintain this delicate balance, our IT infrastructure had to be equally robust.

We chose Zscaler because it offered more than just a security solution—it gave us the opportunity to align our goals of security and innovation. By deploying Zscaler for Users, we ensured that our global teams could securely access critical applications like SAP and SuccessFactors from anywhere, without the complexity of traditional VPNs.

The result? Indorama’s operations became more flexible, connected, and future-proof, and our security framework became indispensable to our success. We also measured 15-20% improvement in network reliability and connectivity speeds and generated significant TCO savings As a result, we learned three key lessons.

Lesson 1: Zero Trust is a continuous journey—keep evolving in securityOne of the most important lessons we learned is that zero trust isn’t a “set-it-and-forget-it” solution. Like the chemistry behind our products, security must evolve to meet changing needs and threats. Implementing a zero trust architecture with Zscaler allowed us to continuously innovate with the knowledge that our systems could adapt to future challenges.

Zero trust requires ongoing adjustments—updating policies, reviewing security postures, and ensuring teams stay informed on the latest threats. Taking an ever-evolving, proactive approach allowed us to innovate before problems arose, helping us to avoid costly reactive measures and achieve smooth transitions—even during global disruptions like the COVID-19 pandemic.

To ensure a successful journey, we recommend comprehensive hands-on training at the outset and a strong focus on change management around global policy settings during the initial deployment. This approach helps to avoid disruptions and ensures a smooth transition.

Lesson 2: Security and innovation—the perfect chemical bondAt Indorama Ventures, we quickly realized that security and innovation aren’t mutually exclusive. In fact, they’re two sides of the same coin. Zscaler empowered our teams to work efficiently across the globe, accessing applications securely, without disruptions. This seamless access decreased latency and freed up our people to focus on innovation, knowing their work was protected by a strong security framework.

By eliminating VPNs and firewalls (which aren’t designed for a modern world with remote work and cloud apps), we were able to speed up operations, improve productivity, and enable innovation. Security didn’t slow us down—it became an invisible yet indispensable part of our innovation strategy, enabling our workforce to push boundaries. Today security is a foundation, not an afterthough.

Lesson 2: Security and innovation—the perfect chemical bondPerhaps the most valuable lesson we learned was the importance of staying ahead. By adopting Zscaler’s zero trust architecture early on, we were able to preempt evolving threats and keep our operations secure. This proactive stance allowed us to maintain business continuity when the unexpected struck, and it has proven to be a critical advantage in navigating today’s unpredictable landscape. Investing in zero trust early ensured that we could scale securely as our global operations grew.

Chemistry meets zero trust—what’s next for IndoramaOur zero trust journey with Zscaler has shown us that security is not a barrier to innovation, but rather an enabler. As we look to the future, we plan to extend this indispensable chemistry between security and innovation even further. Next on our agenda is exploring Zscaler Digital Experience (ZDX) to improve visibility into user experiences and application performance, ensuring our workforce remains agile and connected.

We’re also considering Zscaler for Workloads as we migrate more systems to the cloud. And as we expand, our zero trust framework will evolve, ensuring our operations remain secure, adaptable, and ready for the future.

For us at Indorama, the connection between chemistry and security has become clear: just as our products are indispensable to modern life, zero trust is indispensable to our continued innovation.”}]]