How Italian Manufacturer Maddalena Modernized Secure Remote Access While Cutting Costs by 70%

Transforming Remote Access at One of Europe’s Leading Industrial Manufacturers

Maddalena S.p.A., a century-old European leader in smart metering solutions for water and thermal energy, set out to modernize and secure its remote access infrastructure as part of a broader digital transformation strategy. 

With critical operations reliant on third-party vendors and remote users, the company faced growing challenges around credentials management, access visibility, and operational inefficiencies. High costs and the limitations of their prior privileged access management (PAM) system hindered flexibility and productivity. 

To address these issues, Maddalena partnered with cybersecurity innovator Cyolo and implementation partner Factor-y to deploy a modern secure access solution designed to both meet current operational needs and support future growth. 

The Challenge: Fragmented Access, Rising Costs, Limited Visibility

Maddalena’s previous access infrastructure relied heavily on manual processes and outdated tooling. The traditional PAM solution in use was rigid, difficult to manage, and ultimately underutilized by internal teams.  

Key concerns included: 

• Excessive time required to configure and manage temporary access 

• No centralized visibility into access sessions 

• High operational risk from unmanaged credentials 

• Poor vendor user experience 

• Disproportionate costs relative to usage 

The company had previously deployed a another solution that failed to meet expectations. That platform lacked the flexibility required for day-to-day operations and provided minimal support. According to Antonio Taverna, IT Specialist at Maddalena, “Had we been forced to accept the initial cost of a standard enterprise solution, we wouldn’t have even started the project.”  

The Goals: Enable Flexible, Secure Access for a Growing Ecosystem of Users

Maddalena’s IT team defined three key outcomes: 

• Centralize and automate remote access and vendor onboarding 

• Improve visibility and control over third-party connections 

• Reduce operational risk, improve user experience, and cut costs 

In addition, the solution had to support seamless scalability as the company modernized its infrastructure and operations.  

The Cyolo Solution: Secured Identity-Based Access with Full Visibility and Control

Cyolo partnered with Factor-y to implement secure remote access rooted in an identity-based architecture. 

Key components of the deployment included: 

• Identity-based access control tied to Microsoft Entra ID. 

• Fine-grained policy enforcement by role, time, location, and system 

• Real-time session visibility and audit trails 

• Single sign-on (SSO) and multi-factor authentication (MFA) for both internal and external users 

• Secure, self-service workflows for temporary vendor access 

The Cyolo PRO (Privileged Remote Operations) solution gave Maddalena the ability to provision and revoke access in minutes, without compromising on security or requiring complex manual processes. 

Results: 70% Cost Savings, 100% Boost in IT Productivity, Instant Vendor Access

The impact of adopting Cyolo PRO was immediate and measurable: 

• 100% increase in IT team productivity through centralized access workflows 

• 80% reduction in time to configure temporary access 

• 70% drop in operational costs for remote access 

• 100% improvement in perceived IT support quality (internal & vendor) 

• Drastic reduction in onboarding time — from days to minutes 

• Full control and visibility over all access sessions 

Why Cyolo: Better Security, Enhanced Operational Agility, Improved Productivity

Cyolo PRO’s unique decentalized architecture gave Maddalena a flexible platform with no vendor lock-in, no shared infrastructure risks, and no compromises on speed or user experience. Unlike traditional remote access tools, Cyolo PRO offers a true zero-trust model where no credentials or sessions are stored in the cloud or with the vendor. 

Factor-y, acting as both consultant and integration partner, helped bridge Maddalena’s business needs with Cyolo’s modern security capabilities. Together, they delivered a new model of access governance that combines: 

• Flexibility and self-service 

• Regulatory readiness and full auditability 

• A scalable framework for future growth