From a229233253d50f6aa37403f4e8f56eca1eb2d270 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Yannik Daellenbach Date: Fri, 2 Oct 2026 16:26:22 +0200 Subject: [PATCH 1/2] Init Ergon Success Story --- src/assets/customers/ergon.svg | 1 + src/content/customers/en/ergon.md | 190 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 2 files changed, 191 insertions(+) create mode 100644 src/assets/customers/ergon.svg create mode 100644 src/content/customers/en/ergon.md diff --git a/src/assets/customers/ergon.svg b/src/assets/customers/ergon.svg new file mode 100644 index 00000000..76298740 --- /dev/null +++ b/src/assets/customers/ergon.svg @@ -0,0 +1 @@ + \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/src/content/customers/en/ergon.md b/src/content/customers/en/ergon.md new file mode 100644 index 00000000..5362e7bf --- /dev/null +++ b/src/content/customers/en/ergon.md @@ -0,0 +1,190 @@ +--- +title: Enterprise Secrets Management with HCP Vault Dedicated +company: Ergon Informatik AG +logo: ../../../assets/customers/ergon.svg +pubDate: 2026-10-02 +results: + - | + Accelerated platform evaluation by providing expert answers to critical + questions + - | + Reduced compliance effort by leveraging HashiCorp's ISO 27001 certification + - | + Enabled informed decision-making through comprehensive risk analysis + - | + Eliminated costly trial-and-error testing with ready-to-use operational + guidance +quote: + "Ergon gained not just documentation, but the strategic understanding needed + to make a confident platform decision." +authorName: "" +authorTitle: "" +--- + +## Customer + +[Ergon Informatik AG](https://www.ergon.ch/en) is a leading Swiss IT company +specializing in tailored software solutions and security products. Founded in +1984, Ergon combines expertise in technology, security, and business to serve +clients across finance, healthcare, manufacturing, and public sectors. The +company employs over 400 staff members across three locations in Switzerland and +is known for its flagship product Airlock, a comprehensive security solution for +web applications and APIs, including access management. + +## Background + +Ergon was developing Airlock IAM as a Service, a product offering for their +customers that would rely on enterprise secrets management capabilities. As a +company serving highly regulated industries with strict security and compliance +requirements, selecting the right secrets management foundation was critical. + +However, making the wrong platform choice could waste months of integration +work. The company needed practical answers to specific questions: How do backups +work? What capabilities does each role provide? Would a 30-day retention limit +meet their customers' disaster recovery expectations? Most critically, would +building on an ISO 27001-certified platform reduce the compliance burden for +their own application? + +Rather than spending weeks conducting trial-and-error testing, Ergon engaged +bespinian for expert consultation. The company needed someone who deeply +understood both HashiCorp Vault's technical architecture and the practical +implications for building compliant enterprise products. + +## Project Goals + +Ergon needed expert guidance to make an informed platform decision without +costly trial-and-error: + +- Understand whether HCP Vault Dedicated's backup and restore capabilities would + meet their customers' disaster recovery expectations +- Determine the operational overhead and team resources required to manage the + platform effectively +- Evaluate how HashiCorp's ISO 27001 certification could reduce the compliance + burden for their own application +- Identify potential risks, constraints, and limitations that could impact their + product offering or customer commitments +- Assess whether the platform's access control model would support their team + structure and security requirements +- Gain practical, actionable knowledge to compare HCP Vault Dedicated against + alternative solutions + +## bespinian's Role + +bespinian played a key role in the following areas: + +### Backup and Disaster Recovery Evaluation + +Ergon needed to know whether HCP Vault Dedicated's backup capabilities would +support the disaster recovery commitments the company planned to offer +customers. The fixed 30-day retention period was particularly concerning—could +this constraint prevent them from meeting customer SLAs? + +bespinian analyzed the platform's snapshot-based backup system and clearly +documented what Ergon would gain (automated daily backups with built-in +redundancy, no operational overhead) versus what they would trade off (fixed +30-day retention, no API automation, web-only operations). Critically, bespinian +discovered that while the UI doesn't allow retention changes, HashiCorp Support +can accommodate longer retention on a case-by-case basis for compliance needs. + +This analysis gave Ergon the practical information needed to assess whether the +platform would work for their use case—without spending weeks setting up test +environments and conducting their own experiments. They could confidently +evaluate whether this backup model aligned with their customer commitments or +whether they needed to consider alternatives. + +### Operational Readiness Assessment + +Before committing to any platform, the company needed to understand the +operational overhead—what skills would their team need? How complex would +routine operations be? Would they require expensive ongoing consultancy? + +bespinian developed practical operational runbooks that guide team members +through critical procedures step-by-step, from creating manual snapshots before +major changes to executing disaster recovery procedures. The runbooks were +designed for operations teams without deep HashiCorp expertise, reducing +dependency on specialized knowledge. + +These ready-to-use guides gave Ergon confidence that their existing team could +manage the platform effectively. Rather than discovering operational complexity +after adoption, they understood exactly what day-to-day management would +require—enabling accurate resource planning and cost projection for their +product offering. + +### Team Structure and Access Planning + +Ergon needed practical answers to access control questions: What capabilities +does each role provide? How should the company structure team access? Would the +platform's permission model work for their organization? + +bespinian provided clear, practical documentation answering questions like "what +can a Contributor do?" and "which role do operations engineers need?" The +analysis explained the platform's control plane/data plane separation—meaning +different team members managing infrastructure versus using Vault need different +access patterns. Importantly, bespinian identified where the platform's fixed +roles differ from self-hosted Vault, helping Ergon understand what flexibility +they would gain or lose. + +This practical guidance enabled Ergon to plan their team structure and access +policies before adoption, avoiding the costly reorganization that often follows +platform selection. They understood exactly which team members needed which +access levels and could factor this into their operational model. + +### Compliance Leverage Strategy + +A critical question for Ergon was whether building on an ISO 27001-certified +platform would reduce the compliance burden for their own application. If part +of their system was already certified, would they have less to prove to auditors +and customers? + +bespinian explained how to leverage HashiCorp's ISO 27001 certification as +supporting evidence in their own compliance framework. When using certified +third-party components, organizations can reference the vendor's security +controls, SOC 2 reports, and certifications during audits—demonstrating due +diligence in supplier selection. bespinian documented the specific security +measures covered by HashiCorp's certification, including encryption, high +availability, and backup redundancy. + +This insight was valuable beyond the immediate platform decision. The company +understood that choosing a certified component would reduce what they needed to +evaluate and prove for their own application's compliance—potentially saving +significant time and cost in certification efforts. This compliance leverage +became an important factor in their platform evaluation. + +### Risk Identification and Decision Support + +Platform selection always involves trade-offs and risks. Ergon needed to +understand what risks they would be accepting with a managed service +model—before discovering them through costly post-adoption surprises. + +bespinian conducted comprehensive risk analysis covering scenarios like +accidental cluster deletion (recoverable only through HashiCorp Support), audit +log gaps that could complicate security investigations, and personnel access +patterns inherent to the managed model. For example, bespinian identified that +the platform's dual audit trail system (HCP events and Vault logs) lacks direct +correlation, potentially creating challenges during incident investigations or +compliance audits. + +Most importantly, bespinian presented these findings not as deal-breakers, but +as factors to weigh in the decision. Each identified risk came with context: Was +this acceptable given the operational overhead they were avoiding? Could the +company implement compensating controls? Should they negotiate specific terms +with HashiCorp? This analysis enabled Ergon to make a fully informed +decision—whether to adopt HCP Vault Dedicated with eyes open to the trade-offs, +or to evaluate alternatives with a clear understanding of what to look for. + +Through this focused engagement, bespinian transformed weeks of potential +trial-and-error testing into actionable insights delivered in a matter of hours. +Ergon gained not just documentation, but the strategic understanding needed to +make a confident platform decision—whether that meant adopting HCP Vault +Dedicated, negotiating specific terms with HashiCorp, or evaluating alternatives +with a clear framework of what matters. The practical knowledge and ready-to-use +operational guidance provided a foundation for moving forward without costly +experimentation or expensive ongoing consultancy dependencies. + +## Technologies Used + +- **Secrets Management**: HashiCorp Vault, HCP Vault Dedicated +- **Cloud Platform**: HashiCorp Cloud Platform (HCP) +- **Infrastructure**: AWS (Amazon S3 for backups, KMS for encryption) +- **Audit Log Streaming**: Amazon CloudWatch, Datadog, Grafana Cloud (optional + integrations) From 9bd258960d3823d386a02e74abc9b634ce56f29c Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Yannik Daellenbach Date: Fri, 2 Oct 2026 17:00:13 +0200 Subject: [PATCH 2/2] Only render quote author when actually set --- src/pages/[lang]/customers/[...slug].astro | 31 ++++++++++++---------- 1 file changed, 17 insertions(+), 14 deletions(-) diff --git a/src/pages/[lang]/customers/[...slug].astro b/src/pages/[lang]/customers/[...slug].astro index 325105ea..662fd78b 100644 --- a/src/pages/[lang]/customers/[...slug].astro +++ b/src/pages/[lang]/customers/[...slug].astro @@ -74,20 +74,23 @@ const canonicalUrl = new URL(Astro.url.pathname, Astro.site).toString();

“{customer.data.quote}”

-
- {customer.data.authorImage && ( - - )} -

- {customer.data.authorName}, {customer.data.authorTitle} -

-
+ {customer.data.authorName && ( +
+ {customer.data.authorImage && ( + + )} +

+ {customer.data.authorName} + {customer.data.authorTitle && `, ${customer.data.authorTitle}`} +

+
+ )}