Case Study: How BentoBox Used a Password Manager to Realize Cost Savings and Support an M&A

Originally published:June 14, 2022|Last updated:January 16, 2024|Dashlane

“We grew really quickly, and maintaining strong security practices was hard,” shares Ben Silver, Manager of IT Support at BentoBox. “We’ve had a startup culture, where processes weren't always as defined, which adds to the challenge.”

BentoBox employees work remotely across 30+ states. Without the ability to communicate in person, they need to make a concerted effort to stay connected digitally, but disconnects sometimes happen.

When Ben started working at BentoBox, he found himself without a password that he needed to perform his responsibilities. He reset the password in the account, which he hadn’t realized was shared. Quickly, he received emails from disgruntled employees, who were now locked out of that application. That was when Ben decided to help BentoBox get clearer oversight into which employees had account access and find a way to share passwords quickly and safely.

After Ben took inventory of subscriptions and shared accounts, he discovered BentoBox had repeat subscriptions to some services, which was inefficient and costly. As he uncovered more accounts, he noticed a major vulnerability—the same 15 passwords were consistently reused. Ben had an idea.

Ben’s mission became more critical than ever when BentoBox was acquired. The organization and their new parent company had to learn to work together, but contrasting technology made it difficult to integrate their tech stack. 

Ben wanted to help his organization establish security best practices, but hoped the change could be positive and improve collaboration. To accomplish this, BentoBox needed an easy-to-use password management solution.

Ben was familiar with several solutions, but none of them secured his favor.  

“I’d tried a few other password management solutions, but I didn’t like them,” Ben shares. 

Working in InfoSec, security is close to Ben’s heart, but he believes it’s important to have both security and ease of use. 

Finding that balance is one of the many reasons that Ben loves Dashlane.

“Dashlane offers a more secure way of working and simplifies our processes,” Ben explains.

Ben immediately liked that BentoBox could follow security best practices and maintain the positive aspects of their culture with Dashlane’s ease of use. The Password Generator is a great example of a feature that caught Ben’s eye.

A screenshot of the password generator in the Dashlane web extension.

“The Password Generator helps reset expectations of a strong password,” Ben says. “The best part is that no one has to remember any of the passwords because Dashlane automates that, too.”

A strong user experience and the Password Generator were just two signs that Dashlane was the right fit for BentoBox. Now that the organization is using the solution, they’re also benefiting from these features:

Dashlane's password vault in the browser extension app on desktop.

A screenshot of Dashlane's admin dashboard which showcases the company-wide password health score, the number of compromised passwords, and other important metrics.

To streamline management, Ben has created groups within BentoBox’s Dashlane account to manage account information and share passwords on a need-to-know basis.

“We created 14 primary groups, but also have subdivisions based on how teams are structured and each team’s needs,” Ben says. “For example, some subdivisions give access to consultants.” 

BentoBox has found that Dashlane is an excellent solution for everyone. Now, the organization can scale however and whenever with Dashlane because Ben and other BentoBox employees can easily create new groups as needed. At BentoBox, each department uses Dashlane in a unique way because they can utilize it for whatever purpose helps their team the most, such as protecting payment methods in addition to passwords.

As Ben and his colleagues use Dashlane, they’ve become increasingly aware of information that they need to keep safe, beyond passwords and payment methods. Using Dashlane’s Secure Notes feature, they’re able to keep sensitive information like scanned tax documents and vaccination records safe and accessible. As their security needs evolve, Dashlane continues to help.

“Dashlane offers numerous options without forcing mechanics, allowing for endless interpretations and creativity,” Ben shares. “Dashlane secures passwords, but it also secures notes.” 

Dashlane helps provide BentoBox with a holistic picture of the company’s security posture, and each employee has a better understanding of their personal digital footprint.

“I’ve been using the internet since I was 13 and I’ve been in numerous data leaks,” Ben says. “When I started using Dashlane, I could easily see that I had 600 reused passwords. But more importantly to me, I could quickly see which critical passwords had been leaked. For instance, I need to know right away if someone has my bank password.”

For that, Ben appreciates Dashlane’s thoughtful and inclusive UX design. 

A screenshot of Dashlane’s secure sharing portal in the web extension.

Beyond helping with security, BentoBox is achieving direct, tangible cost savings by using password sharing to save on subscriptions.

“Some subscriptions are prohibitively expensive,” Ben explains. “With Dashlane, we can have one account and share logins without compromising the account when someone leaves.”

BentoBox is even finding that Dashlane makes collaboration with their parent company easier.

“Dashlane is helping as we integrate with our parent company,” Ben says. “We can always easily access Dashlane with the web app.”

BentoBox is moving away from outsourcing IT as part of the M&A. One of the first initiatives will be bringing onboarding in-house, which has given Ben some added responsibility. He doesn’t view it as a heavy lift, however, because Dashlane helps make onboarding easier.

“​​It’s so simple to give people the control that they need, it really makes my work and involvement minimal,” Ben shares. “I can even temporarily give control if someone’s going to be out for a few days.”

BentoBox hires about 20 people every month, and Ben meets with them on their first or second day to introduce them to the solution.

Ben is always trying to help make his colleagues’ onboarding experience better. He plans to kick off an SSO program and an onboarding process for new hires that will use Dashlane to address critical first-day needs.

Looking holistically at BentoBox’s security stance, Ben sees how the company’s better protected now.

“Dashlane is not just password security; Dashlane is operational security for the company, and secures my peace of mind.”

Dashlane

Dashlane is a web and mobile app that simplifies password management for people and businesses. We empower organizations to protect company and employee data, while helping everyone easily log in to the accounts they need—anytime, anywhere.

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