This post is part of our series from Zoom’s Office of the CIO, a global strategy group focused on the communications challenges and opportunities facing CIOs and other enterprise technology leaders.

CIOs help build systems that deliver insights and move the business forward. But in a hyperconnected world, those systems can get… complex. 

With multiple video solutions, phone solutions, chat apps, email systems, and networks to manage, CIOs face unique challenges — and the need to adapt with greater speed and agility has only been intensified by the COVID-19 pandemic. Many CIOs must now meet the needs of a fully remote workforce for the first time ever, leveraging technology to enable employees to communicate efficiently and maintain business continuity. 

But companies also need to be able to support the many different technology solutions used by external partners and customers, or risk losing business to those who can. This is particularly true for those who serve highly regulated industries like healthcare, where clients may need  you to use their carefully vetted technology solutions.

A mixed-technology ecosystem will always exist, and CIOs need to be able to operate in this multi-device, multi-channel world without worry. Today’s CIOs have to support the flexibility of a best-of-breed technology environment while prioritizing security. 

The good news is, CIOs can feel safe in their employees’ use of Zoom as part of that mixed-technology economy. Here’s why:

You can manage users & customize control settings

CIOs can specify how employees use Zoom, so you can control and manage technology usage while also giving people the tools they need to be productive. 

Want your employees to use passcodes AND Waiting Rooms for every meeting? Need to passcode-protect cloud recordings company-wide? No problem. 

Your employees always have your organization’s configurations applied when they’re signed into their work account, even if they are participating in someone else’s meeting. 

Own and secure your domain

CIOs should be able to own their domains, and Zoom enables that! Adding an associated domain to your account allows you to know who from your organization is using accounts with your email address. 

You can also require users to login using single sign-on (SSO), which makes for a more secure and user-friendly experience.

Integrations support a mixed-technology ecosystem 

Did you know that you can join a Zoom call through third parties like Skype and existing room systems like Cisco and Polycom? 

Zoom has multiple integrations and connectors that interoperate with other vendors so you can join any meeting, anywhere, while leveraging hardware and applications you already use. This makes video communication and collaboration easier and more accessible for your employees, as well as external customers, partners, and vendors.

Gain enterprise-grade security

Your solutions need to work whenever and wherever you need them, but they must also enable an environment of security and privacy that’s easy for all employees to maintain, not just advanced technology users.

Zoom’s native features and commitment to security offer CIOs peace of mind when it comes to maintaining your technology ecosystem, with 256-bit AES-GCM encryption enabled for all meetings for free and paid users. 

Over the past few months, we’ve introduced features like our Security icon, making it easy for end users to control their security settings during a meeting and see at a glance whether their meeting is encrypted; expanded support for two-factor authentication to desktop and mobile; and optional end-to-end encryption, where no one except meeting participants — not even Zoom’s servers — have access to the encryption keys being used to encrypt the meeting.

The bottom line

A “best-of-breed” approach means you need the solutions in your tech stack to play nicely together. But placing your trust in multiple systems is hard. That’s why we focus on creating a platform that integrates seamlessly with other communications tools, and enables a frictionless experience for all users — so you can say “yes” to a mixed-technology economy.

To learn more about all the ways Zoom can support your technology ecosystem, schedule a personalized demo with a Zoom product specialist today.

Editor’s note: This blog post was edited on Aug. 3, 2021 to include the most up to date information on Zoom encryption.