Supporting communication for 17,000+ employees across 40 countries
Customer Snapshot
Industry: Global dairy processing and export
Workforce: 17,000+ employees
Operations: 40+ countries worldwide
Use Case: Email list automation and communication governance
Solution: Activate Access Automation
The Challenge
Our customer relied on email distribution lists to communicate across teams, departments and locations worldwide. As their workforce grew, manual list management became difficult to scale. Requests passed through IT teams, often requiring several approvals and manual updates.
This slowed communication, increased IT workload and provided limited visibility into list membership and ownership. Outdated memberships also created a risk of information reaching the wrong audience.
The organisation needed to keep thousands of lists aligned with workforce changes while maintaining business ownership and governance.
The Jobs the Organisation Needed to Get Done
The goal was to simplify global communication without losing control over who could create, own or join each list. They needed a more reliable way to:
Keep distribution lists aligned with HR information
Update membership following workforce changes
Give business owners control over relevant lists
Enable governed self-service
Enforce naming, ownership and renewal standards
Reduce routine administration for IT
Improve visibility into membership and ownership
Where the Hidden Costs Were Building
A single membership change looked small. Across more than 17,000 employees and 40 countries, those changes created a substantial administrative workload.
Every request consumed support time. Delayed updates could exclude employees from important communications, while outdated lists and memberships became harder to govern.
The Solution: Automate Distribution List Management
The organisation implemented Activate Access Automation, including Email List Manager, to automate list creation, membership and governance. Activate used workforce information and business rules to keep eligible lists aligned with employee changes. The solution provided:
Organisational lists based on HR attributes
Dynamic membership using department, location, role or employment type
Business ownership and approval workflows
Self-service creation and management of authorised lists
Enforced naming conventions
Expiry and renewal controls
Auditable records of requests and changes
Moving Ownership Closer to the Business
Designated business owners could approve membership requests and manage the lists for which they were responsible. Employees could also manage authorised ad hoc lists through self-service workflows.
This moved routine decisions closer to the people who understood the communication need while preserving central policies and visibility.
The Outcome: Global Communication Without Global Administration
Activate now supports more than 10,000 distribution lists across the organisation’s global workforce. Automated membership improves the accuracy of internal communications, while business ownership and self-service reduce routine requests sent to IT. Naming, ownership and expiry controls provide stronger governance.
The automation saves more than 16,098 support hours annually while supporting communication across more than 17,000 employees in 40 countries.
Key Outcomes
More than 10,000 distribution lists managed
More than 16,098 support hours saved annually
More than 17,000 employees supported across 40 countries
Less routine administration for IT
Faster and more accurate membership changes
Business ownership of access decisions
Governed self-service for authorised lists
Improved visibility into membership and ownership
The Bottom Line
The hidden cost of distribution list management was spread across thousands of membership changes, approvals and administrative tasks. By automating list creation, membership and governance, the organisation reduced IT workload while giving business owners greater control.
The result was a scalable communication model supporting more than 17,000 employees across 40 countries and saving over 16,098 support hours each year.
How Much IT Time Is Distribution List Management Consuming?
If distribution list changes still depend on service desk tickets and manual updates, Activate can automate membership, approvals and governance across your existing environment.