Ellii is a leading educational technology company that transforms how English is taught and learned worldwide. Their comprehensive platform provides innovative tools and solutions specifically designed for ESL (English as a Second Language) teachers and students, making language learning more effective and accessible on a global scale.
The company is driven by a mission to create meaningful connections through technology-enhanced education. By developing software that genuinely improves teaching and learning outcomes, Ellii has established itself as a trusted partner for educators and learners around the world, facilitating human connections that transcend language barriers.
The Challenge
As an EdTech company serving teachers, students, and administrators globally, Ellii faced significant authentication challenges that were impacting their ability to scale and innovate:
Growing Security Requirements: The education technology landscape demands enterprise-grade security features, including multi-factor authentication, which would require substantial development resources to build and maintain in-house.
Integration Complexity: Ellii needed to integrate with various Learning Management Systems (LMS) and school systems, requiring flexible authentication methods to support diverse institutional requirements.
Resource Allocation: As a focused team, Ellii wanted to concentrate their development efforts on what they do best—building innovative educational tools—rather than spending time on authentication infrastructure.
Maintenance Burden: Their existing Ruby on Rails authentication solution via Devise was becoming increasingly complex to maintain as security requirements evolved and best practices changed rapidly.
For Ellii, the authentication system needed to:
- Provide advanced security features without extensive development overhead
- Support seamless integration with external educational systems
- Enable secure, intuitive access for diverse user types (teachers, students, administrators)
- Offer flexible deployment options to meet data residency requirements
- Scale reliably as their global user base continued to grow
Why FusionAuth?
After evaluating various authentication solutions, Ellii selected FusionAuth for several compelling reasons:
1. Enterprise-Grade Security Made Simple
FusionAuth provided the advanced security features Ellii needed—including multi-factor authentication—without requiring them to build and maintain complex security infrastructure in-house.
2. Outstanding Developer Experience
Eduardo Prauze, Ellii’s CTO, was particularly impressed with FusionAuth’s approach to developer support:
“Clear documentation and fantastic dev support. It really feels like we are partnering with a company which we can call for support when we need it, and that can help us build a solution tailored to our needs. This is not a one size fits all solution.”
3. Geographic Flexibility
FusionAuth’s multiple hosting options aligned perfectly with Ellii’s global operations:
“Different geographical options for hosting. We wanted to decide where our customer data would be stored and FusionAuth facilitated that.”
4. Easy Integration
The comprehensive documentation and intuitive design made integration straightforward:
“The documentation made it quick for our team to get up and running, reducing development time and frustration.”
5. Competitive Pricing
FusionAuth’s pricing model made it an attractive choice for a growing EdTech company focused on maximizing their development resources.
The Implementation
Ellii implemented FusionAuth as their comprehensive authentication provider, replacing their previous Devise-based solution. The implementation covered:
- User Registration and Management: Seamless onboarding for teachers, students, and administrators
- Secure Login Systems: Reliable authentication across all user types
- Password Management: Automated password reset functionality
- Single Sign-On (SSO): Critical for integration with educational institutions’ existing systems
- Multi-Factor Authentication: Enhanced security without development overhead
The migration process proved to be remarkably smooth, with Ellii’s existing user base transferred securely from their internal database to FusionAuth’s platform.
Results and Benefits
Seamless Migration Experience
“The migration of our user base from our own database to their platform was simple and secure, the integration was completed sooner than we expected, and we didn’t have any surprises during the process.”
Increased Team Productivity
By eliminating the need to build and maintain authentication infrastructure, Ellii’s development team could focus entirely on their core mission of creating innovative educational tools.
Zero-Downtime Maintenance
FusionAuth’s professional approach to system maintenance has eliminated authentication-related downtime:
“Maintenance windows requested by FusionAuth are clearly communicated, and require no downtime from our end.”
Reliable Partnership
Over two years of partnership, FusionAuth has consistently delivered:
“In these last two years, FusionAuth proved to be a reliable and professional team, which is a pleasure to work with.”
Enhanced Security Posture
Ellii now has access to enterprise-grade security features that would have required significant internal development resources, allowing them to meet the stringent security requirements of educational institutions.
Looking Forward
As Ellii continues to expand their global reach and develop new educational technologies, FusionAuth remains integral to their growth strategy. The partnership enables Ellii to:
- Maintain focus on educational innovation rather than authentication infrastructure
- Seamlessly integrate with new educational systems and platforms
- Provide secure, reliable access to users worldwide
- Scale their platform without authentication bottlenecks
Eduardo summarizes the partnership’s success:
“At first, we were concerned about integration complexity and whether FusionAuth could be as reliable as we needed. Now we know we made the right choice and we are really satisfied with this partnership.”
Key Benefits of FusionAuth for Ellii
- Security Without Overhead: Enterprise-grade features like MFA without internal development burden
- Excellent Developer Experience: Clear documentation and responsive support accelerated implementation
- Geographic Flexibility: Multiple hosting options supporting global data residency requirements
- Seamless Integration: Quick implementation that exceeded timeline expectations
- Reliable Operations: Two years of consistent performance with zero authentication-related downtime
- Professional Partnership: Direct access to knowledgeable support when needed
“What excites me the most about working at Ellii is the opportunity to use technology to transform how English is taught and learned worldwide. Seeing the impact of our solutions, and the human connections that are made possible because of it, motivates me and the entire team to keep innovating.” - Eduardo Prauze, CTO
To see how FusionAuth can help your platform focus on what matters most—your product—schedule a demo.
