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automative-manufacturer-imageAutomotive Manufacturer

Working with Pulsen, the company implemented NetIQ Identity Manager and NetIQ Access Manager— providing a single point of control that simplifies user management, improves security and saves time

automative-manufacturer-image

Outcomes

  • Reduced administrative workload with one point of control as opposed to 10 separate systems
  • Introduced self-service portal for employees and managers
  • Enabled the ability to launch applications quickly and securely

Challenge

The manufacturer had to implement a new identity management system with an 18-month deadline.

This manufacturer’s parent organization— a US automotive corporation—wanted to make the company a more attractive proposition for potential buyers. Separating its own IT systems from the parent organization’s IT infrastructure was a key stage in this process.

The company quickly realized that an identity management architecture for the new IT landscape would be a top priority. It needed to control user identities across all its applications, both for its own employees and for external stakeholders such as dealers, suppliers and other partners.

The out-of-the-box capabilities of the solutions were a big advantage in helping us deliver this quickly

Per Rasck
Services Manager, Pulsen

While it was working on this identity management initiative, the manufacturer was acquired by a new parent company— a development that set a hard deadline for the project. It had just 18 months to get the new identity management architecture in place before its access to its former parent’s systems would be shut of forever.

Details

Solution

The company reviewed its existing landscape and identified three systems for managing internal user accounts and a further seven for external user management. It wanted to replace all of these systems with a single point of control—but with thousands of stakeholders, hundreds of applications and more than 350 use cases, it needed a highly flexible solution.

The company reviewed market analysis from Gartner and embarked on a formal procurement process. It selected OpenText NetIQ Identity Manager and OpenText NetIQ Access Manager with Pulsen, an identity management specialist, as implementation partner.

Per Rasck, leader of the Pulsen team that delivered the project, said: “It was very important to complete the deployment quickly, because all the company’s other IT projects depended on having a working identity management architecture in place. The out-of-the-box capabilities of the solutions were a big advantage in helping us deliver this quickly.”

Pulsen integrated NetIQ Identity Manager with SAP HR, which supplies the employee data for internal user accounts and PARMA, which supplies partner data for external user accounts. The master user records held by NetIQ Identity Manager can then be used to enable or disable access to the company’s other applications.

The strong identity management architecture enables very fast delivery of new applications— making the business more agile.

Per Rasck
Services Manager, Pulsen

NetIQ Identity Manager also allows the company to set up identity templates for different positions and departments. When a template is applied to a user account, it instantly sets the user up with access to the right applications for his or her role.

This role-based provisioning capability saves time for administrators and reduces the risk of error.

NetIQ Access Manager, which was originally introduced to manage access to the company’s Partner Portal (a SharePoint portal for external users), has now been adopted much more widely as the standard solution for all web-based access management.

Log-in to more than 300 applications— including Egencia for business travel management, Office 365 for office productivity and Service Now for service management— is now governed by the NetIQ Access Manager solution.

Results

The new identity management architecture enables the company to reduce administrative workload and costs. Instead of maintaining ten different systems for user account management, it now has one point of control.

The OpenText (formerly Micro Focus) solution also makes life easier for employees and partners. Users can reset their own passwords via a self-service portal. Managers can set up new accounts for employees or partners within minutes, and when employees leave, their access to systems can be revoked instantly. This helps to keep the company’s network highly secure.

Above all, the solution enables the company to launch new applications quickly. Each new system can rapidly be linked into the identity management architecture and rolled out to users with full confidence that it is secure and compliant with the company’s access policies.

“The strong identity management architecture enables very fast delivery of new applications—making the business more agile,” said Per Rasck. “The ability to deliver such a sophisticated solution that meets so many use-cases is a testament to the flexibility of the software.”

About Automotive Manufacturer

automative-manufacturer-image

This company manufactures one of the leading northern European automobile brands. Formerly owned by a large global corporation, it was recently acquired by another automotive company.

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