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The State of Michigan evaluated security products from other
vendors before selecting a Novell Security and Identity Solution including Novell
eDirectory, Novell Identity Manager and Novell iChain. The
State selected Novell exteNd to integrate 50+ applications into a
portal that could run on multiple platforms including Linux,
NetWare, Sun Solaris and Microsoft Windows.
"We were determined to do things right the first time," said
Gary Blair, CIO of Michigan Public Protection Agencies. "We
needed an architecture that supported industry standards, such as
SOAP, and that would accommodate new technology that we didn't
even know about. We wanted the ability to plug and play
applications down the road."
In less than two weeks, Novell consultants partnered with the State
IT team to define the State Police business requirements and
complete a prototype architecture featuring Novell eDirectory as
the single repository of user identity information. Novell also
demonstrated how Novell exteNd can easily integrate applications
and create a dynamic portal.
"Several vendors offered proposals, but Novell came in and
said, 'let us show you,'" said Brad Stoddard, IT manager at the
Department of Information Technology. "We were impressed at
how fast they were able to work with us to define exactly what we
needed and get a pilot architecture up and running. We now have
a solution that will scale to an unlimited number of applications
and millions of potential users."
Secure Access to Personalized Resources
The Novell Security and Identity Solution is at the heart of the security
infrastructure for the Michigan State Police, providing secure
access to resources from the office or any location via the Internet.
Novell eDirectory acts as the global directory for all user identity
information across the enterprise. Novell Identity Manager
synchronizes digital identities across multiple applications,
eliminating manual updating.
"When you can't hire new people to do
things, you have to use technology to
work smarter. We've implemented an entire
security infrastructure and created a
dynamic portal on a limited budget and
without adding a single it resource."
- Gary Blair, CIO,
Michigan Public Protection Agencies
When users log in to applications or to the portal, Novell iChain
verifies users' credentials based on identity information stored in
eDirectory. Users then view a personalized Web page, with links to
the criminal justice applications they are authorized to access. The
Michigan State Police has also improved its security with the ability
to track user access to information, ensuring that only the right
people can access confidential data.
"Novell clearly has proven products and is the market leader
in identity management," said Blair. "Our Novell solution is the
difference between the security of a Yale lock and that of a
bank vault."
In the past, state troopers had to spend excessive time waiting to
access terminals in the office. Now the State's 1,500 troopers can
access information from their office, car or the Internet, and are
able to spend more time on the road.
Users also no longer need to remember 4-6 passwords to access
multiple applications throughout the day. With the new portal,
Michigan State Police has tightened security by providing single
sign-on access to resources and has reduced its administrative
overhead by 40 percent.
Novell eGuide also provides convenient "white pages" for the
department. Based on information in eDirectory, Novell eGuide
makes it easy for employees to contact the right colleagues.
Leveraging a Portal to Work Smarter
Using Novell exteNd, the Michigan State Police integrated several
critical applications into a secure portal. The department used the
visual development environment of Novell exteNd to create Web
services for multiple applications, including mainframe applications,
allowing the organization to leverage its existing investments.
The Michigan State Police can develop Web applications faster
than before and plans to integrate its 50+ applications into the
portal. The department now has a single helpdesk for the portal,
instead of one for each application, which has reduced support calls
by 30 percent. As a result, freed-up IT resources can be deployed
to other projects.
"When you can't hire new people to do things, you have to use
technology to work smarter," said Blair. "We've implemented an
entire security infrastructure and created a dynamic portal on a
limited budget and without adding a single IT resource."
The portal has been so successful that the State of Michigan
plans to extend it to include systems from other state agencies
including Human Resources, laboratory management and
commercial vehicle management applications.
"Other agencies are now lining up to add applications to the
portal," said Stoddard. "It's an opportunity to add hundreds of
applications for millions of users, while providing decentralized
control to individual agencies, all while saving the state money by
not recreating an identical architecture for all of the other agencies.
It clearly utilizes the adage of using technology to do more with
less, and solidifies the advantages of the Department of
Information Technology."
The Right Partnership
Novell Consulting worked with the State of Michigan through
every phase of the project, providing solid and consistent
knowledge transfer so the State's own teams could maintain the
portal moving forward.
"The majority of my career has been spent in project
management, and the methodologies of the Novell team were
outstanding," said Blair. "In fact, we have adopted much of what
we've learned for use on other projects."
The consulting team conducted interviews with key members of
the Michigan State Police to construct "use cases" that served as
the foundation for the design process. Throughout the project,
Novell consultants provided extensive documentation so the
Michigan State Police team can integrate applications on its own.
"We could not have gotten through the pilot phase without
Novell consulting," said Stoddard. "The consulting team brought
tremendous technical expertise, project management skill and
software development methodology to our organization. They saw
the potential of the project from the beginning and were true
partners to help us be successful."
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