Office of the Deputy Prime Minister

Success Story

UK government organization simplifies identity management with Novell® solution

Overview

The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) is the government department responsible for creating sustainable communities, housing, planning, devolution, local and regional government and the fire service.

Challenge

As in many large organizations, the Office of Deputy Prime Minister has user information spread across disparate applications for HR, finance, e-mail and telephone directories. Without a way to share information, valuable time and money was being lost manually updating identity information for its users.

The organization needed to modernize its IT infrastructure and create a more effective means of managing information. Requirements for a corporate information infrastructure included the introduction of an open platform that would allow for future expansion, as well as the flexibility to respond quickly to political and legislative changes.

Novell solution

"We're extremely proud of the corporate information infrastructure we've created with Novell. We have delivered a system and can provide a service that meets our business requirements and that will adapt to support us in the future, as well as save time and money."

Jan Langley
Manager of the Corporate Information Infrastructure
Office of the Deputy Prime Minister

Following strict procurement procedures, the organization began searching for technology to support its Corporate Information Infrastructure (CII) project. The organization selected a Novell® solution as the best way to cut costs and streamline the process of managing user identity information across a diverse enterprise.

Novell eDirectory™ is at the heart of the ODPM solution, providing a single repository for user identity information. Novell Identity Manager synchronizes user information with PeopleSoft* so new employee information is automatically updated across multiple systems, eliminating the need for manual updates. The organization has also reduced its security risk with the ability to immediately revoke network access when employees leave the organization.

The Novell solution provides a flexible identity management foundation that allows for future expansion, regardless of operating platform. Flexibility is important not only for interoperability, but also because changes frequently alter the structure of the UK government.

The ability to contact the right staff in a large organization is critical. ANS, an experienced systems integrator and Novell partner, created an organizational "white and yellow pages," based on user information stored in eDirectory. An intuitive Web interface makes it easy for employees to access accurate and comprehensive contact information. This directory is an essential resource for employees to quickly collaborate across departments, as well as to direct outside callers to the right staff within the organization.

"The staff directory has generated very good feedback from users who can easily find each other in a large organization," said Jan Langley, Manager of the Corporate Information Infrastructure at ODPM. "We would like to make it possible for users to update more of their own information which will also provide administrative savings."

Results

The Novell solution enabled ODPM to simplify digital identity management for its employees, dramatically reducing redundant data entry and inaccurate information. ODPM has improved information security by ensuring that the right people have access to the right information. The solution also provides ODPM with a secure identity management foundation to embrace new areas of business, without the need for additional IT resources.

"We're extremely proud of the corporate information infrastructure we've created with Novell," continues Langley. "We have delivered a system and can provide a service that meets our business requirements and that will adapt to support us in the future, as well as save time and money."