About Spanish Public Employment Service (Servicio Público de Empleo Estatal)
Headquartered in Madrid, SEPE is the organization responsible for implementing Government policy on unemployment benefits in Spain. SEPE has over 10,000 employees, working both at its central office and in regional centres across the country. The department currently administers unemployment benefits to over 3 million Spanish citizens.
Challenge
One of SEPE's principal responsibilities is the registration of candidates applying for unemployment benefits.
Until recently, all benefits applications were made in face-to-face interviews, entailing a high administrative workload for the central department of SEPE and its local agencies. This workload was further increased by the rising number of Spanish citizens applying for unemployment benefits in the recent economic climate.
In October 2009, SEPE created an online portal called "Redtrabaj@" to automate the unemployment benefits application process. The portal now has over one million users. As part of the creation of "Redtrabaj@," SEPE needed to ensure that the portal's access management processes complied with Spanish IT security legislation introduced in 2007, which requires Spanish citizens to have secure single sign-on access to the online resources of public services.
"Given the sensitivity of the information contained within 'Redtrabaj@,' we had to have absolute faith in the security of the access solution," said Eugenio García, Head of Security and Logistics, SEPE. "Furthermore, the diversity of the portal's potential users was such that access needed to be very straightforward."
Novell Solution
As a government department, SEPE was obliged to carry out market studies and present its findings to a procurements commission before ultimately deciding on a solution. After evaluating several options, SEPE deemed Novell Access Manager to be the most easily adaptable and cost-effective option.
"We were attracted to Novell by the guarantees which come with its many years of experience and its status as a multinational company," said García. "Moreover, we had already successfully worked with Novell products such as SUSE Linux Enterprise Server in the past."
With Novell Access Manager, applicants for unemployment benefits can now securely register themselves online to receive their benefits payout.
"With the implementation of Novell Access Manager we can monitor the individuals and companies who use Redtrabaj@," said García, "We now only rarely need to intervene in the benefits application process itself."
Despite the scale of the project, the solution took just nine months to integrate and implement. SEPE is currently in the process of rolling out Novell Access Manager for its Intranet network.
"Our Intranet has 42,000 users," said García, "so it will be a significant achievement to unite them all in a Web single sign-on solution."
Results
SEPE is already seeing the benefits of implementing Novell Access Manager™, especially in terms of regulatory compliance.
"Implementing Novell Access Manager has guaranteed 'Redtrabaj@'s' compliance with the identification and authentication requirements of Spanish IT security laws," said García. "Citizens throughout Spain can use the portal with complete confidence that their information is secure."
In addition, SEPE staff who formerly had to interview unemployment benefits applicants individually are now seeing a significant reduction in their administrative workloads, and are consequently able to work on other important tasks.
"Secure online self-registration has ensured that benefits claimants no longer need to spend three or four hours waiting in line in an office," said García. "Unemployed citizens can now complete their applications in the comfort of their own home or use a laptop, internet café or designated portal, thus increasing their mobility and enabling them to use their time more productively to pursue employment opportunities."
Finally, Novell Access Manager has improved transparency in the application process, and Web single sign-on in particular has facilitated the use of "Redtrabaj@" for claimants who are unaccustomed to dealing with online services.
"There is no doubt in my mind that there has been a significant qualitative improvement in the service we deliver since the introduction of "Redtrabaj@," said García. "We have been very satisfied with the contribution Novell Access Manager has made to enable this. I would certainly recommend Novell to any organization that is planning to embark on a large-scale access management project."