Organisations worldwide are grappling with how to secure access to their applications - and keep track of the compliance burden of who has access to which systems. Is ID management the answer? Anthony Plewes investigates the key technologies in this area. Identity management lies at the heart of creating a secure environment for employees and customers to access companies' systems. Analyst the Burton Group has already identified the area as one of the key security trends for 2007. It says companies are turning to role-based access control and fine-grained authorisation to enforce data and application restrictions and comply with a variety of regulations.

The Allgemeines Rechenzentrum (ARZ) provides specialized IT services for 66 banks, with a total of 680 branch offices, in Austria and south-eastern Europe. ARZ needed to simplify the process of logging in to work stations. Reducing the number of logins required to access multiple systems and applications would not only save a lot of time for staff, but would also enhance security by reducing the number and complexity of passwords. Passwords were becoming more difficult to monitor and control, resulting in an increased risk of security breaches. Excessive passwords were also significantly increasing the workload of the helpdesk. ARZ evaluated several providers of Single Sign-On solutions (SSO), but Novell's technical superiority proved decisive.

The Vlaamse Dienst voor Arbeidsbemiddeling en Beroepsopleiding (VDAB) is a Belgian public service that matches supply and demand in the employment market and provides vocational training. VDAB wanted to simplify access to online services and at the same time maintain secure access, which is a main concern to safeguard confidential job seeker information. An identity and access management solution would increase overall security and would also be the foundation for a new employee portal. VDAB selected a combination of Novell eDirectory, Novell Identity Manager and Novell iChain for identity and access management. The organization also selected Novell exteNd to create its new employee portal. The portal integrates all core applications, as well as those for e-mail, project management, helpdesk support, knowledge management and HR.

Mustang Engineering, a Wood Group company, is an independent services provider to the global oil, gas and chemical industries. Mustang Engineering needed more efficient and effective strategy to prevent spyware from entering its networks, reduce helpdesk requirements, and improve network performance. The company deployed Blue Coat WebFilter in conjunction with Blue Coat Proxy SG appliances at its headquarters' gateway to accelerate web applications and control web-borne spyware. With Blue Coat, spyware-related help tickets were virtually eliminated.

Maxtor Corporation is one of the world's leading suppliers of hard disk drives. The company needed a more efficient and effective strategy to keep spyware and viruses from entering its networks and prevent users from accessing inappropriate Web content, reduce helpdesk requirements, and improve network performance. Maxtor deployed Blue Coat WebFilter on Proxy SG appliances in conjunction with Web anti-virus software on ProxyAV appliances at gateway locations throughout its network to accelerate web applications and control web-borne viruses and spyware.

In this webcast, you will see how TSTC is using GroupLink's I.T. HelpDesk to achieve a "best practices" environment. You will also see how this solution integrates with GroupWise, eDirectory and ZENworks.

This webcast gives actionable information about the IT Operations. Through this webcast one can see how HP OpenView Performance Insight (OVPI) can report on Service Desk V5.0 modules. The webcast gives a live demonstration of the Helpdesk Report, Change Management Report and Service Level Management Report and shows how they provide information needed to better manage the environment.

SEPA, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency was established by the Environment Act of 1995, and is the official body responsible for the protection of the environment in Scotland. Following the Freedom of Information Act (FOI) and the updated Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations (EIR), the organisation is required to manage related queries within a twenty working day limit. To help meet the Act's stringent requirements, SEPA extended the use of Hornbill's Supportworks, the helpdesk service management solution, which has been successfully used for a number of years by SEPA's IT support team.

Hornbill Systems has supplied its Supportworks ESP (Enterprise Support Platform) to West Suffolk Hospitals NHS Trust. The Trust helpdesk provides support to 3,000 staff for all IT systems including the patient administration system, desktop applications and hardware, networking and other peripherals. The helpdesk logs approximately 1200 calls per month, an increase of 33% over the last 12 months, and 75% of these are dealt with immediately either on the phone or via WinVNC for remote diagnostics. Since installing Supportworks the IT Department Support Team has expanded from 3 people to 7. Supportworks was selected for its flexibility and the ability to customise it easily.

Hornbill Systems supplied its Supportworks IT Service Desk platform to top UK law firm Wragge & Co LLP. The IT Helpdesk, a team of 17 analysts and trainers, is responsible for supporting the firm's legal, desktop and network systems and is using Hornbill's solution to log and manage calls from over 1030 internal customers based in its Birmingham and London offices. Wragge & Co. chose Hornbill's Supportworks for its ease of use and functionality, replacing a system developed in-house. The IT Department has created pre-defined templates within Supportworks for specific kinds of calls, such as forgotten passwords and printer jams, so that staff can rapidly identify the problem and its resolution, improving productivity and customer service.