Government Technology - March 2008 - (Page NOVELL2)

Identity and Security Everything Under Control Novell® identity management and access controls save time and boost security. rom Social Security numbers to citizen health and ﬁnancial data, today’s government is privy to an enormous amount of sensitive information. Controlling access to this information is a top concern for managers and IT ofﬁcials, especially when threats come from within the organization. While security risk is one of the gravest concerns among government ofﬁcials, manual administrative processes, which are connected to managing employee identity and information access are common obstacles to government efﬁciency. In an age when the public has come to expect efﬁciency and effectiveness comparable to private enterprises, streamlined, centralized solutions for managing thousands of employee and citizen identities and access approvals are critical. Novell® identity management and access solutions give governments the agility to continue with their core functions without being conﬁned by administrative approvals for information access or letting data fall into the wrong hands. By automating identity management and access control mechanisms, agencies can reduce human errors inherent in relying on employees to manage access controls. And Novell solutions help public-sector leaders rest easier, knowing sensitive information is viewed only by authorized employees who must use the information to do their jobs. By automating system privileges and e-mail accounts based on job function — and controlling those privileges with a single password across dissimilar systems — Novell helps governments achieve efﬁciency and improve security. Novell solutions also allow for easy role-based policies with either a central, distributed or federated directory design to control employee access privileges based on predetermined authorization approvals. F Empowerment and Clearance Governments have long battled bureaucratic introductory periods for new employees. Securing permissions and passwords for new employees to access information pertinent to their jobs has traditionally been a timeconsuming and labor-intensive process. Novell Identity Manager makes this process a breeze, literally doing the work for administrators. An HR ofﬁcial merely activates certain cues in connection with a new employee. For example, the solution automatically creates an e-mail account for new employees if they are entitled to one. The system automatically populates End-users have enough to deal with without juggling several passwords to access necessary applications. an employee’s system identity with the access privileges connected to his or her job, meaning HR departments do not have to waste time calling administrators and various approvers to complete such tasks manually. For instance, an employee administrating public assistance might need access to a citizen’s ﬁnancial details, but he or she wouldn’t necessarily need access to psychological, court or police reports. Novell Identity Manager quickly gives the employee access to the appropriate records, automatically retrieving approval from other agencies to access information those agencies have relevant to that employee’s job. In the past, manual, paper-intensive approval processes often involved sluggish interagency communication procedures that were either dysfunctional or costly to maintain. Some government employees play varying roles each day. Depending on a given day’s role, that employee often has a different set of privileges. Manually maintaining that employee’s system identity can be especially complicated. Novell technology enables a government to schedule what role in what agency an employee is slated to perform, automatically granting him or her the necessary tools for each day. Novell provides governments with a solution that helps them respond rapidly to change. That means quickly hiring and equipping necessary employees with the tools they need to actualize government goals and rapidly adjusting access controls for employees as they grow into new roles within the organization. A long, arduous introduction process blocks governments from achieving that performance level. Novell technology also enables employees to bypass tedious bureaucracy when acquiring additional tools, such as a cellular phone or approval for travel or other purchases. Many governments force employees through an approval process routed through several people before granting a request. Novell permits employees to trigger an automated workﬂow that quickly retrieves approval and allows them to view the request’s status at any time. Rapid and Secure Access End-users have enough to deal with without juggling several passwords to access necessary applications. They need a way to instantly access all necessary tools with one password, but it can’t happen at the expense of security. Novell SecureLogin enables governments to achieve that. The solution brings an end to Post-it* notes stuck to computer screens to help users keep passwords straight, which is a huge security risk in itself. In some government ofﬁces, multiple employees use the same workstation at different parts of the day. Novell enables several mechanisms for protecting security at that location. For example, an agency 2

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Government Technology - March 2008

Government Technology - March 2008 Contents Point of View Big Picture The Last Mile On the Scene Four Questions for... Top 25 Doers, Dreamers and Drivers Let's [Not] Get Physical No Data Left Behind Conservation King Community Drug Test Reinventing the System Better Late Than Never Closing the Deal Spectrum Products Personal Computing signal:noise Digital Communities The Expanding Focus of Digital Communities The Digital Imperative Hot Fusion Redefining Municipal Wireless Made in the USA Bridge Detectives The 2008 Agenda

Government Technology - March 2008

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