Identity CheckpointIdentity Checkpoint

The benefits of implementing the system were pretty clear, which made selling it to upper management straightforward, King says. "The greatest selling point was asking senior management about their experience in getting access to our applications."

Owens & Minor is consolidating multiple databases that hold user profiles in one centralized Active Directory repository. It will use IdentityMinder from Netegrity Inc. to manage all its users by setting up role-based access. That should make it easier to add, delete, and modify access rights from a single location based on an employee's job or the relationship with a partner. A typical employee may have 20 to 30 application-access accounts, while an Owens' partner may have hundreds of employees accessing multiple Owens' applications, says Paul Higday, chief architect and director of external systems. "What this will allow us to do is set up a user based on what they're allowed to access with a single click instead of having to manually add each account," he says.

For example, Owens & Minor's OMDirect order-management system includes several applications customers use to create product catalogs, track order status, monitor inventory, produce product master files, manage warehouses, and do enterprise resource planning. The company also has about 30 applications that employees use. "Every one of those systems has its own internal management capabilities," Higday says. "When we get a new customer or internal user, we have to set that person up on every internal system." That requires about one staff person for every two apps.

The company will roll out IdentityMinder next month, starting with Web-based applications, then the client-server systems, and finally mainframe access by year's end. Without providing specifics, Higday expects a hefty return on the investment. "It's something that only takes a few people to implement," he says. "That's why the ROI is so high."

Burger King's Sanchez believes the NetPoint identity-management application from Oblix Inc. can actually boost revenue by speeding new products to market, as well as cutting costs and simplifying the handling of access rights. At first, Burger King will use NetPoint to manage employee links to the company's portal and applications based on user and group attributes. It will then expand NetPoint use to give supply-chain partners access to apps on the portal. "We can shorten time to market by giving the right information, at the right time, to the right people," he says. "The only way you can accomplish that, and control what information you want to give to who, is to have strong identity management."

Fast-food companies have higher employee turnover than most businesses, which poses a challenge. Plus, a number of employees working for partners need access to the applications. An automated identity-management system will let Burger King, where appropriate, delegate the management of user access to business partners and move more quickly to cut off access to workers who leave the company, Sanchez says.

Whirlpool Corp., a $10.3 billion-a-year home appliance maker, now takes as long as three weeks to give a new employee or partner access to the proper systems. "There are multiple groups that handle different areas of access -- Novell access, Lotus notes, our mainframe," says Jim Haney, VP of architecture. "And nine times out of 10, some type of access was missed or wrong." Whirlpool is deploying Tivoli's IdentityManager and expects to save $1 million to $1.5 million a year, Haney says. IdentityManager will automate identity management and provisioning for employees, customers, and partners by midyear.

Whirlpool expects the savings from automating password resets to pay for the project, since it outsources password management to a call center. "When you look at paying for each phone call to the help desk, it gets expensive," he says. "The vast majority of calls are for password resets. We're hitting these costs with a vengeance."

Photo by Walter Smith.