Customer stories

US Federal Government Agency logoUS Federal Government Agency

Host connectivity solutions support full regulatory compliance while improving user productivity

US Federal Government Agency logo

Outcomes

  • Enhanced security ensures full HSPD-12 compliance
  • Fully integrated two-factor authentication for Unisys mainframe
  • Improved maintenance through centralized management of client settings and configuration
  • Improved user productivity with significant time savings
  • Easier and faster new employee onboarding

Challenge

Meet enhanced security requirements and achieve regulatory compliance by implementing secure host access to business-critical systems.

Details

Full HSPD-12 compliance requires sophisticated host connectivity solution

With this large agency, implementing two-factor authentication or PIV has to be executed in careful stages, as even just a one percent fail rate would negatively impact hundreds of users. The agency has a long-standing partnership with OpenText™ and has relied on OpenText host connectivity solutions for many years, as the Senior IT Operations Manager explains: “We enjoy the benefits of Micro Focus (now part of OpenText) InfoConnect Desktop Pro which is designed to facilitate robust, comprehensive, fast, and secure application access for our users. This teams very well with Micro Focus (now part of OpenText) Host Access Management and Security Server (MSS) to integrate host access control and improve security. The only way to become fully HSPD-12 compliant is to identify and involve all internal stakeholders, including the dozen or so business application owners, as well as the security, systems, and network divisions. These teams collaborated closely with Micro Focus (now part of OpenText) Professional Services to coordinate the implementation of two-factor and PIV authentication. Without the deep knowledge of our enterprise environment that the Micro Focus (now part of OpenText) team brought to the table, this would have been near-impossible.”

As a fully supported, future-proof, host access solution, InfoConnect Desktop Pro and MSS have improved our user experience. We now have a clear central view of who has access to which systems to ensure authorized access and security compliance.


Senior IT Operations Manager
US Federal Government Agency

Improved user productivity and significant time savings

A significant requirement for one of the agency’s primary and largest business applications is that it must be addressed on the remote terminal station. This has always been a challenge, both from the user side as users would need to install configuration files manually, and from a maintenance perspective, to keep track of manual updates. As part of the effort to become fully HSPD-12 compliant, the agency leverages the MSS platform to centrally manage these unique addresses automatically, bringing clear benefits according to the Senior IT Operations Manager: “InfoConnect Desktop Pro and MSS just make sense to us, especially when we looked at other solutions that were proving cost prohibitive. MSS’s ability to automatically deliver configuration files securely and efficiently saves us many man hours. We used to send our users their configuration files manually, complicating central control.”

The long partnership between OpenText and the Federal Agency has allowed the team to jointly develop and code mature custom processes, modules, and procedures to not only improve overall productivity, but make the environment more secure and reliable. This has been achieved through designing and implementing systems and policies involving thousands of modules and components and containing tens of thousands of lines of code. The combined team also enabled connectivity to Microsoft Office Suite, as well as the use of macros and the ability to easily copy data content, thus eliminating rekeying to save time and improve user productivity. Leveraging Active Directory and user group rules, the organization is steadily moving towards managing all internal application access processes through MSS. The provisioning team uses MSS to provide secure user access, making it easier and faster to onboard new employees.

Trusted partnership delivers innovative solutions

“We have been working with Micro Focus (now part of OpenText) as a trusted partner for more than 20 years to support our enterprise’s critical infrastructure,” says the Senior IT Operations Manager. “This partnership has made our enterprise secure, with modern interfaces, helping us meet evolving security requirements, including HSPD-12 compliance.”

He concludes: “The Micro Focus (now part of OpenText) Professional Services team partners with us on special requests and we work side by side with the best engineers to come up with innovative solutions to complex problems. As a fully supported, future-proof, host access solution, InfoConnect Desktop Pro and MSS have improved our user experience. We now have a clear central view of who has access to which systems to ensure authorized access and security compliance. Micro Focus (now part of OpenText) is a valued partner with a team that has gone above and beyond to support us.”

We enjoy the benefits of Micro Focus (now part of OpenText) InfoConnect Desktop Pro which is designed to facilitate robust, comprehensive, fast, and secure application access for our users. This teams very well with Micro Focus (now part of OpenText) Host Access Management and Security Server (MSS) to integrate host access control and improve security.


Senior IT Operations Manager
US Federal Government Agency

About US Federal Government Agency

US Federal Government Agency logo

This Federal Government Agency supports over 80,000 staff who use terminals to access dozens of Unisys mainframe-based business-critical applications serving US businesses and individual citizens. As all US government agencies, it must adhere to strict security and data privacy regulations. As part of this, it must comply with the HSPD-12 directive[1], in particular two-factor authentication, or Personal Identification Verification (PIV)[2].

Footnotes

 

 

Footnotes

  1. [1] The Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12 is a government-wide mandate to safeguard the federal community, information, systems, and facilities through identity certification and access management.
  2. [2] Personal Identity Verification is a United States federal smart card that contains the necessary data for the cardholder to be granted access to federal facilities and information systems and assure appropriate levels of security for all applicable federal applications.