Company Overview

Our client is one of the world’s  largest options and future exchanges, delivering cutting edge trading, clearing and investment solutions to people around the globe. Offering trading solutions and products in multiple asset classes, including equities, derivatives, FX and digital assets. The company has invested heavily in technology to facilitate electronic trading. The company operates electronic trading platforms and systems to handle its trading volume efficiently. Over the years the company is involved in various acquisitions and mergers expanding its reach to equities and exchange traded products.

Problem Statement:

Our client encountered issues while managing the accesses to the 50+ company-wide used applications in the absence of a identity management system. Managing the identity lifecycles using the ticketing tool posed a challenge resulting in delay in the onboarding process, extended access to the users after termination and inability to keep data in sync across the applications. Additionally, company struggled in performing the access reviews with the legacy systems.

Challenges

1. Security Concerns: The trading industry is highly regulated, with stringent security requirements. The company needed to strengthen access control to protect sensitive financial data. 

2. Compliance: To meet regulatory requirements such as SEC (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission) and FINRA (Financial Industry Regulatory Authority) standards, the company needed a robust identity management solution to ensure compliance. 

3. Operational Efficiency: Manual User provisioning and de-provisioning processes were time consuming and error-prone. Streamlining these processes was essential to reduce operation overload. 

4. Complex Access Needs: Managing access to 50+ company-provided applications was a challenge in the absence of an identity management system. Efficiently managing the accesses to these applications based on necessary approvals was an essential need.

Objectives of the Project

The objective of the project was to address these challenges by implementing a modern identity security platform which helps ensure that the system enhances security, compliance, and operational efficiency while supporting the company’s trading operations effectively.

1. Streamline the onboarding process for new employees, ensuring they have appropriate access on day one. 

2. Automate user de-provisioning when employees leave, reducing the risk of orphaned accounts. 

3. Maintain a comprehensive audit trail and reporting capabilities to facilitate compliance audits. 

4. Implement a structured access request and approval process to ensure that access is granted based on business needs. 

5. Ensure the IDM system’s availability and reliability to support 24/7 trading operations. 

6. Integrate the IDM system with third-party platforms and trading partners securely. 

7. Provide training and awareness programs to educate employees about security best practices and the proper use of the IDM system.

Solution

The company partnered with TechDemocracy to implement Saviynt IGA solution to overcome these challenges. TechDemocracy team helped the client to implement Saviynt Identity Governance system for effectively managing and automating the user provisioning and de-provisioning lifecycles, integrating with different third-party applications like Active Directory, Azure Active Directory, Exchange, Workday, other disconnected applications etc. The Saviynt system provided a framework for requesting the access to various company applications in a structured manner. Approval workflows were set up by the TechDemocracy team which allowed users to request access to specific resources, and appropriate stakeholders were able to approve or deny these requests. The TechDemocracy team documented the current state solution, ensuring thorough reviews by the business and technology teams. The team provided various solutions to standardize the manual processes the client was using before implementation of the IGA solution. Access reviews and Certifications were implemented within Saviynt IGA to assess the accesses of the users after a certain period. The system generated detailed audit logs and compliance reports which were crucial for regulatory audits and internal security assessments. Training programs were developed to educate the employees of the new Identity Governance Suite.

Benefits

The Implementation project delivered significant benefits to our client, including:

• Improved security by enforcing access controls. Unauthorized access attempts were reduced, and sensitive financial data was better protected. 
• The company achieved and maintained compliance with industry regulations. Necessary documentation and controls were provided to meet these requirements. 
• Manual user management processes were streamlined, reducing administrative overhead. This allowed IT staff to focus on more strategic tasks. 
• Reduced errors through data cleaning, resulting in minimal downtime. 
• Employees benefitted from an efficient and a better user interface leading to increase in productivity and user satisfaction.

By successfully implementing a robust identity governance system, our client addressed its security, compliance, and operational efficiency challenges. The company was able to meet regulatory requirements, and improve user experience supporting its growth and ensuring continued trust of its clients and regulatory authorities.