Company Overview :

A major telecommunications company in the United States, serving more than 100 million subscribers as of Q4 2022. As a leading provider of telecommunication services, our client faced challenges with their outdated identity system, prompting the need for a transformation.

Problem Statement :

Our client encountered various issues stemming from their complex and inefficient legacy identity system. The inability to deprovision users who changed job functions or left the organization posed a significant challenge. Moreover, the maintenance costs of these outdated tools were exorbitant, resulting in over 500 support tickets every week. Additionally, the company experienced partner access interruptions during peak business times and struggled to meet compliance audit requirements using their existing legacy tool. Despite investing in staff (employees and contractors) to manage and maintain the legacy systems, the outcomes and return on investment (ROI) fell far below expectations.

Objective of the Project :

Our client sought a comprehensive solution to address the following objectives:

1. Transform the Identity Security landscape. 

2. Enable a seamless migration from the current legacy system without impacting business operations.

3. Ensure compliance with regulatory requirements. 

4. Minimize support requirements and demonstrate ROI. 

5. Enable operation on a virtual infrastructure. 

6. Support the organization’s long-term vision for identity security.

Challenges:

The migration from the outdated legacy tool, which had been in use for eight years and was fully customized, presented significant challenges. The absence of documentation and knowledge of the existing setup further complicated the process. However, a well-planned approach was adopted to overcome these obstacles.

Solutions :

TechDemocracy, chosen as the partner for this journey, commenced the project by conducting an assessment of the current state and aligning with our client’s expectations. SailPoint IdentityIQ (IIQ) was selected as the Identity Governance and Administration (IGA) product to meet our client’s solution requirements. Migrating from a legacy tool with no documentation or knowledgebase was a daunting task, but TechDemocracy’s approach and planning proved effective.

The TechDemocracy team meticulously documented the current state solution, ensuring thorough reviews by the business and technology teams. This process helped identify gaps and establish an ideal solution structure for the future. SailPoint IIQ was containerized in a private cloud, and a robust infrastructure was built using Continuous Integration/ Continuous Deployment/Continuous Testing (CI/CD/CT) automation. 

Various sources, including employees, contractors, and service partners, were integrated separately into SailPoint, consolidating the identity data. TechDemocracy automated the user lifecycle workflow, streamlining our client’s process. Data cleaning from the old system to the new system was handled seamlessly by TechDemocracy. The migration of 40+ applications from the old Identity Management (IDM) system to SailPoint IIQ was completed without any disruption to users. 

During the migration process, TechDemocracy successfully managed the merger and acquisition between our client and another large telecommunications firm, ensuring seamless integration and process reconciliations.

Benefits :

The migration and implementation project yielded significant benefits for our client, including:

Cost savings resulting from the elimination of hefty renewal overhead from the legacy IDM tool.  

Substantial reduction in overall operational costs. 

Mitigation of compliance issues, ensuring adherence to audits within the allotted timeframe. 

Decrease in operational issues, transitioning from weekly priority 1 and 2 incidents to zero priority 1 incidents. 

Improved system efficiencies and a better user interface leading to enhanced customer satisfaction and ease of use.

By successfully transitioning from legacy identity technology to modern identity governance, our client achieved improved security, operational efficiency, and cost savings while meeting their compliance and business requirements