Archives Case Studies

The Client

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is responsible for welfare, pensions and child maintenance policy to around 20 million claimants and customers. It also provides information to around 20,000 local and central government users across 400 different networks

The Challenge

DWP had a need to replace the existing decommissioned multifactor authentication system with a suitable alternative. The transition would need to work with their existing physical tokens and be delivered with no downtime to their 20,000 users. In addition, several key enhancements were to be made to allow their users to ‘self-serve’ on several actions avoiding lengthy waits and a physical paper trail. The solution had to maintain service, improve performance and reduce costs with no loss of security.

The Solution

Condatis in conjunction with DWP architects and Microsoft produced an Azure B2C based solution written with a Microservices based architecture. The system runs on two UK data centres with failover between the two. Users are multifactor authenticated using their credentials and their physical Onespan token. Role based access controls (RBAC) provides a 5-deep hierarchy of administrative users with authentication and workflows allowing DWP to populate, protect and monitor access to the overall system and their respective services.

Seamless transition was managed progressively through the project using ‘silent journeys’ and intermediate steps to allow each local authority in turn to experiment and to validate their revised access prior to full adoption. Transition was phased over several months.

The Benefits

• The resulting system performed faster and in addition, users were impressed with the efficiency improvements produced by their ability to self-administrate previously centrally handled functions. The interface employed Government Digital Services (GDS) guidelines throughout and were found to be easy to use.
• Maintenance and control were improved by having the complete system under the secure control of DWP’s own Azure subscription including all audit storage. This gave a larger sense of ownership than the previous solution. The project was delivered in an agile way using two week sprints.
• The system was and is extensible. The initial system provided local government access to three distinct services within DWP. A further two new services were added since go live with minimal additional work.

The Client

Our client is a global engineering, technical and business services organisation providing compliance, risk and technical consultancy services.

Underpinning these services, our client owns and manages a number of IT support tools and systems, including an app that provides real-time information on the status of ships, helping companies remain compliant with regulatory requirements and manage operational risk.

The Challenge

To offer clients a modern and efficient digital service, our client set out to update the app to a new version that had to make it easier and more secure for people to access the system and in parallel reduce in-house system administration activities with regards to user provisioning, de-provisioning and other self-service aspects.

Central to this was the understanding that user identity is a “building block” in digital systems – and that getting identity right in the context of this app would provide a firm foundation and framework for future digital apps and services.

The Solution

Our client elected to assess and test Microsoft’s Azure identity tooling (Identity Experience Framework, IEF) as a potential solution, reaching out to Condatis to demonstrate its features and potential value for the app.

Condatis delivered this through a simple envision and planning phase, running a number of workshops to a) illustrate to stakeholders the feature set available in the Microsoft product and b) design a high-level solution architecture and proposal for live implementation. Condatis supported this through delivery of a simple proof of concept app (PoC) that made IEF capabilities real, and so demonstrated value to the client’s stakeholders early.

Following success of the PoC, our client engaged us to deliver the entire authentication solution – configuring IEF as the underlying identity management platform.

The benefits

Microsoft IEF gives our client an identity solution that offers several benefits:

• highly secure – abstracting the overhead of securing user identities from IT staff and providing users with high confidence in the system.
• registration and login is quick and simple – making it easier for users to access the system, providing a user experience that delights, and reducing the burden on IT support .
• establishes an identity framework – that our client can build-out quickly and easily as it offers more digital services to its users.

The Client

Nuffield Health aims to connect its customers with its services through digital channels that are secure, quick and easy to use. Underpinning access through these channels is a digital account system that allows people to log in when they want and with confidence in how their information is handled.

Users need to be able to rely on Nuffield Health to manage their private data with great care. In parallel, Nuffield Health requires robust data about its users and their preferences, to develop digital services that are tailored to individual customer needs and wishes.

Salesforce, a cloud-based Customer Relationship Management solution, powers Nuffield Health’s administrative and sales processes in all online interactions with its customers.

The Solution

Condatis delivered a digital identity solution built on Microsoft Azure Active Directory B2C that connects to Salesforce to check membership details. Azure AD B2C is a cloud-based identity management service that enables digital applications to handle hundreds of millions of identities. The service is robust, scalable and configurable to create highly flexible Identity & Access Management infrastructures.

In the new setup, registered Nuffield Health customers are invited to create an account on Nuffield Health’s website. During the registration process, they receive a unique code by email to verify their identity, adding an extra level of identity assurance to only accept valid, verified email addresses. The system then saves the details provided by the user into Azure AD B2C as well as Salesforce.

Members can use their online accounts to book gym classes online using a web service. They can also use their credentials to connect to WiFi networks at Nuffield Health’s premises.

The Benefits

The solution allows Nuffield Health to create secure digital services that meet the demand of its customers. Nuffield Health can now develop a network of interconnected digital services that save data to different systems, as proven by enabling the connection to Salesforce.

The identity architecture is fast, secure and scalable to handle all transactions required in the future. Moreover, the user sign-up process is straightforward and visually appealing: more than 15,000 members set up accounts in the first two weeks following go-live.

The client

The client, a well-known international healthcare group with its origins and headquarters in the United Kingdom, owns and manages a number of IT services and online systems. One of its digital services is an online portal that facilitates transactional services with its members for the purposes of case management, membership, etc.

The challenge

As part of a strategy to consolidate IT environments and adopt cloud technologies, the client recognised the need to update the online portal to provide a more modern system – improving aspects such as registration and login – that was more straightforward for people to use and reduced the burden on IT support as well.

Central to this was the understanding that user identity is a “building block” in digital systems – and that getting identity right in the context of the online portal would provide a firm foundation and framework for future digital apps and services. User migration to the new system would be challenging, given the often incomplete our out of date information held in the current system.

The solution

The client elected to assess and test Microsoft’s Azure identity tooling (Identity Experience Framework, IEF) as a potential solution, reaching out to Condatis to demonstrate its features and value in the context of the online portal.

Condatis delivered this through a simple envision and planning phase, running a number of workshops to a) illustrate to the client’s stakeholders the feature set available in the Microsoft product and b) design a high-level solution architecture and proposal for live implementation. Condatis supported this through delivery of a simple proof of concept app (PoC) that made IEF capabilities real, and so demonstrated value to stakeholders early.

Following success of the PoC, the client engaged Condatis to deliver the entire authentication solution for the online portal – configuring IEF as the underlying identity management platform.

The benefits

Microsoft IEF gives the client an identity solution that offers a number of benefits:

• Highly secure – abstracting the overhead of securing user identities from IT staff and providing users with high confidence in the system
• Quick and simple registration and login – making it easier for users to access the system, providing a user experience that delights, and reducing the burden on IT support
• Establishes an identity framework – that the client can build-out quickly and easily as it offers more digital services to its users

The Client

Our client works in partnership with NHS Trusts to provide a personnel service that helps them meet their temporary and flexible workforce requirements, offering employees the choice of temporary work at their convenience, while offering NHS Trusts a safe supply of quality temporary staff at the best possible value.

The Challenge

Our client had multiple legacy systems and applications that required unification at a centralised location. The ambition was to create a centralised system where all staff login, registration and authentication processes could be carried out. Our client was looking to develop a portal page where users could login seamlessly to the different applications used without the need for multiple login requests.

The Solution

Condatis’ solution was to implement Microsoft Azure IEF (Identity Experience Framework) Custom Policies to address our client’s staff user registration challenges. The identity platform will integrate with the client’s core systems, using their CRM for the purposes of user registration. The solution will enable the registration of new users through their email address and for verification of a user’s email address. The access page Condatis developed generated a unique user ID that was an attribute that all the client’s applications could use. Using Microsoft Azure B2C, the registration screens were delivered according to the client’s brand and style guide.

The Benefits

Our client has enjoyed multiple benefits from this engagement:

• The security of their registration and login system has been greatly enhanced, while simplifying their sign-up and login processes. This has resulted in an increased take-up and use of their IT systems.
• By establishing an identity management framework, our client has been able to cut down on administrative overhead and costs, while demonstrating a return on investment for user management.