Insurance Corporation of British Columbia

Canadian Auto Insurance Leader Unlocks IT and User Productivity with Sun Identity Management Solution

The Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC) provides basic and universal auto insurance to more than 2.6 million British Columbia (BC) motorists. In addition, the government-sponsored corporation is responsible for issuing driver licenses and vehicle registrations in the province.

Business Issues

Provide employee, partners and customers with secure access to multiple applications and systems
Simplify user password reset, synchronization and unlock
Reduce password-related helpdesk calls
Improve IT and general user productivity
Mitigate risk by choosing leading vendor

Solution

ICBC is deploying a Sun identity management and portal solution to provide simplified, secure access to information and resources to employees, customers and partners.

Business Results

80% reduction in password-related call volume
Faster, simpler access to applications and information
Streamlined provisioning of new users
Enhanced information security

Products/Services/Solutions

Success at a Glance

As the provider of universal auto insurance for an entire Canadian province, Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC) provides information to 5,000 employees, a network of 6,000 brokers and agents, and more than 2.6 million motorists. Managing digital identities to provide this diverse user community with secure, personalized access to information and resources is one of the main challenges facing the ICBC IT team.

ICBC began to encounter problems providing employees with access to multiple platforms and critical applications dependent on Sun Java System Directory Server, IBM Resource Access Control Facility and Microsoft Active Directory.

“ Sun provides not only the identity management products that can meet our requirements, but also the vendor support and services to see a complicated project through from start to finish. We can rely on Sun to be there for us through all project phases. ”

— Don Beaudoin,, Information Services Project Manager, Insurance Corporation of British Columbia

Coping with Multiple Directories and Passwords
The problems resulted from multiple directories and strict password policies. Users had to maintain and frequently change several different passwords and had no way to reset passwords without calling IT for assistance. Employees were making more than 1000 calls to the internal help desk each month for password reset. This had a negative and costly impact on IT and general employee productivity.

ICBC had a strong relationship with Sun Microsystems based on its deployment of Sun Fire E15K and T2000 servers and multiple Sun storage systems. The corporation began discussions with Sun on upgrading its infrastructure software, starting with the need for an identity management solution to address its helpdesk issues.

Managing a Multiphased Implementation
ICBC evaluated several different solutions before engaging Sun in a multiphased project to revamp its identity and access management software. The Sun solution offered more robust business functionality and lower TCO than offerings from other vendors. Sun's financial viability and proven ability to execute on major infrastructure projects also figured in ICBC's decision.

In addition, Sun’s integrated family of Java-based software contrasted with point solutions available from other vendors, which would have required extensive system integration. Furthermore, Sun and ICBC shared a vision of establishing a robust software infrastructure including identity management and provisioning for employees, customers and partners.

In the first phase of the project, Sun Professional Services and Brighton Consulting, a Sun Advantage Partner, helped ICBC implement Sun Java System Identity Manager in an identity management solution for employees. The solution includes self-service password reset, synchronization and automatic account unlock. The Sun Java System Identity Manager runs on Sun Fire V220 servers with the Solaris 8 Operating System with the Sun Java System Directory Server running on Solaris 10. This solution will be expanded to ICBC’s broker network in the next phase of the project.

Expanding Portal Access to Customers
In a subsequent project phase, ICBC is rolling out a customer portal based on Sun Java System Identity Manager, Sun Java System Application Server, Sun Java System Portal Server and Sun Java System Access Manager software. The vision behind the portal implementation is to provide customers with secure, simplified access to a broader range of resources and services, while also streamlining the management of Web-based services and content.

For the portal phase of the project, ICBC is deploying the Sun software on Sun Fire T2000 servers with the Solaris 10 Operating System. ICBC is increasingly standardizing on Sun Fire T2000 servers to take advantage of superior price-performance and power savings. The company is using Logical Domains (LDoms) to further increase server utilization, by running multiple copies of the operating system simultaneously.

The first phase of ICBC’s identity management project is now complete and work is underway to expand the solution to brokers and to customers through the customer portal. ICBC expects eventually to decrease password-related call volume by 80 percent using the new software. By leveraging Sun identity and access management software, ICBC is positioned to manage its IT resources more efficiently while providing its customers with fast, simple and secure access to a broader range of information and personalized services.