Tokyo Broadcasting System, Inc.

Media Company Boosts Security and IT Efficiency with Sun Automated Identity Management Solution

Since it began radio broadcasts in 1951, Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS) has grown to a network of 28 affiliate television and 34 affiliate radio stations. It produces the popular game show Takeshi’s Castle, dubbed and rebroadcast under the name Most Extreme Elimination Challenge (MXC) in eight foreign countries, including the United States. TBS has about 1,400 direct employees and about 6,600 contract production workers.

Customer Challenges

Integrate disparate enterprise systems that had unique password systems and were managed manually
Synchronize two types of identification systems used for authentication and system access
Create data links between systems without adversely affecting or disrupting operations
Build a systems environment that production staff from outside the company could easily access

Solution

Tokyo Broadcasting System chose the Sun Java Identity Management Suite to create an identity management system that integrates as many as 20 corporate systems and automates identity tasks that were previously performed manually.

Business Results

Successfully combined two identification systems under one new identity management system
Issued email IDs and specified user access privileges in real time
Automated updates to the user directory
Improved security by efficiently managing user IDs and privileges
Cut startup costs

Products and Services

Story Details

Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS) had the same challenges of many large companies: its user identity data - things like user names, passwords, and access privileges - were scattered across multiple corporate systems, each with unique authentication and access controls. The company was using both email IDs and card numbers to authenticate users, and password controls were different on every system. Identities and access privileges were managed manually on each system, which made it difficult for IT to manage users companywide and ensure security. In 2005, the company's IT group began searching for an identity management system that could easily be incorporated into the existing system platforms without disruption.

"We needed an identity management system that would cover not just our own employees, but also production staff from outside the company," says Mr. Yoichi Kondo, Vice President at Operation Department of ICT System Center, the TBS's IT group. About 6,600 production staff from other companies help produce programs at TBS and have access to corporate computer systems. The production staff is replaced frequently, so TBS wanted an identity management system that could respond rapidly to frequent personnel changes.

" It was possible to create a new identity management system without creating new inconveniences. "

— Mr. Yoichi Kondo , Deputy Vice President at Operation Department of ICT System Center, the TBS's IT group

Until now, IDs and passwords were managed separately in each system and the link to the user had to be made manually. Now any additions, deletions, or changes to account information, email IDs, and card numbers are immediately reflected in the LDAP directory. "Before, it occasionally took one week between the application for an email ID and one actually being issued. With the TBS Integrated Verification Platform, the ID can be issued in real-time as soon as the application is made, so it becomes possible to use the system straight away," says Mr. Kazuteru Kokubun, System Engineer at Operation Department of ICT System Center, the TBS's IT group. That also means that email and system access can be cut off immediately when an employee or production staff member leaves the company, ensuring far better security.

The Sun solution provided substantial licensing cost advantages, given that TBS's outside production staff is five times the number of employees. "The Sun Java Identity Management Suite license system only charged for company employees," says Mr. Kondo. "This was extremely attractive in terms of keeping the startup budget under control."