Company Size
1,000+
Region
- America
Country
- Canada
Product
- CyberArk Identity
Tech Stack
- Single Sign-On (SSO)
- Multifactor Authentication (MFA)
- Mobile Device Management (MDM)
Implementation Scale
- Enterprise-wide Deployment
Impact Metrics
- Customer Satisfaction
- Digital Expertise
- Productivity Improvements
Technology Category
- Cybersecurity & Privacy - Application Security
- Cybersecurity & Privacy - Identity & Authentication Management
Applicable Industries
- Utilities
Applicable Functions
- Business Operation
- Field Services
Use Cases
- Cybersecurity
- Remote Asset Management
- Remote Control
Services
- Software Design & Engineering Services
- System Integration
About The Customer
London Hydro is a Local Distribution Company (LDC) that serves the city of London, Ontario, Canada. The utility delivers electricity to over 152,000 customers across the residential, institutional, commercial, and industrial sectors. As a key player in the energy distribution sector, London Hydro is responsible for ensuring a reliable and continuous supply of electricity to its diverse customer base. The company is committed to adopting new technologies that can enhance operational efficiency, reduce costs, and improve service delivery. With a focus on innovation and security, London Hydro aims to lead by example in the energy sector, demonstrating how modern technologies can be securely integrated into traditional utility operations.
The Challenge
Implement a cloud-based identity management solution as the basis for an entirely new cloud-based infrastructure. Include secure single sign-on (SSO) to support productivity-enhancing mobile apps. Do this in a way that reduces demand on IT. As with any Local Distribution Company (LDC), the top priority at London Hydro is literally keeping the lights on. LDCs must therefore act with extreme caution when it comes to introducing new technologies into the system that could negatively impact service to customers. But that caution must be balanced with the many benefits new technologies provide, such as the ability to significantly reduce costs, improve delivery systems and minimize waste. After months of careful evaluation of the advantages and the risks, Mike Flegel, Cyber Security Specialist at London Hydro, was tasked with finding a single sign-on platform that would support the company’s move to a cloud based infrastructure. Historically, security at LDCs has been a matter of simply keeping office and field networks physically separate, and requiring multiple passwords to access individual resources. But times have changed — complete separation can be too restrictive and users juggling multiple passwords can end up being security risks themselves. London Hydro needed to implement an identity management solution that would be the basis for an entirely new cloud-based infrastructure consisting of everything from traditional ERP datacenter applications like SAP and JDE to new, mobile apps for the field. At the same time, it was important to reduce the IT workload by minimizing password reset requests, and simplifying the process of adding or removing employee access and incorporating new apps into the environment.
The Solution
After evaluating several vendors featured in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for IDaaS, London Hydro chose CyberArk Identity because it offered the best method for applying consistent access control policies, and included MFA for an even more secure environment. London Hydro was looking for an identity management solution that provided consistent application of access control policies, and single sign-on to ensure usability and rapid adoption by employees. After evaluating several vendors featured in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for IDaaS, Flegel selected CyberArk Identity because it met all the functionality requirements, including multifactor authentication (MFA) capabilities for an additional layer of security. To be effective, MFA must be easy for users so that it increases rather than stifles productivity. “Getting employees out in the field to remember multiple passwords is a huge challenge,” Flegel says. “With SSO, they can simply click on an icon to gain access to whatever resources they need. And with MFA, we can selectively add an additional layer of security to protect more sensitive applications. By providing both SSO and MFA, CyberArk Identity solves many of our most challenging issues.” According to Flegel, 80% of the business case made for the CyberArk Identity solution revolved around security. “A few years ago, cybersecurity wasn’t even a topic on the London Hydro Board of Directors’ agenda. Now it’s a primary focus. With CyberArk Identity, we’ve been able to respond to our executives’ concerns — we no longer have to worry about password errors, strength, expiration, or even complaints about having too many of them. All of that makes us so much more secure.”
Operational Impact
Quantitative Benefit
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