Walldorf, June 11, 2010 – REALTECH AG, a SAP consultancy and a provider of software solutions for enterprise-wide IT management, has launched a new consulting package for SAP customers: It seeks to educate IT managers looking to introduce single sign-on (SSO) in their SAP landscapes on how to achieve "Minimum Log-In Hassle – Maximum Security".
The objective is to establish an authentication procedure that allows users to sign on to a computer system once to gain access to all other software systems and networks across the company.
The sheer number of applications that are needed for a single process makes it extremely cumbersome for IT and business departments to keep track of the many passwords involved. The likelihood of a security incident within the different IT systems increases with the number of passwords that are assigned to the individual users. And even though it is only logical to make this connection, password management continues to suffer from deficiencies that are again and again exposed during audits.
Single sign-on helps companies mitigate security and compliance risks and achieve rapid results. Other compliance issues are addressed by means of authentication, identity management, and governance, risk, and compliance in combination with the corresponding authorization concepts.
The benefits of an SSO solution are obvious: It significantly reduces the cost of IT administration by reducing the time spent creating or deleting user accounts and resetting user passwords. IT departments can use single sign-on to authenticate themselves across multiple systems in order to, for example, deactivate the user accounts of employees leaving the company across all those systems.
SAP has already introduced its SSO solution. REALTECH's consulting package is designed to show organizations how to make the most of single sign-on in their SAP landscapes. REALTECH’s consultants will work on site to analyze the customer's IT landscape and develop a joint implementation strategy that will also take into account integrated non-SAP systems such as portals or workflow solutions.
Weak passwords
BITKOM, the German Federal Association for Information Technology Telecommunications and New Media, estimates that the average business user has to manage up to 20 passwords. Users often respond to this by choosing passwords that are easy to remember. When operating systems or applications force them to use more complex passwords, users tend to write them down and keep them in their desks. This makes the IT landscape extremely vulnerable.
Expensive passwords
Especially in more complex system environments, users requesting password resets can be a significant driver of IT support costs. What's more, highly trained professional have to spend their time on routine administrative tasks. The time it takes to service such a request means a loss in productivity for the entire company because the user is unable to access the affected application in the meantime.
Fixed-price consulting
REALTECH offers a number of fixed-price projects ranging from strategy workshops to security audit checks. The consulting packages reflect the many years of experience that REALTECH's consultants have gained in a wide variety of SAP projects.
