Novell Nsure Secure Identity Management Solution Helps TransUnion Expand B2B Operations

Facing rapid growth among eCommerce customers and the daunting task of processing more than 2 billion items of confidential information monthly, TransUnion, one of the world's largest credit reporting agencies, turned to Novell® Nsure™ for a scalable, identity-based security infrastructure. Novell Nsure replaces TransUnion's homegrown security solution, offering more simplified user administration and providing customers and employees with identity-based access to TransUnion's services over the Web.

With more than 3,000 employees supporting customers in 24 countries, TransUnion required a secure Internet solution that could give customers faster and more efficient access to financial and credit-report information. In addition, employees needed easier access to critical applications, whether from corporate headquarters, 60 branch offices or their homes. The Novell Nsure solution has allowed TransUnion to quadruple its online B2B customer base from 38,000 to 150,000 customers in one year without adding new hardware or IT staff, while unifying each employee's identity information across different systems, improving productivity and security.

"Our business requires that we provide only the right people with secure access to our enormous volumes of highly sensitive, regulated information," said Doug Lionberger, senior director of communications and security services, TransUnion. "So secure identity management is a huge deal for us, and we simply couldn't have grown our business this fast without the scalability and flexibility of the Novell Nsure solution."

Before building its secure identity management solution, TransUnion evaluated several alternatives, including Sun ONE*, IBM SecureWay* and Microsoft Active Directory*. The company ultimately decided on Novell Nsure, featuring Novell eDirectory™, Novell DirXML®, Novell iChain® and Novell BorderManager®. Novell was able to help TransUnion design and implement its new directory-integrated security infrastructure in six months; and with the Novell Nsure solution in place, the company made a seamless transition from its old system in a matter of minutes.

"We completely redesigned and replaced the core security infrastructure of our business with absolutely no downtime," Lionberger said. "We've relied on Novell for years, for all the reasons other customers know so well - the stability, reliability, security and efficiency of Novell products. Though we have an eclectic environment, including Microsoft products, Novell offers us more stability than anything else on the market."

The company now processes more than 200,000 transactions per week and customers have a single ID and password to access personalized information via the Web. In addition, with Novell iChain, TransUnion is able to reduce the overhead on its existing Web servers by 10-15 percent, allowing the servers to support more users.

"Novell Nsure has made it possible to extend secure, Web-based access to confidential, personalized information for TransUnion customers and secure intranet access for TransUnion employees," said Dave Lawrence, vice president of Novell Nsure solutions. "The company has substantially expanded its business, and its new infrastructure has opened up new revenue streams. Novell recognizes that identity management is at the heart of many business challenges today, and with Nsure, companies now have the solution to provide role-based or identity-based access to personalized information while protecting a company's most valuable assets."

For more information about Novell Nsure solutions, go to http://www.novell.com/nsure.