Kern County Department of Child Support Services

Kern County teams with Forward Advantage to Increase User Productivity, Streamline Workflow and Comply with State Security Policies

Kern County Department of Child Support Services (DCSS) was in search of a solution to a common challenge: how do you keep in compliance with State mandated security policies without interrupting user workflow and productivity, while providing IT administrators with a maintainable, easy to use solution? Kern County DCSS found the answer they were looking for when they heard about the success Contra Costa County DCSS had with Forward Advantage providing Single Sign-on and Strong Authentication, Forward Advantage brings together solutions from leading vendors, provides the process of evaluating the appropriate technologies for each organization’s needs, and coordinates the implementation to help IT management comply with regulatory mandates and improve user productivity.

With 200 users handling 56,000 child support cases, Kern County employees found that keeping in compliance with mandatory security policies was impeding their ability to manage their daily workload. With 30 applications being accessed on a regular basis, all with individual passwords, the difficulty of keeping those passwords secure while maintaining the ease of login lead to an increased potential for security breaches. In an effort to keep their daily routines uninterrupted, many users had resorted to creating binders full of passwords and papers affixed to keyboards and desks with password lists. This was clearly not in compliance with the State’s security policy, and Kern County recognized something needed to change.

“The process was cumbersome,” said Warren Baziuk, Kern County’s technology services supervisor,
“By streamlining the login process with a Single Sign-On solution, I know our users are able to
keep the login process secure while saving valuable time and effort.”

Upon evaluation of Kern County’s needs, Forward Advantage recommended the deployment of Imprivata’s Single Sign-On solution, OneSign, providing users with the convenience of one password for all their applications, a broad range of strong authentication options, and the ability to monitor user access with detailed audit logs. A two week implementation was all that was needed to fully enable all applications. During the remote deployment of a test pilot group, all applications were identified and profiled, and the system was tested. The onsite enrollments and training of IT administrators completed the implementation phase. “It was a very good process; I didn’t expect it to be done so quickly,” Said Bazuik, “I was impressed.”

Through the deployment of Single Sign-on, users no longer need to write down multiple passwords, so Kern County administrators can now rest assured their users are meeting state security mandates. And the audit logs provide administrators the ability to enforce security policies as they can now monitor which users access various applications, the time logged in and out, and the specific machine logged into. Additionally, users have increased productivity without the hindrance of tedious password maintenance, and streamlined their workflow to meet the County’s objectives at hand – serving the best interests of the parents and children of Kern County.

Our Commitment to the Departments of Child Support Services

Forward Advantage Experience with Other County DCSS Organizations

Forward Advantage has successfully deployed OneSign Single Sign-On (SSO) at Contra Costa County DCSS and Kern County DCSS. The familiarity that Forward Advantage now has with the primary applications and related organizational workflow allows us to streamline the process, because no time is required to learn these applications, their purpose for DCSS and the manner in which users interact with the applications. The experience gained in these projects is extremely valuable and will serve to benefit the efficient deployment of OneSign at other DCSS organizations.

State and Local Government Complexity

In order to realize the value associated with SSO technology the selected vendor must have an understanding of not only the application resources at the County level, but also at the State level. With the experience of multiple deployments, Forward Advantage has knowledge of the applications as well as the process at the State level, resulting in the most efficient OneSign deployments.

Time Sensitivity

Because we have an understanding of the process, application resources, workflow and dependencies, Forward Advantage is uniquely qualified to assist the Department in successfully meeting time lines.

Kids Come First

Forward Adantage believes that any technology project must be achieved without interruption of the support the Department provides. As a California based organization, Forward Advantage understands this charter and has a track record of successful deployments that demonstrate this understanding.

About Forward Advantage

Based in Fresno, CA, Forward Advantage provides Single-Sign On and Strong Authentication solutions to organizations to increase information security, provide convenience to streamline workflow, and meet regulatory requirements. For more information about a solution for your organization, contact the Forward Advantage sales team at (877) 636-7927 or for more information about Forward Advantage visit our website at www.forwardadvantage.com.