Internal and external employees of the municipality of Utrecht will have quick and easy access to the systems and data they need for their work. In close collaboration with SITS|Traxion, the municipality is gradually taking its identity and access management to an ever higher level.
Utrecht — a city of roughly 375,000 residents — is the fourth largest municipality in the Netherlands. Tightly organizing what employees have access to, both physically and digitally, is key for the municipality. After all, citizens must be able to trust that their sensitive data are safe and that municipal processes are conducted reliably. Municipalities need to be fully in control when it comes to information security and privacy. It is crucial that employees only have access to systems and information on a need to know basis. The same goes for physical access to sites, buildings and rooms.
DomstadIT is responsible for the approximately 700 IT solutions used by the municipality of Utrecht. In the past, it was not always easy for the municipality to smoothly organize Identity and Access Management (IAM). Granting, revoking or modifying access rights involved many manual operations. Also, processes were not always configured consistently. As a result, access cards from people who no longer worked for the municipality could still be in circulation.
“That wasn’t malicious intent, mind you,” stresses Angéla de Graaff, an employee of the IAM team at DomstadIT. “When someone left, they gave their access card to their supervisor. The supervisor then put the card in a drawer and passed it on to the successor. Over time, you no longer know exactly what passes are still around.”
To change this, the municipality of Utrecht embarked on a structured approach to Identity and Access Management. After a careful selection procedure, the municipality of Utrecht chose the combination of Omada’s IAM solution and Traxion’s IAM expertise.
“Then they examined how that could be done better and more efficiently, which SITS|Traxion did in close collaboration with DomstadIT as well as with the business. Together, we thought everything through carefully. That created confidence. This project really came together with the business.”
-Angéla de Graaff –
Omada is a powerful IAM platform that makes it very easy to manage access rights (permissions). Once an application is linked to the platform, all permissions for that application can be arranged through Omada. By also linking the municipality’s access card system with Omada, you can organize which sites, buildings and rooms the more than 8,500 employees and externals can access.
De Graaff was involved in the project from the start. “This really is my baby,” she says. “First, SITS|Traxion extensively analyzed our municipal processes and documented them. SITS|Traxion looked at how processes ran and what roles our organization had. Then they examined how that could be done better and more efficiently, which SITS|Traxion did in close collaboration with DomstadIT as well as with the business. Together, we thought everything through carefully. That created confidence. This project really came together with the business.”
After the municipality introduced IAM, connecting the applications step by step was a bit more challenging. “Not every department had sufficient capacity to devote time and attention to this,” explains ICT Manager Michiel Boertje. “Moreover, the responsible application owners in the primary process are not IT people. They did not always understand the importance of IAM. It is, after all, a difficult subject.”
Despite the somewhat bumpy start, the team brought many key applications — ones that are essential to the daily operations of the municipality — under the secure IAM umbrella.
The main solution that the team connected to Omada was the HR system. Because Omada integrates with the HR environment, it has become infinitely easier to manage, provide and revoke permissions associated with the inflow, advancement and outflow of people.
Based on the information in the HR system, it is exactly clear whether someone is employed by the municipality of Utrecht and, if so, to which buildings and systems the employee must have access to conduct their work.
Giving employees access to the applications linked to Omada has become a piece of cake, and it’s done without involving IT. Boertje adds, “Managers arrange this together with HR. For executives, all of it has become much more user-friendly. Delegating tasks when you go on vacation is also very easy now. Not only is everything well organized now, there is also a clear audit trail. You can always see afterward who requested, changed or approved something and when.”
“Managers arrange this together with HR. For executives, all of it has become much more user-friendly. Delegating tasks when you go on vacation is also very easy now. Not only is everything well organized now, there is also a clear audit trail. You can always see afterward who requested, changed or approved something and when.”
– Michiel Boertje –
Omada offers enough flexibility to accommodate exceptions, where necessary. “The system is reasonable. For example, the municipality employs many interns,” De Graaff explains. “If a student has finished working at the municipality but still needs to be able to access certain data for writing their thesis, you can easily arrange that. Even though you no longer receive a salary, you still have access to the data.” Incidentally, sometimes a person’s access to the municipality’s buildings and systems is terminated with immediate effect. That, too, is now taken care of — literally at the touch of a button.
Both De Graaff and Boertje look back with pleasure on the collaboration with SITS|Traxion. De Graaff summarizes: “It’s a fine organization. SITS|Traxion is a sparring partner who brainstorms with you. Moreover, it’s nice that someone doesn’t blindly implement what you suggest, but also counters and says, ‘De Graaff, we’re not going to do this.'” In addition, De Graaff feels that she and her colleagues have learned a lot from working with SITS|Traxion. “We can do more and more ourselves,” she says. SITS|Traxion will continue to play an important role in the further development of IAM at the municipality of Utrecht. Boertje adds, “They keep us on our toes and point out new developments. SITS|Traxion will remain substantively involved, especially with more complex issues. We may be behind the wheel, but they are in the passenger seat as an attendant and coach.”
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