Customer Story
Solutions at-a-Glance
Single sign-on enables fast access to vital apps and increases employee productivity
Decreased help desk calls to retrieve lost passwords reduces the support burden
Out-of-the-box implementation meets all the association’s required use cases
Employees and customers securely access a wide range of SaaS and other applications
National Restaurant Association Serves Up Savory Single Sign-on Experience
When they don't remember their passwords, they don't have access to the applications, You know, causing productivity issues.
So we were in the process of exploring a solution, just having to remember one username and one password tied to our Core identity.
And also some of these APPs are SaaS-based applications which bring a security risk associated with it.
People may have access to applications even after they leave If there is not proper provisioning and deprovisioning set up.
We wanted a solution that would provide an authentication, authorization, and secure transmission of user credentials within our perimeter as well as across domains External to the enterprise.
We implemented Ping for a wide range of applications that our employees access.
Whether it be timesheets or expense system, which are on software-as-a-service, or internal applications like our Association Management System, I think it was very easy from a decision-making perspective.
There are things that stood out, like the pricing, the licensing model.
Uh, some of the competitors were charging us even for non-production environments.
Um, the other thing that stood out from a paying perspective.
Was the ease with which we could implement the solution, as most of our requirements were right Out of the box, and it was most comprehensive and flexible as a solution compared to the Competitors and we had a dedicated team from P.
From an Account Executive, a salesperson, a Solution Architect that helped us pretty much Capture all our use cases and identify the solution during the POC stage.
So when it came time to go live, it was just a matter of flipping the switch.
Prior to our implementation of Ping Fed Rate as a single sign-on solution for our internal Applications.
We used to receive many requests from our Employees, complaints rather about how they cannot remember the passwords because there was Just a proliferation of applications.
Once we implemented PingFederate, All those went away.
The Objective
The National Restaurant Association (NRA) has the largest membership of any foodservice trade group worldwide. Supporting more than 500,000 restaurant businesses around the globe, the association provides a comprehensive set of tools, systems, and applications that help members of all sizes get significantly better operating results.
Accessing myriad applications wasn’t always seamless, however, for either NRA employees or customers, who were required to memorize multiple usernames and passwords. The organization sought a user-friendly solution that would provide authentication, authorization, and secure transmission of user credentials within the perimeter as well as across domains external to the enterprise.
The Challenge
Due to growth, users were having difficulty tracking and remembering different sign-on credentials for an expanding number of applications. This in turn led to increased help desk calls, and the lack of fast access hindered productivity. Also, because some of the applications are SaaS-based, there was an added security risk associated with these apps. In addition, the association did not have proper provisioning or de-provisioning in place, so employees could access applications even after leaving the company.
The Solution
NRA implemented PingFederate to enable SSO functionality for both internal applications and external access applications for employees, along with the customer-facing web applications used by some of their larger corporate customers. Employees use PingFederate to access a wide range of SaaS apps, including the UltiPro timesheets program and the Concur expense system, as well as internal applications such as their association management systems.
NRA chose Ping after an extensive proof of concept. A dedicated team from Ping, from an account executive to a salesperson to a solution architect, helped the association capture all of their use cases and identify the solution during the POC stage. “When it came time to go live, it was just a matter of flipping the switch,” said Narendar Sundaram, Chief Architect of the National Restaurant Association.
“It was really easy from a decision-making perspective,” Sundaram said. “The pricing and the licensing model stood out; some of the competitors were charging us for even a non-production environment. The other thing that stood out from a Ping perspective was the ease with which we could implement the solution, as most of our requirements were met right out of the box.”
The Result
Prior to the implementation of PingFederate as an SSO solution, NRA’s support team experienced numerous requests from employees who couldn’t remember their passwords needed to access a proliferation of applications. But once the association implemented PingFederate, all those requests disappeared because it was just a matter of remembering one username and one password—thereby increasing employee productivity and reducing the support burden.
When compared to the competitors, PingFederate simply stood out as the most comprehensive and flexible solution.
Narendar Sundaram, Chief Architect
National Restaurant Association
More About NRA
The National Restaurant Association (NRA) is the largest foodservice trade association in the world, supporting over 500,000 restaurant businesses. In partnership with state restaurant associations, the association works daily to empower all restaurant owners and operators to achieve more than they thought possible.
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