CyberArk > Case Studies > London Hydro's Secure Cloud Transition with CyberArk Identity

London Hydro's Secure Cloud Transition with CyberArk Identity

Customer Company Size

Large Corporate

Region

America

Country

Canada

Product

CyberArk Identity

Tech Stack

Single Sign-On (SSO)
Multifactor Authentication (MFA)
Mobile Device Management (MDM)

Implementation Scale

Enterprise-wide Deployment

Impact Metrics

Productivity Improvements
Customer Satisfaction
Digital Expertise

Technology Category

Cybersecurity & Privacy - Identity & Authentication Management
Cybersecurity & Privacy - Application Security

Applicable Industries

Utilities

Applicable Functions

Business Operation
Field Services

Use Cases

Cybersecurity
Remote Asset Management
Remote Control

Services

System Integration
Software Design & Engineering Services

About The Customer

London Hydro is a Local Distribution Company (LDC) that serves the city of London, Ontario, Canada. The utility delivers electricity to over 152,000 customers across the residential, institutional, commercial, and industrial sectors. As a key player in the energy distribution sector, London Hydro is responsible for ensuring a reliable and continuous supply of electricity to its diverse customer base. The company is committed to adopting new technologies that can enhance operational efficiency, reduce costs, and improve service delivery. With a focus on innovation and security, London Hydro aims to lead by example in the energy sector, demonstrating how modern technologies can be securely integrated into traditional utility operations.

The Challenge

Implement a cloud-based identity management solution as the basis for an entirely new cloud-based infrastructure. Include secure single sign-on (SSO) to support productivity-enhancing mobile apps. Do this in a way that reduces demand on IT. As with any Local Distribution Company (LDC), the top priority at London Hydro is literally keeping the lights on. LDCs must therefore act with extreme caution when it comes to introducing new technologies into the system that could negatively impact service to customers. But that caution must be balanced with the many benefits new technologies provide, such as the ability to significantly reduce costs, improve delivery systems and minimize waste. After months of careful evaluation of the advantages and the risks, Mike Flegel, Cyber Security Specialist at London Hydro, was tasked with finding a single sign-on platform that would support the company’s move to a cloud based infrastructure. Historically, security at LDCs has been a matter of simply keeping office and field networks physically separate, and requiring multiple passwords to access individual resources. But times have changed — complete separation can be too restrictive and users juggling multiple passwords can end up being security risks themselves. London Hydro needed to implement an identity management solution that would be the basis for an entirely new cloud-based infrastructure consisting of everything from traditional ERP datacenter applications like SAP and JDE to new, mobile apps for the field. At the same time, it was important to reduce the IT workload by minimizing password reset requests, and simplifying the process of adding or removing employee access and incorporating new apps into the environment.

The Solution

After evaluating several vendors featured in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for IDaaS, London Hydro chose CyberArk Identity because it offered the best method for applying consistent access control policies, and included MFA for an even more secure environment. London Hydro was looking for an identity management solution that provided consistent application of access control policies, and single sign-on to ensure usability and rapid adoption by employees. After evaluating several vendors featured in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for IDaaS, Flegel selected CyberArk Identity because it met all the functionality requirements, including multifactor authentication (MFA) capabilities for an additional layer of security. To be effective, MFA must be easy for users so that it increases rather than stifles productivity. “Getting employees out in the field to remember multiple passwords is a huge challenge,” Flegel says. “With SSO, they can simply click on an icon to gain access to whatever resources they need. And with MFA, we can selectively add an additional layer of security to protect more sensitive applications. By providing both SSO and MFA, CyberArk Identity solves many of our most challenging issues.” According to Flegel, 80% of the business case made for the CyberArk Identity solution revolved around security. “A few years ago, cybersecurity wasn’t even a topic on the London Hydro Board of Directors’ agenda. Now it’s a primary focus. With CyberArk Identity, we’ve been able to respond to our executives’ concerns — we no longer have to worry about password errors, strength, expiration, or even complaints about having too many of them. All of that makes us so much more secure.”

Operational Impact

London Hydro has achieved a secure, cloud-based infrastructure. There’s been a reduction in service desk calls due to SSO, and workers are now able to access key mobile apps in the field. The entire infrastructure is being evaluated by other LDCs for replication.
Since its implementation, CyberArk Identity has helped to improve worker productivity. “Not long ago, our field personnel were using pen and paper to write notes telling them where maintenance was required, such as which transformer needed repairs or which lines needed stringing. We’ve now issued everyone rugged laptops and they use mobile apps. This has resulted in efficiencies we hadn’t even anticipated and has saved us both time and money.”
IT has also experienced the benefits of the CyberArk Identity rollout. “We’ve noted a significant reduction in service desk calls, and that has freed up our IT team to focus on rolling out additional apps that further help get the job done faster and more efficiently. Most importantly, CyberArk Identity really enabled us to move our base applications to the cloud. We found the product easy to use, intuitive, and easy to install.”
Flegel and his team knew they would eventually need a mobile device management (MDM) system to complement the new infrastructure, but it wasn’t originally part of business case for an identity management solution. Flegel says, “I hadn’t anticipated doing MDM at the same time, and it wasn’t in the RFP. But after installation, we explored the program and it blew us away. It ticked off every single box that we needed for a mobile device management system. It caught us totally by surprise.”
Flegel stressed, “Our mission was to be a leading LDC adopter in technology, and already our entire infrastructure is being examined and evaluated by other LDCs. They want to leverage our investigation process and to mimic some of the interesting things we’re doing.”

Quantitative Benefit