Case study
•
Telecommunications
identities and relationships that make up network environments.
So, for example, it manages password protocols, enables users
to log on and off, and permits staff to teamwork in discrete
groups. Obviously, it has a central role in maintaining a network’s
security.
The other directory that had to be better maintained was
essential to Neopost’s telephony infrastructure. It was one
of many powerful tools that comprise the Alcatel-Lucent
OmniVista
™ 4760 Network Management System (NMS), which
resided on the company’s Alcatel-Lucent
OmniPCX
™ Enterprise
communication server. The NMS directory’s principal purpose
is to route incoming and internal calls to the correct extension,
although it has other functionalities.
Of course, these IT and telephony directories are each absolutely
critical to the smooth running of any modern organization.
However, their updating to reflect new MACs is a burdensome
and time consuming task, and – in a busy ICT department,
where time is at a premium, and priorities constantly change –
it is rarely possible to keep them as current and as accurate as is
desirable. In particular, it is all too easy for a technician to update
a MAC in one directory, and then be distracted by an emergency
so that she forgets to post the amendment, addition or deletion
in the other.
This was the problem that Neopost was facing. Not only was
the actual process of updating the two directories onerous and
expensive, but there was a risk that the old and/or inaccurate
information they contained could impact on the group’s
efficiency.
Indeed, it could possibly even compromise security. For instance,
it is obviously important that a former employee’s ability to log
onto IT systems ceases as soon as he leaves the company.
Pushing the enveloPe
Alcatel-Lucent Professional Services proposed a solution that
would virtually halve the directory maintenance workload
while helping to improve efficiency and data integrity.
Its team set about building two modules. The first was a direct
Alcatel-Lucent Neopost, UK 3
challenge
to improve the accuracy and timely availability of
critical information on two key directories
to reduce the it department’s administrative workload
to drive down directory maintenance costs
solutions & services
Unrivaled expertise from the alcatel-Lucent
professional services team
alcatel-Lucent
OmniVista
4760 network Management
system integrated with Microsoft active directory
alcatel-Lucent
OmniPCX
enterprise
communication server
benefits
improved network security, performance and efficiency
Lower network management costs
simpler, more trouble-free directory maintenance
increased end user confidence in system integrity
“Without this automatic provisioning,
a manual process may have left user
profiles in one directory that should have
otherwise been disabled.”
Keir Brancoft, project manager, Neopost UK
