Raymond James Investment Services is targeting improved identity and access management for its trading platform for independent investment practices.
It has implemented the Courion Access Assurance Suite to manage user access to key investment applications.The system is aimed at helping manage connectivity for remote users, internal staff and 65 affiliated investment firms.
RJIS provides access to all classes of assets, including equities, bonds, investment trusts, and retail funds, and alternative assets such as hedge funds and property funds.
"A large proportion of our helpdesk hours were historically tied up with manually providing, rescinding and refreshing logins to the systems that hold our sensitive data," said David Strydom, manager of IT operations and infrastructure at RJIS.
"Aside from the improved productivity that comes from automating the process, Courion's solution removes much of the chance for human error that existed, and improves our ability to manage risk and secure passwords according to policy."
The system enables tighter security and better compliance with company policy and industry regulations by giving end users the ability to reset and synchronise passwords themselves, whilst enforcing password policies.
Enterprise security association the Jericho Forum recently published new guidelines for designing better identity systems. The Forum's Identity, Entitlement and Access Management (IdEA) Commandments promote open and interoperable standards that can be used to help build identity management processes that can work on a global basis.