Glenmede's new internal-access, verification tech

FWR Staff

25 June 2007

No more super-fast timeouts plus improved monitoring of client-data access. Multifamily office Glenmede Trust is using technology from Imprivata to streamline and monitor its employees' access to client-service applications for trading, relationship management, trust accounting and portfolio management. The move is part of Glenmede's efforts to speed access to such sensitive client information while meeting regulatory and legislative compliance requirements.

Time and money

"Our minimum relationship entrusts us with $3 million, and serving that level clientele demands discretion and confidence, says Nicholas Voutsakis, Glenmede's chief technology officer. "A black mark on security or any question about privacy is more than an issue, it could mean our business."

But then "time is money and we can't have staff running into access and authentication issues while , we are able to have the best of both worlds: greater security and end-user convenience."

Glenmede used to have a "draining and time-consuming" security protocol involving complex passwords that expired every month, triggered timeouts after just moments of idleness and -- generally speaking -- kept the firm's information-technology staff scrambling.

Imprivata's OneSign SSO -- for "single sign on" -- is a password management, security and user-access program that works with legacy, client-server or web-based applications. Its self-service password-reset feature frees help desks from the having to intervene frequently and its reporting and monitoring features help firms meet compliance and reporting requirements.

Omar Hussain, president and CEO of Lexington, Mass.-based Imprivata, says financial-service companies are under "tremendous pressure to ease workflows for both financial professionals and IT staff while the demand for more secure environments is rising."

Glenmede manages approximately $19 billion in private and institutional assets. Headquartered in Philadelphia, the firm also has offices in Princeton, N.J., Morristown, N.J., Wilmington, Del., and Beachwood, Ohio. -FWR