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Quick Facts
With nearly 5,000 managed account throughout the City of Atlanta, Mark Campbell, CIO, needed to find
ways to optimize IT operations. He was in search of directory and group management tools to automate
processes and easily control the flow of information. When he discovered Imanami, his problems were
quickly resolved.
Today, end users make their own changes to account information and the IT group has managed control
of information and can customize communications with individuals or groups. In addition, the staff
dedicated to making daily changes is now able to work on other important projects.
Customer Profile
Atlanta was founded in 1837 as the end of the Western & Atlantic railroad line. Today the fastgrowing city
remains a transportation hub, not just for the country but also for the world. Direct flights to Europe, South
America, and Asia have made metro Atlanta easily accessible to the more than 1,000 international
businesses that operate there and the more than 50 countries that have representation in the city through
consulates, trade offices, and chambers of commerce. The city has emerged as a banking center and is the
world headquarters for 13 Fortune 500 companies.
In the past two decades Atlanta has experienced unprecedented growth -- the metro population has
grown by nearly 40% to 4.1 million people - and with that it has had to increase services in many areas,
including its Department of Information Technology (IT).
Business Situation
With nearly 5,000 end users in more than a dozen major departments, the City of Atlanta's IT group
needed to find effective ways to push day to day management of account information to end users for
timely and accurate updates of profiles. It also needed efficient tools to automate communications with
individuals and departments. Each department and group has different requirements for the type of
information they handle and need to communicate as well as the level of security necessary. For example,
the members of Law Enforcement need a very different configuration than the Finance group.
All changes to the 5,000, and growing, managed accounts and communications to numerous groups
within the various departments were done manually by dedicated IT staff. Not only was this a time
consuming endeavor for the individuals tasked with the daily updates, it was not the most efficient
method for the end users as they were once removed for the process.
According to Mark Campbell, the City of Atlanta's CIO, "In an organization as large and complex as the City
of Atlanta, you can only imagine the volume of changes that need to be made. Every time a person joins
our staff, retires, transfers, changes their name or phone numbers or simply get a new address, the system
needs to be updated." Mark added, "We simply needed to find ways to make this better for the IT staff as
well as our customers, the employees."
"One key requirement to note is that the tools selected must be easy to use as many of the City's
employees are not technically savvy," Mark said. "It would be a waste to make changes that could
not be easily deployed and adopted by the people who need to use them," he concluded.
Solution
The City of Atlanta began its search for better directory and group management tools on the Web.
After a finding Imanami, they conducted a demonstration and technical review before purchasing
the software. They selected GroupID Self-Service, Imanami's Web-based directory management
software and GroupID Automate, its dynamic group management product. The combination of
automation, control, Web-based solutions and ease of use were key factors in the decision to go
with Imanami.
Imanami GroupID Self-Service is a powerful web-based directory management solution that
provides selfservice to users to update their own directory information, search the global catalog,
modify objects in different domains and manage their own groups. It takes the burden of
directory management away from IT, Human Resources and other groups, saving a lot of time
maintaining manual address books. GroupID Self-Service also allows the City of Atlanta's IT group
to maintain as much control and security as required by the organization; and because it is
Web-based, it easily integrates into a corporate Intranet to replace less reliable phone directory
applications.
Imanami GroupID Automate is an easy-to-use application that dynamically maintains distribution
lists based on rules that are applied to directory data. When users' directory information changes,
GroupID Automate automatically updates the appropriate distribution lists and security groups by
using rule-defined LDAP queries. It takes group management to a whole new level by providing
an easy-to-use interface, scheduled updates and automatic group creation. Imanami has helped
the City of Atlanta optimize its IT operations. The software products save time, effectively utilize
the City's experienced IT staff for other mission-critical tasks and make it easier for employees to
manage their important account information.
Return on Investment
Mark stated, "Before Imanami, I had to staff several employees just to make changes. That is not
longer the case. The products were easy to install, Imanami was great to work with and the
systems virtually run themselves." He added, "What more could you ask for?"
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