The Challenge
A prominent automotive client faced significant security and compliance issues due to the lack of a proper Privileged Access Management (PAM) system. Key problems included:
- Most privileged access is managed through users' primary IDs, and access provisioning is handled by complex customs that require manual effort.
- Inadequate and manual controls leading to security vulnerabilities.
- Non-standard, disjointed and cumbersome processes.
- There is no central visibility of privileged accounts spread across the enterprise.
The Objective
The objective was to lay out the framework for setting up and managing the PAM Program, including identifying, implementing, scaling out and operating the best-fit PAM solution to address the challenges associated with privileged accounts.
The Solution
HCLTech adopted a consulting-led enterprise security approach to advising and helping the client with their PAM journey. Key tenets of our solution involved:
- Ensuring comprehensive security and compliance
- Streamlining processes
- Centralizing the visibility and management of privileged accounts and access
The initial phase began with discovering privileged accounts to understand their spread and compliance status. After that, we identified and documented the PAM requirements, use cases and business expectations.
Given the complexities and varied use cases, the client entrusted HCLTech with running a competitive Vendor RFP on their behalf to recommend a product that was most suitable for their requirements. Our consulting and advisory team led that effort. It helped the customer decide on the right product by providing the required information and detailed product assessment against their requirements.
After product selection, we architected, designed and implemented the solution. Process re-design has been a core element of the rollout of the solution. Our teams across functions have been working on streamlining that (with processes tailored and adapted for PAM) while expanding the adoption of the solution.
HCLTech is now managing the PAM service and onboarding accounts in an agile-based resource model tailored to the company's faster onboarding requirements while adding capabilities to address requirements like secrets management, endpoint privilege management, etc.
The Impact
- The discovery report highlighting the spread of privileged accounts and their compliance status kicked off the PAM Program by helping all stakeholders agree on the need for a proper PAM solution
- The requirements and use cases outlined the must-haves and helped prioritize the use cases
- A vendor-agnostic approach to finding the best product helped ensure an unbiased selection of the right technology to address the requirements
- Implementing a robust PAM solution combined with streamlining relevant processes has contributed significantly to the client's adoption and continuous evolution of its security and compliance posture
- By transforming its approach to privileged access management, the client achieved greater security, reduced risk and ensured better compliance with regulatory standards, demonstrating the significant impact of a structured PAM Program delivered via our consulting services
