Migrating Healthcare Institutions to Microsoft Entra ID Governance
OCG was one of just seven partners named as a launch partner for Microsoft Entra ID Governance in July of 2023. Now, OCG is currently architecting and deploying solutions for some of the largest Microsoft Entra ID Governance projects to date, including healthcare organizations.
OCG is able to leverage our deep identity governance advisory and deployment experience to deliver cost-effective and robust solutions for customers in a variety of industries. Below are some of the healthcare customers we’ve been able to help on their Microsoft Entra ID Governance journey so far.
East Coast Healthcare Non-Profit
Microsoft’s Identity Global Black Belt team called on OCG, as an expert in migrating identities to Microsoft Entra, to help a large healthcare organization migrate their identity services from SailPoint to Microsoft Entra ID Governance.
The healthcare organization’s goal was to fully leverage their Microsoft 365 E5 and new Microsoft Entra ID Governance licenses to enable a lower cost and streamlined model for software while replicating or enhancing their existing functionality. Initial workloads included MFA, Single Sign-On, and Account Lifecycle Management.
After collecting technical and business requirements and completing planning, OCG tested the migration procedures for moving Account Lifecycle Management capabilities from SailPoint to Microsoft Entra ID Governance. After identifying key applications and building necessary connectors, OCG managed the testing process, deployed the solution, and provided go live support.
Some of the benefits the healthcare organization has realized include:
- Lower software and infrastructure costs by eliminating SailPoint
- Streamlined and more secure processes for onboarding and removing employees enabled by Microsoft Entra ID Governance Lifecycle Workflows
- An easier-to-use platform that is decreasing their administrative overhead, as Microsoft Entra ID Governance requires less customization and programming than SailPoint
The continuing evolution of Microsoft IGA capabilities means healthcare customers can save millions of dollars by streamlining operations on Microsoft Entra.
California Health Network
A large California health network engaged Oxford Computer Group to help them simplify, streamline, and improve their provisioning and deprovisioning process and to stand up a modern, scalable identity and access management (IAM) infrastructure while reducing their overall cost of ownership.
The network’s technology stack was a hybrid of both custom and third-party off-shelf applications used by employees, physicians, contractors, and providers. They were using SailPoint to manage the joiner-mover-leaver (JML) process.
The modernization strategy includes migrating processes from SailPoint to Microsoft Entra ID and Microsoft Entra ID Governance. One of main reasons the network wanted to migrate was to consolidate their identity and security solutions on the Microsoft platform in order to reduce security risks and eliminate gaps in their strategy.
The phases of this project include:
- In-depth discovery process to understand current SailPoint IAM/IGA solution and the expected future state
- Designing a Microsoft Entra ID solution that is “like-to-like” of the current SailPoint solution
- Solution architecture and design for Microsoft Entra ID, Governance, and Active Directory. This includes ensuring architecture is compatible for future integrations for ERM/HRM, IDPs, applications, and authentication
- Building and configure solution based on business requirements and discovery
- Collaboration with the network’s cybersecurity team to provide guidance for Microsoft Entra ID Governance and change management
The first Microsoft Entra ID Governance workload the network will implement will be lifecycle workflows, along with access policies and controls (attestation, verification of entitlements).
At the conclusion of this project, the network will have:
- A simplified, streamlined provisioning and deprovisioning process that enables employees to be more productive upon being hired
- Improved security by consolidating on the Microsoft platform and through efficient off-boarding
- Reduced cost of ownership by removing SailPoint licenses
- Easier application onboarding
- A scalable solution that can meet the network’s future requirements as they continue to modernize their identity strategy
Key Learnings
For many healthcare organizations using third-party identity governance solutions, Microsoft Entra ID Governance provides an opportunity to consolidate identity management processes, improve security, and reduce IT infrastructure costs. Instead of a pastiche of point solutions, organizations can use a single, cloud-native solution that integrates with leading EHR systems. Consolidating hardens your environment against cyber attacks and enables streamlined processes for onboarding and offboarding users.
Want to learn more? Contact OCG to find out how we can help your organization build a streamlined and secure identity governance solution.