Cox Streamlines Digital Identity Management with Courion's Self-Service User Provisioning Solution; AccountCourier Implementation to Automate Access to IT and Non-IT Resources.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

FRAMINGHAM, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 3, 2004

On the heels of activating over 60 percent of its nearly 23,000 employees in just two months with Courion(R)'s PasswordCourier(R) for automated password management, Cox Communications, Inc., (NYSE: COX) has embarked on the next phase of its identity management strategy by implementing Courion's AccountCourier(R) to automate user provisioning.

Cox, the fourth largest cable provider in the nation, polled its cable systems and learned that each of them suffered from an "identity crisis" - in the sense that each user had too many digital identities, and each cable system had too many resources dedicated to managing them. User provisioning -- the creation, change and deletion of digital identities -- was a pain point. While the provisioning process varied among its 30 cable systems spanning 22 states, all complained that it was too manual, too dispersed and too expensive. Each of the cable systems had at least one full-time employee dedicated to making sure new hires had all the resources they needed to be productive and tracking those assets when an employee left the company.

With Cox having an ever changing and growing workforce as well as having to manage temporary staffers, the company needed to find a way to make the provisioning process more efficient and effective. With AccountCourier, Cox will streamline the provisioning process creating operational efficiencies, enhanced security, and cost avoidance. Further, it will enhance productivity in two ways -- by getting new hires up and running faster and by redeploying IT resources formerly dedicated to handling provisioning tasks.

"It is critical to our business that new hires and consultants have all the resources they need - IT accounts, hand-held devices, tools, safety boots, etc. - on day one in order to maximize their productivity, especially with consultants because 'the clock is running' with them," said Jonathan Commanday, director of HR systems, Cox. "And, it is equally important that upon termination these same IT resources are shut down and physical assets are accounted for, retrieved and returned to inventory so they can be redeployed."

Cox will start the AccountCourier implementation by automating the provisioning of IT resources and eliminating user access rights when a user is terminated. It will look to tie its Courion Identity Management Suite into its asset management and procurement systems down the line. David Hanna, senior systems engineer, Cox explains, "Leveraging Courion's seamless integration capabilities, we are able to go after the 'low hanging fruit' right away, automating the creation of IT accounts for new hires. Giving them access to the resources they need increases productivity and removing their access upon termination eliminates any security risks."

Cox had laid the foundation for its identity management strategy with Courion's self-service password management solution, PasswordCourier. Now, it sought a user provisioning solution that could also support its decentralized business model. The company chose Courion's AccountCourier for its core self-service functionality, ease-of-use and ability to integrate with the existing, heterogeneous infrastructure. Additionally, Courion had proven with the PasswordCourier implementation that it could install its products quickly and start generating a return on the investment immediately.

"Automating provisioning highlights the inefficiencies created by the myriad of moving parts of the information infrastructure. Some propose a homogeneous identity stack as the solution, however the key is in delivering return on investment quickly, pragmatically, and without requiring an army of people to make it happen," said Chris Zannetos, president and CEO, Courion. "Courion solutions are designed to leverage the technical and organizational infrastructure that's in place, no matter how heterogeneous, no matter how dispersed, to deliver more immediate value to our customers."

About Courion

Courion Corporation is a leading provider of self-service identity management solutions that help enterprises drive operational efficiency by securely automating routine, manual processes. Courion's Identity Management Suite(TM), anchored by its AccountCourier(R) user provisioning and PasswordCourier(R) password management product lines, leverages existing infrastructure and integrates disparate workflows within the enterprise to optimize user productivity, strengthen security, reduce costs and ensure efficient regulatory compliance and reporting.

Over 200 enterprises including more than 50 FORTUNE 500 customers rely on Courion's solutions to streamline identity management operations. These include industry leaders such as American Electric Power, The Boeing Company, Children's Hospital Boston, Fannie Mae, GE, Office Depot, SunTrust Banks, government institutions such as the U.S. Internal Revenue Service and U.S. Census Bureau, and large not-for-profit organizations such as Kaiser Permanente. For more information, contact Courion's headquarters in Framingham, MA, USA at 508-879-8400 or visit www.courion.com.

Courion, AccountCourier and PasswordCourier are registered trademarks of Courion Corporation. All other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners.