OhioHealth Selects PhoneFactor Over RSA Tokens for Two-Factor Authentication
Positive Network’s PhoneFactor Service Enables Improved ROI Through Improved Management, Security and Ease of Use
January 15, 2008 – Positive Networks, the leading provider of hosted security services, today announced it has won OhioHealth, a regional healthcare organization serving 46 counties, as a customer for its new two factor authentication service called PhoneFactor.
OhioHealth was looking for a two-factor solution to replace 4,300 RSA tokens which were proving to be high in cost and maintenance. Training new users and replacing each token was a major task. In addition to these management hassles, doctors on staff with several hospitals were required to carry multiple tokens. PhoneFactor’s unique phone-based approach was selected over RSA secure ID tokens for its ability to eliminate implementation and maintenance hassles, provide ease of use and significantly lower overall cost. These benefits provided a significant cost savings for OhioHealth.
OhioHealth is a nationally recognized, not-for-profit healthcare organization serving and supporting Ohio’s healthcare needs. Based in Columbus, OhioHealth is a family of 15 hospitals, 20 health and surgery centers, home-health providers, medical equipment and health service suppliers. OhioHealth employs more than 14,000 healthcare professionals.
PhoneFactor is a phone-based two-factor system that eliminates the need for expensive tokens, card readers and other devices. It works with any phone (land line or mobile). It can be installed, configured and managed in minutes. There is no concern about token expiration or synchronization; no smartcards to renew; nor any drivers or devices to manage.
The estimated cost for OhioHealth to continue their relationship with RSA was more than six figures. Using PhoneFactor, Positive Networks was able to provide OhioHealth similar security services for less than a fourth of the price, providing substantial cost savings. This cost savings only considered hard costs, and didn’t include soft cost benefits of reduced IT management time.
“PhoneFactor eliminates the negative perceptions of traditional two-factor solutions.” said Chris Marshall, SVP of Sales, Positive Networks, “With no token or device to deploy, no additional hardware requirements, and a much lower cost, PhoneFactor makes security affordable and simple for any size enterprise.”
The basic PhoneFactor service is free. However, OhioHealth took advantage of PhoneFactor’s Premium Modules which offer enterprise support, customization, advanced security and simplified large deployments.
PhoneFactor is a free service for organizations seeking a powerful yet simple way of authenticating end users for access to authorized business-critical applications. PhoneFactor is a complete two-factor authentication service that includes unlimited users for VPN appliances, Citrix, and Microsoft Outlook Web Access. It also includes free authentication calls within the U.S. In addition, a free Web SDK enables PhoneFactor to be implemented with any web or custom application, and is available online at www.phonefactor.net. Positive Networks provides additional premium features for a fee that eases deployment and operation of PhoneFactor. This includes multi-server support, directory integration, international authentication, reporting and auditing, and support and product maintenance packages.
PhoneFactor is ideally suited to replace smart cards and tokens for a variety of applications that require strong authentication, such as business applications like Citrix, Outlook Web Access, SAP and more. It is also compatible with VPN solutions such as Positive Networks PositivePRO, Juniper, Cisco, Aventail, SonicWALL, F5 and more. The uses for PhoneFactor are limitless.
