Imprivata Delivers Fast And Secure Access To Applications For VMware View 4.5 Users

Main Category: IT / Internet / E-mail
Article Date: 01 Sep 2010 - 1:00 PDT

email to a friend   printer friendly   opinions  

Today at VMworld 2010, Imprivata®, Inc., the company that simplifies and secures user access, announced that OneSign 4.5 is fully integrated with the recently released VMware View™ 4.5. The integration provides single sign-on (SSO) and extends strong authentication capabilities to enable secure and convenient end-point application access and user roaming desktops in a VMware View 4.5 environment.

"VMware View 4.5 delivers a powerful virtual desktop experience to improve workflows, critically important in environments such as healthcare, where users are dependent on roaming sessions and shared workstations," said Frank Nydam, vertical industry program manager, healthcare, VMware. "The integration with OneSign 4.5 for SSO and multiple forms of strong authentication, including biometrics and proximity cards, allows us to secure electronic Patient Health Information (e-PHI) while enabling efficient clinician workflows with desktop roaming."

Through this integration, Imprivata and VMware solve the access management challenges that organizations face as workforces become more mobile and users access an increasing number of applications using multiple devices. This comprehensive solution enables desktops to follow users throughout the organization, making electronic data available wherever they are with the touch of a finger or the tap of a proximity card. Imprivata OneSign can be configured to be fully location aware, meaning application, default printer and application settings are configured dynamically based on the particular workstation being accessed by the user.

"One of the greatest benefits of VMware View 4.5 is the integration with Imprivata OneSign to provide our caregivers with a seamless secure single sign-on experience," said Jim Lowder, CTO of OhioHealth. "The ability to simply and securely access patient records from any workstation or thin client, with just the tap of a proximity card or swipe of a finger, plays a critical role in improving workflow, and directly impacts the quality of patient care."

According to a July 2010 research report from independent IT analyst firm The 451 Group entitled "Virtualized Desktops Grow Up," author Steve Coplan, Senior Security Analyst, contends that desktop virtualization is not a panacea for endpoint security and that as adoption matures, new security requirements will emerge. Administrators will need oversight and visibility into activity on virtualized endpoints. Users of 'desktops in the cloud' will need to be authenticated.(1)

"One of the early movers in this area in both tying strong authentication to SSO and embedding its technology into the virtualized desktop agent, specifically VMware View™, is Imprivata," Coplan said. "Imprivata has made the astute decision to build VDI support into what we have described as its authentication management middleware, and frame it as one element within the scope of its technology. Imprivata has integrated features for VDI session security, including authentication management, SSO access to applications, user roaming and location awareness, as well as user audit and compliance reporting."

Imprivata OneSign®, Imprivata's flagship solution provides healthcare organizations with rapid single sign-on and strong authentication for all leading HIS vendors, including Cerner, CPSI, Eclipsys, Epic, GE Healthcare, Healthland, McKesson, MEDITECH, Siemens Healthcare, as well as all other types of applications. Key Imprivata OneSign features include OneSign FastPass, OneSign ProveID, OneSign Secure Walk Away, shared workstations and fast user switching, built-in support for a broad range of authentication and multiple card types, self-service password reset and seamless integration with context management solutions.

"We are seeing rapid adoption of virtualized desktops, especially in healthcare, where the desire to eliminate storing any data at the end point has been sufficient reason for hospitals to move to pure thin clients. Yet, the mobile workflows common in hospital settings force clinicians to constantly log-on to and off of shared workstations. And privacy regulations are extremely strict," said David Ting, founder and CTO of Imprivata. "Our combined solution allows clinicians to roam, while rapidly and securely reconnecting to their sessions from any thin client. This has a tremendous impact on clinician satisfaction and productivity, and ultimately improves patient outcomes."

Source:
Imprivata

• Additional
• References
• Citations