| Back to A grand telework plan |

One area where Prudential Financial anticipated trouble with the VPN was user acceptance. No one likes to learn a new way of doing something. And RSA Security's SecurID token was definitely something different to users.

Instead of logging on to the network with a user name and a password that changed every few weeks, users now had to pull new passwords off their SecurID tokens every time they logged onto the network.

"There was some pushback on the SecurID, because it was a new way of getting onto the network," says Robert Piccirillo, vice president of field infrastructure with Prudential.

Advertisement:

To ease users into the new system, Prudential created a training video CD and shipped it to employees. And the company's help desk team hit the road, traveling to various Prudential buildings across the country to take users through the system step-by-step.

The roadshows also helped Prudential overcome another hurdle - distribution and installation of the VPN software.

"When you deal with an organization as large as ours and as geographically dispersed, the issues really surround implementation more than technology," says Ed Mann, Prudential's vice president of network planning.

At the roadshows, employees brought their laptops and went through the software installation process step-by-step with the help desk. Other employees installed the software on their own with the help of the training CD or called the help desk for assistance.

The few who weren't comfortable at all with the installation shipped their laptops to Prudential, where the help desk loaded the software.

Sign up for free Network World Newsletters

Apply for your free subscription to Network World. Click here. Or get Network World delivered in PDF each week.

Request a reprint or permission to use this article.