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Identity Management: Critical Components

Identity management can start small, but full-blown IDM projects comprise many different pieces. Here's the break-down.

Identity management (IDM) software helps organizations effectively manage the job of providing the right users with access to the right system and application resources. This includes employees, customers, contractors, business partners and anyone else on the network. This complex job can be accomplished through several best-of-breed products or through a suite of applications.

Understanding the Market

The Radicati Group in Palo Alto, Calif., breaks out the market this way:

Full suites. These vendors offer solutions that include directory services, provisioning, secure access and authentication, and sometimes federated identity elements. According to Forrester Research, the clear leaders in this category include:

Sun Microsystems

IBM/Tivoli

CA Inc.

Jonathan Penn, research director at Forrester, says Novell is a second-tier player, with good products but a persistent inability to capitalize on that and gain significant market share. Meanwhile, Oracle is an up-and-comer that is beginning to capture significant new business, especially through its acquisitions, he says.

According to Penn, Microsoft is an important player, especially given its Active Directory. However, the company doesn't provide the level of functionality and support for heterogeneity that enterprises need in identity management solutions. Other major players include Hewlett-Packard and Siemens, according to Radicati.

Provisioning. These vendors specifically provide user lifecycle account management. Companies in this segment, according to Radicati, include Beta Systems, BMC Software, Courion, Fischer International, MaXware (just acquired by SAP) and others.

Secure access and authentication. These vendors offer secure access and a range of authentication products, such as smart cards and biometric devices. Companies include EMC (RSA Security), Entrust and many others, according to Radicati.

Federated identity. These vendors and service providers help companies establish secure virtual communities, where customers and partners can visit and conduct business on different websites with a single log-in. This relatively new area will grow more important over the next two years, Radicati says, mentioning representative companies such as HP and Ping ID.

Business drivers. The drivers behind IDM demand have traditionally included:

Streamlining, cutting costs and reducing error rates of user account management, including the frequent need to modify and disable accounts, reset passwords and update user profile information.

Minimizing unauthorized access to sensitive systems.

Opening the network to partners and customers.

Regulatory compliance. Regulatory compliance is fast becoming a top reason for implementing IDM, according to Radicati. IDM suites can help companies comply with Sarbanes-Oxley, HIPAA and others by providing audit trails of all user actions and prove that no users have violated their access rights or used digital resources inappropriately.

Market size. IDM has become a key component of companies' information security programs. In the past year, worldwide deployment has grown by well over 50 percent, according to a February 2007 study by Radicati. The study also found that the IDM market will reach over $2.8 billion this year in worldwide revenues and will grow to almost $13 billion by 2011. This includes full suites, provisioning, secure access/authentication and federated identity solutions.