ORDER THIS REPORT

The complexity of the issues surrounding identity management -- managing user access to applications and information based on proof of identity -- is exploding as a direct result of the connectivity underlying the Internet.

Cutter Consortium Senior Consultant Stowe Boyd, author of the Cutter Business Intelligence Report in which these assertions were made, says "There has been a marked increase in the 'opening up' of the enterprise to partners, customers, and suppliers, as well as to an increasingly mobile workforce, all of whom expect to have the appropriate network resources available to them on demand, regardless of physical location or access device being used. The demand for the 'always on' enterprise leaves little or no time to slow down and catch a breath in the forced march toward the virtual enterprise.

"Opening up the enterprise to partners, customers, and suppliers creates enormous demands on overworked IT departments, leaving aside the baseline issues of managing the IDs of the workforce. Something as seemingly simple as proper maintenance and oversight of user IDs can be problematic."

According to some estimates, one-quarter of user IDs within a typical enterprise are invalid or expired. The costs of maintaining these IDs on a real-time basis are often prohibitive, leading to the unpleasant prospect that an employee who was terminated last month may still have access to mission-critical IT assets.

"Of course", says Boyd, "letting identities remain in force that should no longer provide valid access to critical enterprise information and applications is a serious security loophole. In addition to these security liabilities, there are problems associated with customer satisfaction: what happens when customers cannot access the information that they need on a timely and relevant basis?"

By failing to take the time to address the pressing concerns of digital identity management, companies face the following list of consequences, which -- individually or in tandem -- can significantly erode competitive advantage:

• Lower end-user satisfaction rates
• Lower ROI for IT assets
• Higher administrative and development costs for IT solutions
• Exposure to financial penalties for regulatory noncompliance
• Weaker security
• Inability to react quickly to new customer, employee, and partner requirements

Boyd continues, "IT buyers should begin by assessing what is needed for digital identity management, and then investigate vendors' offerings across the various business processes and functions affected. Once these individual process or functional requirements are developed, they can be coalesced into an enterprise-level set of requirements. Even when the initial rollout of a digital identity management solution is limited to a single function or business process, such as logistics or bond trading, all the enterprise requirements should be laid down. This helps avoid making a decision -- based on what is needed in one function or process -- that ultimately affects the entire enterprise."

Boyd concludes, "The barriers are great, but the return on the investments will be significant. Indeed, it is unclear how the enterprise of the immediate future can operate without the emergence of strong, reliable, and ubiquitous digital identity management."

To request a copy of the Business Intelligence Executive Report in which these comments were made, or to schedule an interview with Stowe Boyd, contact .

ORDER THIS REPORT

More information about Stowe Boyd is available at http://www.cutter.com/meet-our-experts/sbbio.html.

About Cutter Consortium