Tuesday, August 22

Identity Management Software Design Guidelines

Identity Management infrastructures are large and complex. There are many moving parts and sometimes deciphering one component from the next is difficult. When you consider that there are numerous software vendors that offer different versions of each component and sometimes classify identity solutions differently from each other, the task of identity software selection can be daunting. To make the task easier, organizations should develop some design criteria by which to measure individual software components against each other. Rather than just conducting a feature and functionality comparison, companies should develop a set of architectural considerations that are important within their own organization.

With one eye focused on the move toward service orientation and the underlying premise that business agility will be a key differentiator for companies moving forward, here are a few recommendations for criteria by which to measure identity software solutions:

  • Open: The software is based on open standards rather than proprietary or closed architecture. It can run on Windows, Unix, Linux, etc.. It can be accessed via multiple incoming and outgoing protocols. It's interoperable with other like-minded solutions.

  • Extensible: The software is able to be extended. Organizations are complex and specific needs vary greatly. Identity software should be able to be extended to meet whatever requirements arise now or in the future. The solution should be extensible at multiple points and via open languages or APIs.

  • Flexible: The software can be put to use to solve multiple problems. Identity software that solves only one specific problem is limiting. Identity software needs to be flexible enough to meet multiple demands and solve numerous problems. While an application can't be all things to all people, it can keep flexibility as a core design goal so that companies can leverage the solution to achieve their maximum ability to adapt.

  • Small-Footed: The software leaves a small footprint on the IT architecture. The requirement to load numerous components and additional applications to support the deployment of a single identity solution leaves a bad impression upon the existing architecture. Identity solutions should fit seamlessly into an existing infrastructure without the need for additional software. Each new required component increases the cost and complexity of the environment - and reduced its manageability.

I thought about including performance, but I ultimately decided against it for 2 reasons: 1) it's highly subjective and 2) it will vary for almost every implementation based on architectural decisions, infrastructure and requirements. So although software makers should strive for high performance, it's difficult to measure without extensive testing.

What else is on your list of identity software design goals?

Thursday, August 10

Burton Document on Identity Data Services

The Burton Group published a new research document today:
Enabling Identity Data Services: New Developments in Identity Tooling Provide a Good Start

You can find it under: Identity and Privacy Strategies

The article touches on many of the same concepts that I've been grappling with lately related to identity data services. They discuss the value of an identity interface layer. The concepts they present are more advanced than what I've been talking about, but I think they're based on the same underlying business drivers, which is encouraging. It's good validation. And I learned a few new things. It's well worth the read if you have a Burton account. Go check it out.

Tuesday, August 8

Dave Kearns on Virtual Directory

Dave Kearns' latest newsletter states: Virtual Directory finally gains recognition. He writes:
"Virtualization is hot and a virtual directory is the building block, or foundation, you should be looking at for your next identity management project"
So, it's not just me. Thanks for getting my back Dave ;)

Monday, August 7

Starting Point for Identity Services

A while ago, I posted about the Identity Management Continuum. I want to revisit that topic from another angle. As we move toward a service-orientation and establish a more component-ized architecture approach, it becomes easier to insert, remove or swap any one particular piece of the puzzle. The continuum still exists - an Identity Services infrastructure is dynamic, should be implemented in phases and should be cyclically re-examined in accordance with business goals. But the starting point clearly varies based on the needs of the organization. For some companies, a particular set of functionality is important. They want to reduce the number of user passwords, provide self-service password recovery, provide a single sign-on service or user-enable a new application. For other companies, the goal is simply to start building an identity infrastructure. Either way, the solution design goals are the same - to implement an open and flexible identity services infrastructure so that components can be added, improved or removed as business needs change.

One solution that makes this architectural approach extremely accessible is an identity services data abstraction layer. An abstraction layer unties the bind between identity services and identity data. Identity data is typically stored in multiple locations, structures and formats throughout an organization. Mapping each identity service to all of those data repositories is a daunting effort. One way of building an abstract layer is by creating an enterprise directory that holds all of the organization's identity information. This can be effective if an organization knows all of the identity and application requirements for this uber-repository. Unfortunately, application requirements change. And data repositories change. And new services rise and fall. Due to the dynamic nature of the business environment, enterprise directories are difficult to manage and maintain. There's often a trade-off between enabling new services and just keeping up with status quo.

An alternative approach is to leverage virtual directory technology as a data abstract layer. Virtual directory technology not only effectively maps identity services to identity data to meet current requirements, it also enables the organization to rapidly adapt to changing business needs. Migrating data repositories to new formats or structures is a seamless experience for the consuming applications and services. Adding new services is easy because identity data is accessible in a single location via customizable views.

I've often heard people discuss virtual directory technology as cutting edge technology that's only adopted by advanced organizations that have well-developed identity infrastructures. I propose that we (as the IdM community) ought to be encouraging the businesses we serve to look at virtual directory technology in the earliest stages of design. Since our process is cyclical and our requirements are dynamic, it's extremely important to be able to adapt to ever-changing identity needs. Virtual directory is a no-brainer for this scenario. If implemented early enough, organizations can greatly reduce the workload of implementing and managing identity services each step of the way - say by 20% - 25%. Isn't that the portion of the effort associated with integrating identity services and applications with the underlying data?

Tuesday, August 1

MaXware Data Synchronization Engine Lite

About two months ago, MaXware announced a free product to the market for a limited time. We've gotten a very positive response and extended the available download window. Here's what you can do with it:

Synchronize Active Directory with Sun Directory Server, IBM Tivoli Directory Server, Oracle Internet Directory, Oracle Database, SQL Server, MySQL, PostGreSQL, ASCII, LDIF, DSML, etc.

Plus:

  • Maintain an audit trail of all changes at an attribute level.
  • Error handling via SNMP, Windows Event Log, email alerts and custom scripting.
  • Perform schema mapping, attribute transformation and construction.
  • Leverage an extensive built-in script library using your choice of VBScript, Javascript or Perl.

We're hoping you love it so much, you'll turn to us when your needs grow. That's it. No catch. This is a free production server license for one-to-one data synchronization with no expiration.

More info on MaxWare DSE Lite and how to get a copy >>