Organizations have traditionally viewed the management of digital identities as a necessary expense. But now those same organizations see it as a strategic imperative, something that will help them succeed by adding business value. Strategic security initiatives, like identity and access management, present organizations with real business opportunities and provide a framework for managing digital identities.

In today's competitive economy, security investments must contribute much more value to the organization's overall business by enabling key applications. Security is no longer just about mitigating risks by keeping the "bad guys" out. It's also about achieving key business objectives such as cost reduction and revenue generation, which can only happen by letting the "good guys" in. To this end, identity and access management delivers value and contributes to the overall success of the business.

The Definition
Identity management means different things to different people. Some define it as user data provisioning, while others think of it as user data storage. Both are critical components of any identity management system. But managing digital identities is also about intelligently using identities to achieve a business goal - whether that is increasing revenue, improving customer satisfaction, or reducing costs. And when conducting business online, organizations can only use trusted identities.

An effective identity management solution establishes trust in the organization's online environment and enforces its policies. Who users are (authentication) and what users can do (access management) are tightly coupled and absolutely critical. It's really about being able to manage the full life cycle of a digital identity from creation and maintenance to termination, as well as enforcement of organizational access policies. That's why the industry has redefined the term, using the more appropriate classification of identity and access management.

The Challenges
Organizations continue to invest in their e-business infrastructure as the primary platform for conducting their business. Key elements of this expansion include increased access to many resources using a proliferation of mobile devices. In addition, the growth of e-business will be characterized by redefined security perimeters with protection at the application level (not just the network) and adoption of Web services.

The expanding e-business model presents organizations with many daunting challenges - from a user as well as a management perspective. Some areas of particular concern include a cumbersome user experience, multisystem environments, mul- tiple authentication requirements, complex authorization requirements, a shifting security perimeter, and increased exposure to risk.

The Solution
As an increasing number of applications are exposed to more and more users, organizations need to consider identity and access management requirements as they apply to their unique business objectives. The current approach of having separate authentication and access management infrastructures will probably not scale effectively as organizations automate more and more critical business processes. That's why organizations look toward the future, when all their needs can be addressed from one powerful system - the identity and access management platform.

Such a platform will provide these benefits:

Improved security: Identity and access management solutions will ensure greater levels of security to match the growing risk of exposure and high stakes involved in e-business infrastructures.

Conclusion
Intelligently managing digital identities is a vital way to gain a competitive edge and survive in challenging times. Identity and access management helps organizations take a holistic approach to security in order to have a direct, quantifiable effect on the bottom line.

Published Mar. 21, 2003— Reads 15,448
Copyright © 2003 SYS-CON Media, Inc. — All Rights Reserved.
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About John Worrall
John Worrall is vice president of worldwide marketing for RSA Security Inc.