We talk about Identity 2.0 in the context of Web services and the evolution of digital identity but our infrastructure, enterprise identity “stuff” is decrepit and falling apart. I have visions of identity leprosy with this bit and that bit simply [...]]]> Jackson, in discussing the demise retrenchment of HP’s identity business, had this little gem:

We talk about Identity 2.0 in the context of Web services and the evolution of digital identity but our infrastructure, enterprise identity “stuff” is decrepit and falling apart. I have visions of identity leprosy with this bit and that bit simply falling off because it was never built with Web services in mind.

Bits falling of, eh? I’ve never heard of someone losing their core directory services because someone forgot to add XACML support. I’ve also never heard off someone loosing an ear because their provisioning system didn’t support SPML v2. Enterprise identity “stuff” is more like a zombie. It lurks in the dark corners of your enterprise. It staggers out at you at inopportune moments. Two other aspects of this ridiculous image that are valid:

1. The identity zombie is incredibly hard to kill.
2. The identity zombie needs BRAINS!

“They stab with their steely knives…” Once deployed, even in rudimentary forms, enterprise identity systems are amazing difficult to uproot, to kill. Homegrown systems are notoriously tough to maintain as well as replace. Even worse were those early attempts at vendor provided solutions. Before IBM/Tivoli bought Access360, it had Tivoli User Administrator. TUA… one of the banes of my existence. The thing wouldn’t die. The customers who got it running were actually in love the rotting smelly thing. They kept it on a steady diet of scripts (BRAINS!) that served as connector definitions and entitlements all rolled into one. It just ran and ran and ran. From what I heard, early BMC Control/SA customers are much the same.

Think this problem is limit to the “old timers” in the identity market. Nope. Good luck replacing that SiteMinder deployment. Enjoy uprooting your original iPlanet directory implementation.

BRAINS!

We all know zombies feed on brains. Common knowledge. Let’s consider for a sec that the enterprise identity “stuff” that Jackson refers to is a friendly, but slightly misguided, zombie. The rising aspects of the identity market are the brains that is so badly craves: enterprise role management, entitlement management, fine grained access control, etc. Feed our enterprise identity zombie with a healthy does of policy that has business-readable language as to role of the person and their subsequent entitlements and you’ll have an enterprise-class, unkillable (in the good way), identity infrastructure.

Further, you do not have venture into the newer territories of identity land to feed your identity zombie. Enterprise identity implementations have sufficiently progressed to the point that your more mature services providers can feed your zombie all the brains it needs based on their own experience, methodologies, and techniques: no emerging technologies needed.

Do enterprise identity technologies need a bit of a refresh? Sure. But that doesn’t mean they need a complete rip and replace with user-centric or other newer identity “stuff.” Absolutely not. What it does mean is that we are seeing a rise in the value of identity brains, entitlement and access management in business and organizational terms.

Since I don’t believe that ERM is an end in and of itself, I am more curious where the market and technology will go now that two “suite” [...]]]> Nishant, in a light hearted manner, took my post on Sun acquiring Vaau as a bit of a dare. This is how I responded to his comment:

Since I don’t believe that ERM is an end in and of itself, I am more curious where the market and technology will go now that two “suite” vendors have made acquisitions. If, by orchestrating some sort of challenge between Oracle and Sun to integrate and innovate, I can help move things along, then yes, by all means, consider it a challenge. Maybe the gang at Burton Group can referee this?

How vendors like Sun and Oracle integrate their ERM acquisitions will have a very tangible impact on the future direction of identity management. Both are in a position to unlock the true value of enterprise role management.

The step of integrating ERM in user provisioning is a no brainer, though it will be interesting to see how fast each vendor can do it. What is more interesting is the step beyond that. I started to ruminate on that before… guess we’ll have to wait and see what comes.

In the meantime, it would be great if someone like Kevin Kampman would weigh in on this.

It will interesting to see how fast Sun can tie Vaau’s various components to their existing suite.  I have [...]]]> A second enterprise roles management company has been acquired.  Sun has announced intent to buy Vaau.  Congrats to Sachin, Steve Tiches, and the rest of the gang at Vaau.  You are definitely joining a great team.

It will interesting to see how fast Sun can tie Vaau’s various components to their existing suite.  I have to imagine that what was Identity Auditor, now part of Identity Manager, will be replaced entirely by Vaau’s identity audit capability.  Comparing Sun’s time to integrate Vaau to Oracle’s time to integrate Bridgestream ought to be interesting as well.

I have to figure that people are going to start clamoring about market consolidation in the ERM space and it will reach a climax at Digital ID World just a few weeks away.  Anyone want to through [...]]]> The deal is done.  To Ed, Volker, and all my friends over at Bridgestream – a hearty congratulations.

I have to figure that people are going to start clamoring about market consolidation in the ERM space and it will reach a climax at Digital ID World just a few weeks away.  Anyone want to through a prediction of who the next ERM company to get acquired will be?

So Ron Rymon of Eurekify threw it out there:

 …As a whole, I believe that Role Management (the combination of RMM and RA) is BIGGER than Provisioning. So again, you only see the tip of the iceberg now.

I think we are going to mark 2007 as the year that a shift occurred in user provisioning.  It shifted from being an end in-and-of-itself to the vehicle for service delivery.  We’ll see.

Let’s consider than Access360 and Waveset had estimated price tags of roughly $100 million. [...]]]> If the 451 Group got it right (as reported in this Dark Reading article), then the bar has just been set for Enterprise Role Management buyout deals. $35 million. $35 million? I can’t tell if that number is high or low.

Let’s consider than Access360 and Waveset had estimated price tags of roughly $100 million. Are we to imply that role management market should be sized at roughly a third of the overall provisioning market?  That I doubt.

The question that I am pondering is – who in the company derives the most value from an ERM deployment? HR? IT operations? IT ops derives value from role mining as it deploys user provisioning. HR can definitely get something out of top-down role lifecycle functions. But in both cases, to unlock that derived value, the company needs another technology to act as a proxy for role technologies. It is hard to derive the value of role mining without a user provisioning system. It is hard to derive value from top-down role lifecycle management without… an HR system.

And maybe that’s it. If this is true, and Oracle bought Bridgestream, then Oracle’s strategy is a three staged one. First, augment Oracle Identity Manager with traditional role management and mining functions. Provide strong capabilities to tie business roles to IT roles. Provide role mining capabilities.  Second, use Bridgestream’s enterprise/business role capabilities to augment Oracle’s numerous HR systems. PeopleSoft HR + Bridgestream = a very interesting combination. Third, continue to make good on the promise of tying ERP to IdM. If Fusion HR could publish dynamic business definitions (containing roles and organization structures) that OIM could tap, then Oracle customers would be well on their way to becoming more governable organizations.

Let’s see if after Labor Day there is any truth to this rumor.