An Identity Thesis

Fact is, though, smart cards are our future, which is a terrific thing for VARs and systems integrators that have the requisite skills and are inclined to work with the infrastructure necessary for deploying and managing them.

I offer as evidence two recent line additions by specialty distributor Alternative Technology, which makes a habit out of championing technology that helps pioneer new markets. They are ActivIdentity, which sells authentication and digital identity products in the form of a multiprotocol server, single sign-on software and access cards, and Axalto, which markets two-factor authentication devices and smart cards. Both vendors have committed to go-to-market strategies that rely primarily on the value-added channel to evangelize customer prospects.

Another big indicator that this market will amount to something, if not in the short term then a couple of years down the road: Microsoft’s acquisition last fall of Alacris, which provides a middleware layer for managing the provisioning and configuring of smart cards.

Earlier this year, at the 2006 RSA Conference, Microsoft Chief Software Architect Bill Gates talked up the related InfoCard support and identity protocols being worked on for Internet Explorer 7 and Active Directory.

I know it probably irks some of you to hear me say this, but when Microsoft starts talking about a market, it usually helps prime the dialogue with your customers. The vendor may not be a leading innovator, but it sure can help make markets.

As security integrators look for ways to up their game, and incidents like last week’s theft of personal information from more than 6.5 million veterans splash the front page, the frontier of secure yet seamless access and identity management is opening wide. Are you ready to saddle up for the ride?

Prevent an identity crisis. Write to HEATHER CLANCY, Editor at CRN, at [email protected].