Keying In To Identity Management

Novell recently unveiled Nsure Resources, which is designed to enable automated employee access to network resources such as SAP and PeopleSoft human-resources applications, Lotus Notes, Microsoft Exchange and Novell's GroupWise e-mail app. Nsure runs on all leading network operating systems, including Windows 2000, Solaris, Linux and NetWare. Employee provisioning is one of the first major directory-enabled apps made possible by secure identity management.

Novell executives said Nsure, developed under the code name of Mercury and debuted at BrainShare 2002, can save corporations millions of dollars in administrative costs. The company plans to release an upgrade of the product, code-named Apollo, in mid-2003.

Novell has offered provisioning and secure identity management products for several years, but Nsure, part of Novell's solutions push since acquiring Cambridge Technology Partners in 2001, combines existing products such as eDirectory, dirXML and iChain with professional services in a bundle for speedy deployment.

"Nsure is a great idea because it focuses on very specific provisioning problems: connecting HR, e-mail and network operating systems. By reducing the scope, customers can get this thing up and running very quickly, even without all that consulting," said Mike Neuenschwander, an analyst at The Burton Group. "Novell is making its customary late entrance in this market but has still managed to release the product during the early stages of market formation."

Novell also announced major partnerships with PricewaterhouseCoopers and Deloitte and Touche to deliver the enterprise-oriented solution. Deloitte has been a longtime integrator of Novell's provisioning products, and PwC announced it would offer Novell Nsure as part of its global Security Integration Services practice. Other Novell integrators and Platinum partners will also be authorized for Nsure.

IT Systems Group, a Novell Platinum partner that enjoyed a 58 percent uptick in Novell business so far this year, said the debut of Nsure coincides with much "industry buzz" about secure identity management solutions, particularly in the aftermath of Sept. 11, 2001.

"We have sold Novell provisioning and eDirectory before, but now, when it comes to security or provisioning that has a nice [return on investment story, people are spending," said Michael Carey, chairman and CEO of IT Systems, Farmingdale, N.Y. "Nsure really moves away from NetWare and adds new [application interfaces, such as SAP, that are key to making it successful."

IT Systems, for instance, built a Web-based provisioning solution based partly on Nsure for the Department of Health, New York. That solution supports 8,000 people, but given Nsure's support for more applications, IT Systems can now expand the medical provider's site to support 30,000 health providers that will be able to log on, self-register and gain access to a variety of databases and applications.

As for IBM, the vendor took a big stake in the employee provisioning market when it acquired Access360 in September. Access360's enRole software automatically provisions access to appropriate applications based on a user's role within an organization and then shuts off that access when the employee leaves the company.

After the acquisition is complete, IBM plans to sell enRole as a stand-alone product and then will integrate the software with its Tivoli Identity Manager as a new release early next year, IBM executives said.

Microsoft, too, is bolstering its presence in this space. Windows 2000's Active Directory and metadirectory services comprise the core of the company's identity management system within the enterprise. Microsoft also advocates use of Business Layer's eProvision, third-party software that's optimized for Windows and competes with Novell and Access360 in this market.