VARs Can Help Solve The Identity Crisis

First, it's important for solution providers to explain the immediate financial benefits. Properly deployed identity management suites can reduce help-desk calls for lost passwords and other login issues while improving overall security for networks. Identity management is built around a paradigm often called security 3A (authentication, authorization and administration), and it can be extended by using advanced technologies such as biometrics, smart cards and other tools, creating additional integration and add-on sales opportunities.

More importantly, an identity management suite can protect users from identity theft, which is the fastest-growing crime in America, according to the FBI. Armed with that information, solution providers can help customers understand the need for an identity management suite. Nowhere is that more important than in e-commerce, where e-tailers are responsible for securing sensitive customer information and could be held liable if that information is not adequately protected.

For the enterprise, identity management promises additional benefits when implemented properly. The technology helps to improve security, as well as boost worker productivity, cut costs and decrease integration problems associated with giving people access to trusted systems. Organizations without strict policies run the risk of having outsiders gain access by using old employee or customer passwords and risk breaking government regulations that dictate data privacy, such as HIPAA.

Arguably, one of the biggest benefits of an identity management solution is single sign-on capabilities. With single sign-on, an employee or partner needs only a single set of credentials to gain access to allowed systems and applications. The true ROI comes from eliminating multiple security systems found across enterprise applications. Traditional security methods dictated that each application or system have a unique user access database, which increased management overhead and forced users to waste time by completing multiple logons. In such a system, the management overhead of resetting passwords or performing user additions and deletions consumes a lot of time for IT departments.

Integrating identity management solutions is not without its challenges. The lack of cross-platform standards is one of the biggest issues. Often, particular applications or security systems may not be compatible with a desired identity management suite. In some cases, that can doom a project, but in others building a cross-platform solution can prove quite profitable. To garner success, solution providers will need to decouple the technology from the ideology. In other words, identity management needs to be sold as a management solution and not as a technology. Once a customer understands the risks of poor security and the related overhead, a unified solution becomes a must-have. Sprinkle in some advanced technologies, such as biometrics, smart cards and single sign-on, and solution providers should see nothing but success.