With the recent announcement of the upcoming worldwide availability of Identity Manager 3, Novell’s flagship cross-platform provisioning and identity management solution for security and compliance, the company is showing its focus and commitment on providing value for customers in the security arena too.

Paul Kangro, applied technology strategist, Novell notes that the company has been developing Identity Management (IDM) and Security solutions for over a decade. He adds that the reason such solutions are hot now is simple: they have finally hit the IT mainstream.

“IDM and Security are service intensive activities requiring a deep understanding of how a business operates and its security needs, so that the implementation is aligned to meet current business needs. For most implementations, the real complexity is in the planning and execution – the technology is the easy part – relatively speaking,” he explains.

“That is why our product strategy includes delivering new releases that simplify identity and access management deployments. Identity Manager 3 demonstrates this commitment. It features innovative tools to visually design, deploy and document identity management infrastructures. It also includes self-service tools for provisioning, including requesting resources, delegated administration, workflow tasks, organizational charts and other identity-enabled applications that benefit end users.”

Two categories that Novell believes give Identity Manager its competitive edge are – ease-of-use and architecture. Kangro says that Identity Manager 3 provides specific, tailored workspaces for each type of user that will interact with the system.  “For end users and business managers, the user application is a friendly portal interface that delivers personalized services based on the user’s identity and role.  The user application is also highly customizable with little to no coding required.”

In terms of architecture, Novell Identity Manager 3 features a set of tools called Designer for visually modeling IDM systems.  Basically, you can test “what if” scenarios before deployment and you can generate detailed documentation on your configuration at the touch of a button.  In addition, tools are provided for day-to-day administrators to manage the IDM system.

Additionally, Identity Manager 3 features metadirectory technology to synchronize identity information across applications.  It leverages the directory service as its identity vault and incorporates standards-based technology for interoperability and extensibility.  For customers, this means the ability to deploy Novell Identity Manager into any environment, on any platform, connecting to any system.

Kangro emphasizes that Novell partners are not forgotten too and stand to benefit from Identity Manager 3. Elaborating, he says, “Its work flow components have been significantly strengthened so that it is easier for our partners to be involved in identity-based work flow automation.  This mean there will be more follow-on business as new processes are implemented.  Partners skilled in this area will benefit from more long term, high-value engagements – rather than a series of quick box drops – allowing them to develop real partnerships with their customers.”

In addition, the launch and education activities for Identity Manager focus heavily around resellers and partners, thereby ensuring that their channels get the very best of their tool sets. “In 2006, Novell will also deliver new releases of our access management and Single Sign-On products that have a similar focus on enhancing the user experience. We will also maintain our commitment to deliver these solutions across all platforms.”

Novell has two major global marketing campaigns planned for 2006, and one of them is focused on provisioning.  These campaigns will be coordinated globally but executed locally, with activities tailored to meet specific, local market requirements.

The company has also planned a schedule of partner training activities and major customer briefings for next year.  Novell partners in the region should be receiving these details soon.