Going Fishing for IdM

I think it's a given that Oracle's Identity Manager has been the 600 pound Gorilla in the provisioning space over the last few years.  From what I've been seeing, Microsoft's FIM and a resurgence of SAP Netweaver Identity Management will present a challenge with the new versions that are coming out, but first we need to get past the "Eye"

What Eye is this?  Well, it's the FishEye group.  Currently specializing in OIM, this practice features some pretty savvy architects, engineers and old friends.  I'm looking forward to seeing what they can do!

2010 and the Year in Identity

As the year draws down, I've been thinking a bit about the year and what's it's meant in Identity Management. There's certainly been a bit of discussion about the nature of Identity, authentication and authorization controls.  As technology, process and legislation grow closer, there's a greater need for Governance and Compliance controls than ever before.  We're also seeing the beginning of the Cloud truly being a part of the IdM solution.

We're also seeing consolidation on the business side in both the product and implementation branches with Oracle, SAP and Microsoft all making purchases.

Related to this, one thing I've been wondering is what will happen with SAP systems if you rely on either CUA or SUN Identity Manager. What are your plans, if any, for migrating off?  I've started a discussion on LinkedIn about this. Please take a moment and  share your thoughts about what you are considering or planning.

On a personal note, I wish all of my readers a happy and healthy New Year.

Couple of Random Things

I've not had the chance to write much lately, as I've been rather busy on a project in the Southeast US. I've got a couple of nice tips that I hope to share in the next couple of days.

However, I do have a couple of quick things that I'd like to share.

First off, I will be at SAP TechEd, which will be in a little under two weeks from now, in Las Vegas.  If you're going to be there, please leave me a comment or let me know via a comment, LinkedIn, XING, or any other way that works for you.  There's going to be a lot covered for NetWeaver IDM and I plan to report on it. Would not mind having a little after hours round table.

Also I've been picked up on the Planet Identity blog.  Looking forward to being a part of that conversation as well.

Credit Where Credit is Due!

Just in case anyone was wondering, this blog does not write itself.

I don't mean my time. I love thinking and sharing my thoughts on Identity Management in general and SAP NetWeaver Identity Center, specifically. I also get a real kick out of the comments I receive publicly and privately. It's truly my pleasure to share with you, and yes, I wish I could do it faster as well :)

I'd just like to take a moment and thank all of the people that I talk to around the world that provide me fodder for comment and sharing. I appreciate the time that people have taken to support both myself and this effort over the past few years. I don't usually mention people by name, (I take your privacy seriously) But I am most grateful for your advice and support.

Of course for those in the know, I'm always happy to buy a beer or three for my devoted advisors!

Thanks again, you all know who you are.

SAP IdM Training - Wrapup

The last day of the training was an excellent conclusion. We spent a few hours connecting to SAP JAVA and ABAP systems. In general the SAP connectors work quite well. I'll be much happier, however if the Trondheim development team creates real to/from SAP passes rather than relying on custom connectors, and of course, the end of the MMC management interface!

I also had more exposure to the new UI and as one SAP insider commented to me, what it lacks in flexibility, it makes up for in security and language localization, which I cannot disagree with. Even if a company in need of Identity Management is not a SAP shop, it should consider SAP NetWeaver IDM in environments where multiple languages need to be supported.

In general, I think the product is moving in the right direction. Looking forward to getting on some planned projects in the next few weeks, plus whatever else might come up!

IdM Humor

Saw this one and just had to share it...

Happy Wednesday!

News Update

I'm happy to say that I've started what I hope will be a long and successful association with Commercium Technology Inc. I am now working with them as a Senior Principal Consultant in the Identity and Access Management group.

I'm looking forward to working with SAP Identity Management, Virtual Directory and other exciting technologies like SailPoint. I'm looking forward to learning (and writing) about all of this in the weeks and months to come.

Please feel free to reach out if we can help you or your organization with your Identity Management or Compliance needs!

Managing Project Communication

I've written before on the topic of how to prevent project failures, but very little about what happens as projects are failing. I was recently chatting with some colleagues about what does happen when a project begins to head south.

First of all, there always seems to be a tendency to blame the outsider. Basically this argument looks something like: "You never got the requirements right (from the customer) / you never delivered correct requirements (from the consultant)"

What does this boils down to is a failure in communication. Now the question from a risk management approach is how one keeps this communication in sync. Based on our discussion we came up with the following:

• Regular status meetings. If your executive sponsor is not at these meetings, schedule regular steering committee updates which should be just the project manager(s), architect(s) and the executive sponsor. They might not need to be weekly, but they must not be optional any of these people. Do not rely on only one side to make these reports.  Everyone must be on the same page. Make sure the sponsor is aware of the key challenges so that there are no surprises.
  
• Obtain consensus and settle the issues quickly and decisively. If there are dissenting opinions about major decisions, get the issue settled once. Don't keep circling on the issue. If there's an issue that just won't go away, get the parties in front of the executive sponsor as I've noted above. Get a final ruling and move on.
  
• Establish change controls. For some reason, no one likes to use these. There's a feeling that these are things to hide behind, rationalize additional cost or bog down the project in extra paperwork. None of these are true. All that's being done here is making sure that all project principals are aware of the change. This establishes responsibility and sets up controls for making sure that things don't get out of control. And I'd imagine that the amount of paperwork involved in a change control is minor compared to having to write the report of why the project failed. Trust me, this is not fun.
  
• Use and establish some sort of project strategy/methodology. I don't care what it is, but make sure a project plan exists and that there is structure in place. There should be a project manager who will make sure that there is a plan to complete the project, but the architect and senior engineers should make sure that there are development standards which must also include documentation!
  

These points are intended to increase communication and decrease mistrust and politics. If the project team meets regularly, tracks what they are doing and how the project changes and has a structure for managing progress and change there is less of a chance of having a post-mortem and more of a chance of documenting the best practices that were done right!

 

New Happenings

I'm pleased to say that I am now working at SECUDE Global Consulting in the Identity Management Practice.

Working with SECUDE Global Consulting brings me back into actively participating in Identity Management Engineering and Architecture full time. As an added bonus I get to work once again with the MaXware Identity Center (now called SAP NetWeaver Identity Management) and customers throughout the United States and around the world.

As SECUDE Global Consulting and SAP enjoy a strong relationship, I look forward to remaining at the forefront of the Identity Management world. Look for some new things to be happening in the coming weeks.