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GOLD | Novell Identity Manager
Novell
Price: Server, $75,000; Per user, $25
Novell says it has invested plenty to simplify the usability of its Novell Identity Manager product. Readers responded with a bevy of high ratings to earn Novell the gold medal. Novell Identity Manager earned high marks for scalability, return on investment, integration and compatibility, extensibility and breadth of platforms, applications and domains supported, and vendor service and support.
"We spoke with end users and managers and we'd hear people ask, 'How much consulting will I need to get it up and running?'" says Ivan Hurtt, product and marketing manager for security and identity products at Novell. "We had a lot of people who liked the product but were afraid to use it. If people don't know how to use the technology, all that power gets wasted."
Novell Identity Manager offers graphically based tools that let users drag-and-drop and create "what-if" scenarios.
"You can test it for a shorter period of time with a higher level of certainty, and then roll it out more aggressively," says Hurtt.
If users come to an Error 404 page, Novell Identity Manager creates a workflow request to the owner of the content rather than posting the usual dead end. On the other side, the owner can see the requester's attributes, decide if he or she deserves access to the content, and receives a report to show auditors.
Once all connectors, roles and policies are in place, Novell Identity Manager, with one click, can create a 250-page PDF file for auditors that includes workflows, access rights and style sheets that are innate to the system. Any changes made to the end user's network are instantly recorded in the file.
Continuum Health Partners in New York City installed Novell Identity Manager 13 months ago for messaging and file and print services. It already has added 21,000 identities, and is building drivers to the organization's downstream systems that will allow for provisioning and automatic attribute sharing of information like phone numbers in the GroupWise directory. "It's worked out really well for us and our HR people like it too," says Ken Lobenstein, CTO of Continuum.
Organizational buy-in is key because HIPAA requirements make access management a company-wide issue. Lobenstein got Novell Identity Manager running in six months so other departments could see quick results.
SILVER | RSA ClearTrust
RSA Security
Price: $26 per user
RSA ClearTrust--now known as Access Manager--enables single sign-on for customers, partners and suppliers, combining Web access management with role-based provisioning. Readers gave RSA ClearTrust high marks for extensibility across platforms, applications and domains, as well as for ease of use and end-user transparency. RSA touts the product's ability to integrate within a heterogeneous environment of Web and application servers with native support for directory servers and databases. Users also have self-service features for account creation, group assignments, profile updates and password resets.
BRONZE | Oracle Identity Management
Oracle
Price: $80 per user
Oracle Identity Management has a full suite of identity management capabilities, including single sign-on and Web access control, provisioning, federation, directory services, strong authentication and development toolkits. Readers rated Oracle Identity Management highly for its return on investment and scalability. Oracle says the software runs on top of your existing directory, or with Oracle's virtual directory, which also enables an enterprise to combine directories and make them look like a single entity. One area readers say Oracle Identity Management could use work is extensibility and breadth of platforms and domains it supports.
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