Identity management takes an integrated approach.(Plain Talk)

Identity management can include the use of smart cards and chips, authentication devices and systems, access control systems, directory software, and card and credential management software.

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Sounds simple enough, although the physical security industry and IT historically perform this privilege management quite independently. In physical security, the corporate security office registers new employees and distributes ID badges, keys and key cards. In IT, new employees are granted "keys" such as passwords to networks, computers and applications. And, while the two systems sound similar, the two groups have found very different ways of performing identity management.

IT departments commonly centralize all identities and privileges in special computer software called a directory. The central repository saves a company thousands of dollars--sometimes millions--by allowing all identity and access systems related to the computer network to share information. Employees are added to the system quickly; privileges are modified easily; and individuals may be removed from all systems instantly.

That sort of streamlined data sharing is not common at all in physical security. To get anywhere close to the same functionality, companies have to standardize on proprietary products from a single manufacturer. Most companies tend to think of such restrictions as heavy handed and undesirable.

Purchasing trends and budgets at hundreds of companies indicate that the end is near for proprietary identity and access management systems. Instead, companies are looking to buy--or sometimes build by themselves--identity management architectures that combine privilege management of both logical and physical assets.

BRINGING THE SOLUTIONS TOGETHER