I have been talking to IT professionals over the past several months, and it’s no secret that users today need access to more data than ever – and they want it anytime, from anywhere and from any device. But before IT can allow a user access to the data, there needs to be some assurance that the user has authorized access to it. How do we ensure user attestation, data availability, and security? Read on to find out.
How Do You Verify Your Users?
Authentication and authorization aren’t new; they’re just more robust than in the past. Providing access to the network today means that IT needs to understand:
- Who the user is
- Where the user is located
- What resources the user needs access to
- What device is being used on the network (including your iPad or Android-powered phone)
It’s not enough to just provide your user name and password and have access to multiple systems and data. Often in my discussions, IT managers say the user needs to provide strong passwords to help meet compliance mandates, and for some users, an access code (token) in the case of two factor authentication in order to gain access to the resources they need.
Are Your Data Management Systems up to Snuff?
As expected, several of the customers I encounter are Microsoft shops and familiar with Active Directory and Group Policy, but in today’s environment IT needs to provision users across different systems, different geos, and different applications – as well as align access to the data with the business profile of the user. The user provisioning lifecycle includes other functions such as deleting, modifying, on-boarding, and off-boarding users within the organization. Combine all this with ensuring availability of resources and keeping the systems secure, and it’s no wonder IT budgets are expected to increase in 2014 from 2013 with a focus on mobility, security, and availability.
I was surprised to find that many organizations still use manual processes, in-house developed tools, third party services, and off the shelf applications to manage identity, access control, and user provisioning. This approach is unpredictable at best, and lacks the required visibility the IT staff needs to ensure availability and achieve compliance. In addition, the IT staff may lack the skills required to align access controls with business user enablement practices. To be successful, organizations need to eliminate the complexity, reduce the IT workload, and still ensure security and maintain compliance accountability.
Get Efficient with a New Solution
To address these challenges, Dell introduced Identity and Access Management solutions to streamline the process and ensure users have access to all the applications, platforms, systems, and data to do their job. Benefits of Dell Identity Manager include:
- You can automate user identities, provide access based on business policy, and grant administrative access to users who need it.
- Provides access governance, which makes it easy to understand what applications are in your environment and who has access to them
- Delivers compliance reporting and complete visibility of the entire infrastructure
- Produces information on organizational structure, users, resources, and system configuration that is available at all times
There is relief for the cumbersome task of security management. Dell can help dynamically reduce cost, complexity, and workflow while maintaining compliance, security, and efficiency.
