Identity management among top three concerns for GCC's IT management

At the recent Identity Management summit in Dubai, Sun advocated a combination strategy of physical and logical identity management that would enable regional companies to protect access to their workplaces and IT infrastructures. The company has created a comprehensive identity management offering, which includes Java-based cards that can be used as national or company-specific identification as well as for payment and site entry, and a range of software that enables companies to integrate their IT security approach for centralized, cost-effective management.

Sun will be meeting with regional IT heads at security summits in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Qatar this week to highlight the need for a federated or uniform approach to both physical and IT security. The seminars will also include an overview from analyst group Forrester, which recently named Sun as "an identity management powerhouse," citing the company's Sun Java System Identity Manager software that offers businesses a "feature- rich solution" that also can be deployed quickly and cost-effectively.

"Identity management, or the systems that give information and location only to the right people at the right time, is a critical consideration for banks, governments, airports, energy companies, and other key vertical sectors in the Middle East,"

said Jamie Bliss, Software Sales Manager at Sun Microsystems Middle East & North Africa.

"As GCC governments consider creating national identity card schemes and businesses in the region stand to lose considerable amounts of money if information or assets fall into the wrong hands, an increasing number of regional organizations are making a centralized, self-service-enabled and affordable identity management solution a top priority in 2006," he added.

The recent Forrester report compared the Sun Identity Manager software to similar solutions, rigorously evaluating all offerings against approximately 125 specific criteria. The Forrester report concluded that, "By a large margin, Sun Java System Identity Manager came in as the most-function-rich solution in Forrester's evaluation. The product led all of its competitors in several categories: connector functionality, policy management, auditing, and architecture. ... Sun Java System Identity Manager does everything a user would want a provisioning product to do." Forrester's analysis also noted that Sun Java System Identity Manager "is an especially good fit for buyers that seek the best all-around functionality and low deployment overhead."

The Sun identity management seminars will take place in Riyadh on 9 April and Doha on 10 April.