Without any coaching from Sun, a customer recently shared a
document with us that highlighted Sun’s Quick Win
philosophy.

This document listed 10 areas of Identity and Access Management
functionality as suggested by the Gartner Group:

• Authorization Services
• Directory Services
• Enterprise Single Sign On
• Password Management
• User Provisioning
• Metadirectory
• Extranet Access Management
• Audit
• Portal
• Application Server

A second list included the
platforms over which Identity Management could be imposed.

• Operating System
• Security Systems
• Directories
• Databases
• Applications
• Physical Resources

If these two lists were represented as vertical and horizontal axes of a matrix, a 10×6
matrix of cells would occur, with each cell representing a specific area of Identity Management focus having potential benefit to the enterprise.

Our customer checked only one item on the first list, and only one item on the second. In effect, of all 60 potential areas of focus, the authors of the
document chose just one for a Phase 1 project – password management for operating
systems. Why? It has strong business benefit and is fairly quick to implement – a quick win.

The value of a quick win project should not be underestimated. A number
of advantages can accrue:

• Measureable results are quickly demonstrated
• Project momentum is maintained for future phases
• The likelihood of continual sponsorship is increased
• The system architecture is progressively validated
• Configuration components are more easily reused
• Impact on the enterprise is more easily understood

We encourage you to make this your philosophy: Segment your Identity Management project into manageable parts. Focus your attention first on the most urgent, most beneficial, most quickly implemented areas of the entire project scope. Drive directly to those areas where you will experience a quick win.

Ladies and Gentlemen, start your engines.

Tag: Identity