In line with my post yesterday about viewing identities and relationships from the vantage points of “enabling” and “protecting,” I created three diagrams to illustrate how relationships between people and resources or other people provide the opportunity for value creation.

The first diagram illustrates the relationships a person may typically have with information resources within an enterprise.  The objective of these relationships is to connect individual people with the applications or systems that may deliver value, both to the individual and to the enterprise.  Typically, these relationships are granted and governed by the enterprise.

The second diagram illustrates a person’s connection to items within the emerging Internet of Things.  In some ways, this model is similar to the enterprise model, in that connections are made between people and resources.  However, in this model, individuals typically would initiate and govern their own relationships with things that would deliver value to themselves.

In the third model, people establish relationships not just with functions or services, but with people, effectively connecting identities together via a social relationship platform.

In line with my comments yesterday, I propose that in each of these cases, relationships must be established to “enable” people to derive value they seek.  Both Identities and relationships must be “protected” to prevent the wrong people from interfering with a person’s desire to derive value from the relationship, whether it be with a function, service or other person.

That’s all tonight.  More on the morrow.