Complying with regulatory rules such as Sarbanes-Oxley Act, 2002 (SOX) as well as securely managing people and devices on their networks are an increasing source of frustration and has been described as a nightmare by IT managers of small, mid-size and large enterprises, a senior executive at BMC told siliconrepublic.com.
Tim Dunn, European director for identity management at BMC Software, explained that growing demand for more simplified identity management for people and a growing array of devices such as PDAs, phones and laptops across networks has lead to the company entering into a strategic relationship with Microsoft.
BMC has created a solution offering businesses operating a Microsoft .Net environment streamlined end-to-end identity management addressing many of IT’s most pressing identity management needs including work flow, directory management, audit, self-service, password management, web single sign-on and federation. BMC Identity Management for .Net offers customers sizeable cost, time and resource savings by exploiting tools and resources already available in the Microsoft infrastructure. Additionally, the solution leverages the inherent resources and information across heterogeneous IT environments.
Dunn said the partnership marks a joint commitment to the further development of .Net-based identity management solutions as well as joint sales efforts. The new joint solution also provides tools operable in both .Net and heterogeneous environments offering customers greater choice and flexibility in their identity management deployments.
“Firms today are trying to run complex businesses while at the same time face the pressures of regulatory compliance in their day-to-day business as well as opening up their IT environments to customers and suppliers.
“The IT challenge is immense but also from a people perspective it is a huge challenge. The solution we’ve developed for .Net enables firms to bolster their IT security and at the same time build out to content with new people and new devices.
“Organisations have to open up boundaries in terms of new people and devices. It’s the way businesses are running. Catering for regulations such as SOX, as well as auditing risk and policing the IT network are two challenges that are enormous for any organisation. It’s a nightmare exacerbated by the threat of millions of euros of fines if a firm breaches regulatory codes.
“The solution we’ve developed on the .Net platform allows small, mid-size and large firms with Microsoft infrastructures to open out and deal with other infrastructures — in the case of a merger or acquisition — or to cater with the growth of a company in terms of people and devices,” Dunn explained.
By John Kennedy
