Managing multiple user identities within complex IT environments is a challenge for all organisations. Users are bewildered when faced with the array of user names and passwords required to access the network and information. In most businesses, this results in high volumes of calls to the helpdesk or the risk of users creating simple passwords and writing them down.

Adding and removing users, applying business rules to prevent a leaver's data from becoming orphaned and configuring applications on a joiner's PC all absorb many hours of time within an IT department. A well designed directory environment where new employees profiles and privileges are setup only once; appropriate system accounts being determined automatically based on their identified role, will alleviate many of these issues.

Our approach to Identity Management helps clients to:

• Facilitate business by building productive relationships with employees, customers, partners, suppliers
• Increase security by revoking user access rights across all systems in real-time with a single update
• Reduce administration costs through centralised administrative functions for multiple platforms
• Improve employee productivity as users get fast access to the resources they need due to a reduced turnaround for assigning user permissions - from weeks to minutes
• Simplify user account management from many different system islands to a centralised approach

The key to a successful Identity Management solution is combining the needs of the business with the technical requirements of the solution. Our approach is to engage users at the earliest opportunity in the design process.

Datacraft's experience shows that it is possible to manage the addition or removal of even the most complex user through a fully automated process. Changes to users, the addition of new resources, the moving of users between jobs can all be managed through an automated, centralised, business-rules driven solution.