From the "Who are you? And what do you want from the network?" files Identity management is a critical component of modern network infrastructure. It provides the entitlements by which users can assess applications and resources, and it is a key part of regulatory compliance for many.

IBM today is updating their Tivoli Identity Manager (TIM) to version 5.1 -- this is an application that I last looked at in 2007 when TIM 5.0 was released. I took a briefing from Joe Anthony, program director, security and compliance management at IBM, who explained to me what's new in this point update, which Anthony referred to as a "major" update.

TIM 5.1 adds role management capabilities so enterprises can more accurately separate duties and management. There are also improvements around access certification and re-certification -- which are especially important in the current economy with staff changes occurring more frequently than ever before.

For IBM, TIM 5.1 is just one part of a holistic view of identity and access management, which is a theme that IBM was pitching to my colleague Alex Goldman during the RSA conference time frame earlier this year.

It all makes sense to me, though I can also see how it can be terribly confusing too...

[Continue reading this blog post at Netstat -vat by Sean Michael Kerner]