Digital Identity

Success Factors

Success in developing an IMA depends on a number of factors:

• Executive management is aware of the need for identity management, recognizes the benefit that will accrue to the organization, and has accepted their roles and responsibilities.

• Resources have been committed to developing the architecture.

• The IT personnel in the organization, regardless of how they are organized, understand and accept the need for coordinated identity management.

• A governance process for determining roles and responsibilities, creating policy, and enforcing it has been put in place and is functioning.

• All players, including business managers, have realistic expectations of short-term costs and benefits.

• There is a culture in the enterprise that is forward-looking, accepting of change, and willing to endure some risk.

You may look at the list and decide that such an ideal enterprise doesn't exist. You're probably right. Even so, I've tried to keep the list realistic. By building a case for identity management, you can change some of these factors. In the coming chapters, as we discuss the steps you should take in creating your own IMA, you'll see that part of the process is building support and obtaining the resources necessary to ensure the success of the project as well as setting realistic expectations.

The final success factor, culture, may be out of your control, and changing it can be a job far larger than the one addressed in this book. If the culture is wrong, you may need to approach ...