Digital Identity

Technical Position Statements

A clear statement of technical position on a variety of technology questions is a big help to system architects making individual technology and design decisions. In Chapter 14, we discussed the creation of statements about business principles as part of enumerating business drivers. Technical position statements build on those principles. We would expect principles to change infrequently and follow the business strategy of the organization. Technical position statements similarly flow from the technical strategy that the organization is pursuing.

Burton Group has developed a reference architecture for identity as part of its research and advisory services. They recommend organizations take a position on the following technology issues in identity management:

Access management

How should an organization manage access to its applications and information resources?

Directory access, administration, and security

How should organizations manage and secure their directory services while giving authorized applications, users, and administrators trouble-free access?

Directory applications

What tools and interfaces should application developers use to tie applications to directory instances?

Directory content, structure, and distribution

How should organizations organize, store, and reference information in a general-purpose directory system?

Directory integration

How can an organization manage and share useful, high-quality data in multiple directory services, ...