IBM announced today new security software that tackles the fragmented state of the identity and access governance market with a single solution that helps organizations administer, secure, monitor, and certify user identities and their access to applications, information, and systems.

Critical business information no longer resides solely in the data center. Organizations must be able to control who has access to what information across entire IT and data center environments including systems, devices, data and applications, while also reporting compliance with industry and government regulations. Until today, the identity and access management governance market has been disjointed, with products only addressing individual problems, according to IBM.

The new version of IBM Tivoli Identity Manager has operational role management capabilities that help organizations manage user access as part of their business and risk management strategies. The role management capability, combined with entitlement management, identity management, separation of duties and access certification gives organizations unprecedented visibility and control over data and the people who have access to it. The software provides a set of controls to manage conflict within and across an organization's security processes, while also helping reduce the cost of administering access. With this new version, IBM is distinguishing itself from competitors that require the purchase of separate products to deliver equivalent capabilities.

"What our clients need and what IBM is intent on delivering is security technology that manages which people have access to certain information in a way that clearly follows defined roles and responsibilities within an organization's policies," said Venkat Raghavan, director of security, risk and compliance, IBM Tivoli software. "Integrating governance and provisioning within IBM's identity and access management software simplifies user administration and compliance controls for our clients while at the same time guarding against security threats."

Customers in every industry can benefit from IBM's security solutions, particularly health care and financial services, where patient and customer data is protected and heavily regulated.

Banco de Espana, the national central bank of Spain and a member of the European System of Central Banks, is using the new IBM software for many different aspects of their security strategy including user recertification and role hierarchy, but finds particular benefit in the group management functionality.

"The new capability in IBM Tivoli Identity Manager allows security administrators to more easily implement definitions for access control policies," said Rafael Fernandez, IT security architect of Banco de Espana. "This allows us to better define the correct entitlements at the right level in the role hierarchy, as well as build the appropriate role relationships for improved overall security."

IBM's policy-based approach in identity and access management governance to manage people, applications and data ensures that access is governed and enforced in a closed loop manner. Tivoli Identity Manager delivers important functionality for identity and access management governance, including automated features and reporting to help organizations be prepared for auditing. IBM's holistic approach to identity and access management includes:

• Role management-simplifies user administration through the use of an enterprise role structure that governs user access to resources
• Entitlement management-simplifies access control by administering and enforcing fine-grained authorizations
• Privileged identity management-monitors and reports on user activity of privileged security administrators and users with elevated privileges
• Separation of duties-preventative and detective analysis of role and permission conflicts
• Access certification-provides ongoing review and validation of user access

For more information about IBM Tivoli Identity Manager, visit: http://www.ibm.com/software/tivoli/products/identity-mgr/