Taking a realistic look at directory services

By Bob Brown
Network World Fusion, 7/28/98

Colorado Springs - Customers have begun integrating disparate application and operating system directories into more comprehensive enterprise directories, but speakers at the Catalyst Conference '98 Monday said there is still a lot of work to be done before companies truly reap the benefits of these consolidated information repositories.

One big issue is determining what the most appropriate uses of directories are, said Larry Gauthier, a senior analyst at The Burton Group, a Midvale, Utah consulting firm that runs the Catalyst conference along with the Network Applications Consortium, a group of large user organizations.

Among the appropriate uses cited by Gauthier were helping companies achieve consistency in naming network assets and users, enforcing management policies, handling static information and distributing information simply and automatically.

The list actually goes on and on, Gauthier said, as companies keep finding new roles for enterprise directories. He said he expects directories to play a key role in electronic commerce by working hand-in-hand with corporate security systems necessary to allow trading partners access to network resources. Directories will become the focal point for passwords, smart cards and even biometric systems, such as those that authenticate end users identities by scanning their retinas, Gauthier said.

Picking up on this theme, Novell announced plans at the conference to build digital certificate management technology into NetWare 5.0 via Novell Directory Services. Novell also announced a partnership with Entrust Technologies under which the companies will provide single sign-on capabilities for users of their respective directory and public key infrastructure technologies.

Another area where directory technology is likely to play a greater role is in network and systems management, said Jamie Lewis, president of The Burton Group. "The directory, not the NC, will rein in the costs of desktop systems management," according to Lewis.

But Gauthier pointed out there are plenty of things that directories are not so good at handling. These include supporting highly customizable applications, moving around huge amounts of data, and handling dynamic data and transaction processing applications.

Despite these limitations, users speaking at the conference encouraged other users to move ahead with their directory integration projects. One way to get upper management approval for directory projects is to start with basic applications that have easy-to-comprehend benefits, such as electronic white pages systems, said Larry Ketchersid, director of enterprise computing for Compaq Computer's information management group. "Don't do single sign-on first," he said, referring to this challenging application.

The key to a solid directory is assigning unique ID numbers to employees that identify individuals across applications and networks, Ketchersid said.

He credited the directory infrastructure in place at Compaq for making the job of integrating Compaq's network with those of acquisitions Tandem and Digital Equipment not as bad as it could have been.