Today I want to take note of a couple of recent product announcements that I’ve been meaning to talk about.

At last month’s Catalyst conference, I had the chance to sit down with the always-interesting folks from Courion. What the company wanted to discuss wasn’t a new product, just an additional piece for its AccountCourier provisioning system.

AssetLink might be termed the “missing link” for provisioning - it connects provisioning with asset management systems to enable extended provisioning to, and the seamless management of, non-IT assets. As the press release said, this is to “ensure transparent compliance, enable business velocity and achieve sustained efficiencies.”

I don’t know about “business velocity” but I do know that there are lots of non-IT assets (phones, desks, cars, credit cards and on and on) that should really be a part of a provisioning system and absolutely need to be part of your de-provisioning system.

AssetLink isn’t a stand-alone product - it’s only available with AccountCourier - but it’s a very welcome addition to that product. Visit Courion to learn more about these tools, and perhaps you’ll want to sign up for the Courion Enterprise Provisioning Fitness Test, a free half-day consulting engagement. Courion experts will assess your current provisioning processes and infrastructure through interviews and discovery tools, then you’ll receive a thorough appraisal - your “fitness score” with analysis, explanations, conclusions, and recommendations to further improve your “business agility.” It’s free, so what have you got to lose?

The other product I want to mention is Avatier's Phone Reset Suite, an add-on module for the AIMS (Avatier Identity Management Server) platform. This new module extends AIMS's user provisioning and end-to-end password management by offering three different methods for resetting passwords over the phone: 1) using a predetermined personal identification number (PIN); 2) using voice print matching; or 3) utilizing an RSA SecurID token.

This self-service software should reduce dependency on IT resources while increasing employee productivity. A globetrotting mobile workforce won’t have to wait for the help desk to reset their access. Additional features of the Phone Reset Suite can enforce internal security policies for secure password selection and enable organizations to remain compliant with legislative regulations through user identity verification, logging and reporting of all password changes.

Dave Kearns is a consultant and editor of IdM, the Journal of Identity Management.