While I'm still getting e-mails on predictions for 2008 activity in the identity management sector, the number of new announcements coming out is unprecedented. Heck, it wasn't that many years ago that I might only see three or four identity management press releases all year, now I sometimes see that many in a day. After the year-end holiday slowdown, the pace has really picked up - so today, and later this week, I'll give you a brief glimpse (including links for more detailed information) at what's new in identity.

Governance gurus Aveksa (whose name mysteriously migrated to being “Aveska” in a recent issue!) announced a new partnership with PricewatershouseCoopers (PwC) designed “…to help enterprise clients simplify and automate access compliance and role management initiatives.” Browse here for the details.

Just in time for the new year, Secure Computing announced a new version of its two-factor authentication product. SafeWord 2008 claims to be an easier-to-install and easier-to-use solution that will help to lower the cost of implementing and deploying token-based two-factor authentication. Go here for more details.

My friends at NetPro, the Active Directory Management experts, released two products for Microsoft Exchange - NetControl for Exchange, providing enterprise Exchange usage reporting, and NetMigrate for Exchange, a powerful new solution for Exchange-to-Exchange migration. Point your browser here for more information.

And finally (for this issue), making its first appearance in this newsletter is eIQnetworks, a relative newcomer to the identity field but already making a splash with its appliance-based SecureVue security, risk and audit management platform. There are even two different models: eIQ’s SecureVue 3000 Central Server has 1.8TB storage capacity, supports up to 15,000 events per second and provides unlimited user access while the SecureVue 2000 Regional Server – deployed in conjunction with the SecureVue 3000 Central Server for distributed environments – offers 1TB storage capacity and supports up to 6,000 events per second. Go here to find out more.

Come back next time for more new developments.

Events on the horizon through the beginning of March are:

* Feb. 14: Workshop on electronic identity, Brussels
* Feb. 19: Identity Gang - Social for Identity Commons, New York
* March 2-5: Directory Experts Conference, Chicago
* Mar. 3-6: ETech Emerging Technology Conference, San Diego

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