Identity-based network-account provisioning processes have been marred by overly complex tools, the costs for which traditionally have been difficult to justify. Our Clear Choice Test of A10 Networks’ IDSentrie shows this software package bucks both trends:

It provides a simple tool for provisioning accounts and synchronizing passwords across multiple repositories and enables user self-service, with relatively low associated deployment costs.

Overall, we found A10’s IDSentrie to be a good fit for small to midsize businesses looking for core provisioning functionality. Core provisioning includes account management — the ability to create, delete and modify user accounts — across multiple repositories, password synchronization across several repositories and user account self-service. At this juncture, IDSentrie does not provide much in the way of more-advanced provisioning features, for example, a workflow system that helps manage approvals, or fully automated end-to-end provisioning processes.

ID MANAGEMENT IDSENTRIE 1000 A10 Networks Related Content

3.05

Price: $20,000 per appliance. Pros: Quick setup, not overly complex. IP-to-ID-mapping not commonly found in provisioning software. Cons: Grammar errors and typos within the GUI. User interface cumbersome to use at times. Lacks advance workflow options. The breakdown Provisioning workflow 30% 2.5 Scoring Key: 5: Exceptional 4: Very good 3: Average 2: Below average 1: Subpar or not available Provisioning configuration 35% 3.0 Reporting 20% 4.0 System management 15% 3.0 TOTAL SCORE 3.05

Click to see: IDSentrie 1000

IDSentrie’s strength lies in its ability to define aggregate business roles, such as sales manager or HR consultant, and provision system accounts to multiple target repositories based on role assignments. Another area where A10 stands out is in its IP-to-ID technology, which quickly lets an administrator map IP addresses to the users owning those addresses at any point in time. This is not a standard feature of provisioning systems overall, and many administrators spend hours researching and mapping IP addresses when the information is required.

We configured the IDSentrie 1000 appliance for the test network and started provisioning for our specific configurations in less than 30 minutes.

Management is accomplished through a Web-based console. We were pleased to have the option to redirect all HTTP traffic to Secure-HTTP for more secure access to the management process.