* Three identity management resolutions
It’s that time of year when we all think of new beginnings, a time to vow that we will improve ourselves. We’ll quit smoking, lose weight, spend more time with our families and loved ones, meet our deadlines and generally live a better life. Noted playwright and pessimist Oscar Wilde once said, “Good resolutions are simply checks that men draw on a bank where they have no account.” Wilde did not have a good opinion of mankind. Even an old curmudgeon like myself is more optimistic. So in a spirit of optimism I’d like to propose some New Year’s resolutions that the identity management industry should make – and deliver on – over the coming year.
1.) We should continue to create industry standards where needed while consolidating those that are competing (such as WS-Federation and Liberty Alliance). XML, by its extensible nature, lends itself to proliferating standards. It’s time to draw a line in the sand and agree on a well-defined interoperable set of standards for all aspects of identity management.
2.) Words, words, words. Too many people are using too few words to define too many different ideas, objects, actions and topics. A single lexicon, an agreed upon taxonomy is essential so that we can move forward to a greater understanding of identity management in the marketplace. If we don’t understand each other, how can we expect those outside of the identity niche to know what we’re talking about?
3.) Remember the OSI model? (https://www.nwfusion.com/details/448.html?def) While honored more in the breach than in the practice, it did provide a common framework within which to discuss networking (including x.500 directory services, one of the bases of identity management). A common architectural model of identity management could be almost as meaningful as an identity lexicon in moving forward the discussion of exactly what it is we do. There’s a great opportunity here for someone.
These three resolutions shouldn’t be that difficult to achieve, provided we all work towards the same goals. A year from now I’ll tally up the results and see how well the industry has done. Happy New Year!
