Simplifying/Consolidating versus Managing - a crazy example

Situation

• Customer has >1,000 Unix servers
• Adding or deleting users takes weeks because the /etc/passwd file on each host must be edited
• Reporting for SOX and other regulatory concerns is nearly impossible
• Lots of security concerns - was the person deleted? When?

Solution

• Customer pays $5 million for an identity management suite/framework from one of the big vendors
• After connecting 10 - yes, you are reading that right - 10 Unix hosts to their metadirectory the suite becomes so bogged down that it is no longer viable

Customer is now interested in simplifying their identity management architecture by consolidating those Unix hosts and identities into Active Directory.

What a surprise. And, to tell the truth, this isn't the first time I have seen this.

I guess it is too late to send them my Tenets of Identity Management white paper because there are at least a few of them that they "broke"...

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