Provisioning

Large organizations typically utilize a significant number of user repositories to store information about employees, partners, and customers. These disparate sources of information in a complex environment provide significant challenges for the enterprise to manage data efficiently and keep information current. Typically, the HR organization serves as the authoritative source of information in the enterprise. However, due to the volatility of today's enterprises and the common need to give users access to the appropriate applications and information in a timely fashion, this information is often not kept accurate and current across the business. The most common challenges faced by organizations today include the following.

	On-boarding and off-boarding of employees, partners, and customers
	Granting users the appropriate access to perform tasks
	Keeping redundant information consistent across information repositories
	Re-defining access priviliges following employee role changes
	Defining authoritative sources of information

Automated provisioning solutions allow organizations to define rules and policies that automate these processes, creating an efficient, consistent, and stream-lined approach to user management. Stakeholders can very easily define steadfast policies that help to secure the information of employees, partners, and customers. Very often, provisioning solutions eliminate the need for legacy, paper-based processing systems that take a significant amount of time to complete and allow for inconsistencies in user permissions. In addition, these automated solutions provide the ability to track and record both end user activity and policy-based transactions. This provides a clean audit trail and allows the organization to more easily evaluate who has access to what, as well as how that access was granted or removed via a defined approval process.

Otecia has partnered with Microsoft and Oracle to bring provisioning solutions to clients in order to help them more efficiently manage information across the enterprise. These solutions serve as a critical step in building a comprehensive identity management infrastructure, and have enabled organizations to manage data in a flexible, efficient manner. The end results of provisioning engagements typically yield the following benefits for customers:

	Users have access to the appropriate information and applications
	Setup and removal of user privileges occurs in a timely and consistent manner
	Cost savings are incurred due to increased productivity
	Auditing and compliance procedures are simplified