Novell upgrades Identity Manager for the cloud

Novell has upgraded its Identity Manager 4 software with a new edition for cloud environments.

Identity Manager 4 Advanced Edition has improved roles management software, new workflow systems and better reporting for IT managers who run private cloud environments, according to Novell.

"Since it's baseball playoff season, I think comic geniuses Bud Abbott and Lou Costello explain it best: 'Look Abbott, if you're the coach, you must know all the players,'" said Richard Whitehead, Novell's 'WorkloadIQ Guru', in a blog post.

"Their classic 'Who's on First' routine can depict what it's like to attempt a move to cloud computing without first establishing an enterprise-ready identity foundation."

The new software includes plug-and-play drivers for over 300 leading business applications, databases, email systems, directories, operating systems and phone systems.

Novell said that it had made the improvements following feedback from customers including Huntington National Bank.

"For our Salesforce deployment, we leveraged the workflow engine in Novell Identity Manager to grant access privileges to roughly 8,000 accounts in Salesforce.com. This could have taken months to get those accounts created and set up," said Mark Edson, infrastructure manager at Huntington National Bank.

"Using Novell Identity Manager, we provisioned all the accounts in one night. Now, it's all automated, significantly reducing the amount of administrative overhead associated with granting account access and internal rights and privileges."