In addition to managing existing tokens, Identity Manager connectors can manage physical
inventories of RSA SecurID tokens, can provision tokens to users,
activate them on delivery, instruct a person designated as manager of
a particular box of tokens to deliver a given token, by serial number,
to its designated new owner and can deactivate, deprovision and return
tokens to inventory.
Inventory Management in General
Identity Manager includes an inventory management capability, which
consists of:
- Definitions of object types (e.g., tokens, smart cards, building
access badges, computers, telephones, etc.).
- Definitions of locations where physical objects may be stored.
- Inventories of objects organized by type and location, where
each object is uniquely identified by serial number and assigned
a state and owner (e.g., available, enabled, disabled, assigned to
user, revoked, pending delivery, pending retrieval, etc.).
- Inventory managers, authorized to allocate specific types of
objects at specific locations.
- Implementers, responsible for physically delivering objects to
and collecting objects from users.
Identity Manager can import CSV files with data about large quantities of
objects -- for examples cases of new tokens or badges.
Identity Manager is designed to track objects through their lifetime,
from acquisition, through storage, activation, user allocation,
delivery to users, deactivation, recovery from users, etc. The
built-in Identity Manager workflow engine supports this entire lifecycle,
with front-ends for object request, authorization, automated or
manual allocation of a specific object, etc.
Plug-in points are exposed by Identity Manager, to allow Hitachi ID Systems customer to automate
activation and deactivation tasks, such as enabling or disabling a
telephone number, network port, building access badge or token.
Identity Manager can be used to report on inventories of objects by type,
location or state. It can also be used to report on objects allocated
to users.
Identity Manager also exposes plug-in points where it can access inventory
data in an external system, such as an asset management application,
rather than managing inventory data internally. In some organizations,
high-value objects, such as computers or desks, may be tracked in
an asset management system, to support depreciation and insurance
calculations, while low-cost items, such as tokens or badges, will
be managed individually in Identity Manager, to support physical management
without the burden of financial modeling for each micro-asset.
