Directory and identity management has emerged as one of the fundamental building blocks used in modern computer architectures. Most modern operating systems now have integral directory services or layered directory services software that is available in conjunction with the operating system. The use of directories has emerged as one of the ways that CIOs address the management of IT costs while improving services to the business and end users.
The integral directory service in Microsoft’s Windows product family, Active Directory, serves as the foundation for identity and access management within the Windows environment. Active Directory serves as the primary directory service for client and server domain authentication and is further leveraged for configuration and provisioning and for applying operational group management and configuration policies to client and server systems. In a broader manner, Active Directory also plays a key role in Microsoft’s identity and access management strategy, and when used with Microsoft Identity Integration Server (MIIS), third-party directory stores can be synchronized with Active Directory.
To understand what it takes to be successful using directories in large environments, IDC conducted a research project to determine what successful organizations are doing right to achieve these goals. This research was conducted in 2005 and 2006 and focused on 141 for-profit enterprises in the United States with 1,000 to 20,000 PCs. Each organization was interviewed about its IT assets, IT staffing levels, and management practices. The research also captured metrics about the quality and timeliness of IT services. The goal of the research was to identify best practices that could provide guidance to other firms desiring to improve IT operations with the use of Active Directory.