identity management (IM)

Identity management (IM) comprises all measures for the secure access of persons and computers to the network and to applications. Identity management reflects the various procedures for authentication, password management, provisioning and directory services.

Identity management is about classifying users, work groups and the equipment of a company. The available resources are classified in such a way that the company's security policies can be applied to them. The basis for managing technical resources and digitalidentities is provided by central directory services such as the NetWare Directory Service( NDS) or, as in the case of the Internet, a Domain NameSystem( DNS) and IP addresses. By assigning and managing employees' digital identities, they can be given access to services; for example, they can use personal e-mail accounts or participate in community functions.

Identity management can also be moved to a cloud and managed as a cloud service by a cloud service provider. This is known as Identity as a Service( IDaaS).