PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP and Sun Microsystems, Inc. last week announced they will provide a joint solution to help companies leverage identity management to sustain Sarbanes-Oxley compliance, improve security and increase process efficiencies. Companies that use Sun's Java(TM) System Identity Management Suite also will gain access to PricewaterhouseCoopers' regulatory compliance and business risk management experience. By working with PricewaterhouseCoopers and Sun, companies can design and deploy an identity management solution that will help them maintain secure access control and help them meet certain aspects of their regulatory compliance requirements.

"It's obvious now that compliance tops the list of most businesses and institutions involved in security planning -- whether they are focused on legislation such as the U.S.-based Sarbanes-Oxley, specific industry regulations such as HIPAA, European Union data protection directives, or other country-specific compliance laws," said Earl Perkins, a vice president of security and risk strategies with META Group. "In those cases, IT organizations are looking for help. Identity management products and services are one part of a solution capable of providing enterprise-wide user access controls and provisioning, which can strengthen an organization's internal controls process. Too many critical processes are handled manually today. Automating such steps as user de-provisioning through identity management is definitely a step in the right direction for both adhering to compliance and streamlining the environment."

"In the rush to meet the Sarbanes-Oxley compliance deadlines, many companies have implemented manual processes to demonstrate quick compliance, but these processes are often fraught with risk and inefficiency and result in higher costs to operate," said PricewaterhouseCoopers Advisory Partner Brad Bauch. "Companies now need to re-address these 'quick fix' controls to build a long-term sustainable solution, which includes more automated, streamlined and secure operations."

PricewaterhouseCoopers has developed a methodology for identity management implementations based on its experience with over 125 identity and access management deployments. Companies choosing to implement the joint solution will gain assistance from PricewaterhouseCoopers through workflow processes that help support segregation of duties, which is critical to the creation of an identity management solution that can support compliance sustainment. Together, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Sun will assist companies with the deployment of the Sun Java System Identity Management Suite or components of the suite.

"Securely controlling identity information is critical to addressing the myriad of compliance requirements that organizations are facing today," said Sara Gates, vice president of identity management, Sun Microsystems, Inc. "The Sun Java System Identity Management Suite helps companies to automate identity management across enterprise applications and their entire organization, ultimately assisting companies to achieve repeatable, sustainable compliance. We are pleased that our strategic alliance with PricewaterhouseCoopers allows us to leverage their significant expertise in both compliance and identity
management to benefit our customers."

The Sun Java System Identity Management Suite allows secure control over access and use of information systems, and provides key components, such as: user provisioning/deprovisioning, access management, password management, account management, directory management, and robust auditing, and reporting. The Sun Java System Identity Management Suite currently includes: Sun Java(TM) System Identity Manager, Sun Java(TM) System Access Manager, Sun Java(TM) System Directory Server Enterprise Edition, and Sun Java(TM) System Identity Auditor, a comprehensive identity audit solution for improving audit and compliance performance.