Directory Services
How healthy is your directory?
Do you need to deploy an enterprise wide application using multiple identity stores?
Are you restructuring directories to support acquisitions or divestures?
Are legacy applications preventing you from directory consolidation?
Fortunately, they don’t have to be. If your IT organization is supporting a single corporate directory containing all of your identities and group memberships – congratulations! You can stop reading here. Chances are, however, you have multiple directories with duplicated identities and many applications with incompatible identity stores. These directories can include:legacy LDAP directories which are no longer supported, legacy Active Directory® domains or forests that have outlived their purpose, or one-off databases that store user credentials. Typically, you, your IT support team, and your Help Desk spend an enormous amount of time and resources supporting these complex environments. Help Desk calls are expensive and maintaining this complex infrastructure can also cause costly compliance problems.
Draw a line in the Sand
Stop implementing additional directories and isolated identity stores for applications. Leverage the investment you have made in Active Directory®. Consolidate existing directories and retire systems that are no longer needed or supported. Rationalize identity data, user roles, and permissions across remaining platforms. Orcas can help you develop an in-depth vision, develop a detailed plan to rationalize your directory architecture, and retire redundant directories and identity silos. Implementing this plan today will reduce your overhead and overall security risk for years to come.
Tell Me More!
Our directory services consolidation and optimization strategy leverages OptimalldM’s Virtual Identity Server (VIS) product. This virtual directory provides directory services to legacy applications during the directory consolidation and rationalization process. It provides an abstraction layer that allows data from multiple directories and databases to be presented in a format that is compatible with almost any database or directory-integrated application. VIS is an extremely powerful, cost-effective, and safe way to consolidate your directories on your timeline without impacting your applications.
Manage, Consolidate, and Optimize Directory Services with Confidence
Orcas Consulting offers a wide range of services to help you leverage your investment in Active Directory®. Our project experience, technical expertise, and engagement methodology ensure successful delivery of our solutions. All Orcas engagements follow a straightforward engagement methodology that should be familiar to our enterprise customers. A typical Directory Services engagement would include the following phases and tasks:
Plan & Analyze – Your current environment is examined. Your goals and objectives are clearly defined. Project scope and technical approach are agreed. Roles and responsibilities are assigned. A schedule is developed.
Design – Functional requirements are agreed and documented. Solution architecture is developed.
Build – Solution is built and tested in a pre-production environment. Configuration and operations documentation is created. Test cases are written.
Test – The solution is tested for functionality and performance. Configurations are adjusted to meet goals.
Deploy – Technology is released in production. Deployment issues are resolved.
Stabilize – Operational guidelines and documentation are tweaked. Solution is turned over to customer.