Novell Identity and Access Management comprises three modules: Identity Manager, which includes user provisioning tools; Access Manager that provides access rights to users, ensuring all users have access to the resources they need; and finally SecureLogin that adds single username and password capabilities so users have universal access with just one username and password.
This product was fairly straightforward to install and deploy. Though it has many parts we found the hardest part of the deployment was figuring out where and how to download installation media in the vast download area of the website. After we had everything downloaded installation was pretty simple.
Management is another thing that we had a little trouble with. The Identity Manager is less than intuitive to use and it takes some time to get comfortable moving around the management console and configuring the product. However, we found it to be quite powerful, with many configurable options for granular control. The workflow design studio has a lot of drag and drop capability for easy workflow design.
Documentation provided with this product included several guides and manuals available in both PDF and HTML format. These included numerous installation and administration guides that we found to be organised in an easy to follow format. All of these also included many step-by-step instructions but there was a lack of screenshots, which would have helped better illustrate various configurations.
Novell offers several support options for customers, which can be purchased as part of a contract through a lifecycle program. Some features offered include phone and email technical assistance, access to an online knowledgebase, installation and configuration support, patches and updates and access to forums and other resources.
At a price of about £46.63 per user for the bundle of the three tools we find Novell Identity and Access Management to be average value for the money. While it does have some strong features, it is a little challenging to use and deploy and additional training may be required to get administrators managing it properly.