Micro Focus Identity Governance

Short Summary

Identity Governance & Administration (IGA) has evolved since the 1980s from basic identity management into a broader discipline that adds monitoring, control, and entitlement governance to identity data administration. Core expectations include onboarding with approved access, automated de-provisioning on exit, request-and-approval access workflows (time-bound or until revoked), user self-service for identity records and passwords, and management oversight of entitlements. Modern IGA is pressured by hybrid on-prem and multi-cloud operations (including IDaaS), the expectation of AI-driven automation to reduce manual effort and errors, the growing diversity of applications and identity consumption methods (datastores, headers, tokens, passwords) pushing API-centric integrations, the need to support containerized deployments (Docker/Kubernetes) for agility and performance, and expanding identity populations spanning workforce, partners, and customers. These demands align with an “Identity Fabric” approach that connects anyone and anything to every service under controlled access.

Micro Focus Identity Governance (originating as Novell Identity Manager and later NetIQ Identity Manager, acquired by Micro Focus in 2014) is positioned as a comprehensive identity lifecycle and governance platform. It centers on an Identity Vault (typically eDirectory) populated via connectors using a publisher–subscriber model, enabling real-time synchronization and extensive data transformation so the vault becomes a practical “single point of truth” for relying applications. The platform includes core components (policy engine, data synchronization, vault), configuration and analysis tools (iManager, Designer, Analyzer, Report Center), and applications such as open REST/SOAP APIs, white pages, password self-service (challenge-response or MFA), workflows, delegations, and role mapping. Governance features consolidate entitlements across systems for certification campaigns, exception-focused reviews, analytics for anomalies and Separation of Duties violations, and increasingly AI-informed policies. Future direction emphasizes machine-learning-enhanced analytics, cloud and container deployment models, packaged Dev/Test/Prod promotion via driver packages and headless Designer, “deploy anywhere” microservices, data discovery for risk classification, and governance aligned to breach defense and the NIST cybersecurity framework.

Interesting Facts

• IGA has existed since the 1980s and has continually evolved as organizations demanded more extensive identity services.
• Micro Focus International acquired NetIQ Identity Manager in 2014 as part of a corporate acquisition.
• NetIQ Identity Manager originated as Novell Identity Manager and dates back to the 1980s.
• Identity Governance maintains identity data in an Identity Vault, typically built on eDirectory.
• Connectors keep the Identity Vault current by synchronizing with sources such as HR systems or email systems, including real-time updates.
• Identity Governance supports four HR systems out-of-the-box: PeopleSoft, SAP, Oracle, and Workday.
• Open APIs are provided out-of-the-box, supporting RESTful and SOAP-based application integration.
• Password self-service supports password changes via challenge-response questions or MFA.
• The system can flag entitlement anomalies by comparing access held by a user against others in the same work group.
• Micro Focus fully supports Azure and AWS deployments.

Notable Quotes

• “IGA has continually evolved as organizations have developed and demanded more extensive and sophisticated identity services.”
• “Today IGA requirements are significantly more exacting.”
• “Identity management should enable the Identity Fabric of an organization that provides controlled access for everyone (and things) to every business system requiring access to an identity service.”
• “This allows the solution to become the effective ‘single point of truth’ for identity data within an organization.”
• “Connectors can be quite simple, synchronizing data attributes to the vault, or they can perform complex data transformations.”
• “Micro Focus is on a journey from the mature product that it acquired to a comprehensive and agile identity manager solution that progressive enterprises require today.”
• “The governance task is to collect user entitlement information across multiple systems and provide a consolidated view that can be understood by business managers.”
• “This means that audit staff can focus on exceptions and reduce the frequency of corporate-wide certification campaigns.”
• “To properly plan and deploy a truly enterprise-level identity management environment is a significant undertaking and requires cross-functional involvement within an organization.”
• “To the degree possible attribute nomenclature should be aligned so that constructs can be normalized.”