LANSING – Federal, state, local and municipal IT professionals in the U.S. said they believe the importance of identity management will continue to increase over the next five years, according to Quest Software’s new Identity Management Government Survey.

Conducted by Pursuant, a public opinion research firm, on behalf of Quest Software, the study suveyed government IT professionals on their perceptions on the progress of compliance, the barriers to success and the impact of national security, critical public infrastructure and personal security.

“The survey casts necessary attention on the complex business and technology challenges confronting government agencies as they work to achieve identity management requirements, which will only increase in importance,” said Scott Hastings, partner at Deep Water Point and former CIO of the Department of Homeland Security and Department of Justice, in a statement. “To bolster their business cases, government IT professionals must employ solutions that address the entire enterprise and demonstrate incremental progress in security and privacy enhancements that generate real operational benefits.”

Of the government IT professionals surveyed, 69 per cent said they believe that identity management is “very important” to their organization or agency, and 72 per cent said they believe its importance will increase in the next five years. When asked which steps their organizations had complied with, 76 per cent said they had secured information systems, 72 per cent had secured personnel information and 75 per cent had secured access to facilities.

Approximately 35 per cent of the government IT professionals said their organizations or agencies will be compliant with government identity management mandates within the next years, but 37 per cent said they didn`t know when their organizations/agencies would be compliant.

Additionally, the survey found that 51 per cent of the government IT professionals surveyed said a heterogeneous (mixed application) environment is “very challening” or “somewhat challenging” for their identity management systems.

Thirty-one per cent of respondents cited lack of funding as the main obstacle that would impact their ability to reach their identity management objectives.

During the next five years, 45 per cent think the amount budgeted for identity management projects and services will increase; only five per cent think it will decrease.

Fifty per cent believe Congress should provide more funding to agencies to develop and implement identity management systems, and 49 per cent believe it should require greater planning and collaboration among federal agencies and state and local governments.

Of the government IT professionals surveyed, 56 per cent said they have either personally seen or heard about someone violating their organization or agency’s security protocols.

“The ‘Identity Management Government Survey’ reveals that the runway for government agencies is getting shorter and shorter, and this critical security concern cannot await a utopian solution,” said Paul Garver, vice president of public sector for Quest Software, in a statement. “The most significant measure government agencies can take today is to leverage prevalent infrastructure investments, such as Microsoft Active Directory, to serve as a centralized identity repository and immediately begin working towards single/reduced sign-on.”

This column was written by Chris Talbot of ConnectIT

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