MIIS SP2 is the next service pack release of MIIS. The Identity Management Team received some very consistent feedback from customers in the Beta 1 for MIIS SP2. Feedback from our beta customers indicated we needed to make some significant changes to the release. Specifically, customer requirements around ease of deployment suggested that we investigate alternative designs so that Active Directory-only password reset can be easily implemented – especially for customers who have an all-Microsoft environment such as small and mid-market
customers.
We also have received feedback from customers around the support for SQL 2005, Visual Studio 2005, Virtual Server and 64-bit hardware. We believe we can release a Service Pack that includes this support as well as a number of bug fixes relatively quickly.
Due to the amount of effort required to make the requested changes to the password reset portal, and our imperative to release value to customers as quickly as possible, we made the decision to
release SP2 with the bug fixes and 2005 platform support and to release the password portal in a future release.
We have not yet closed on the timing for release of the password reset portal. We will provide an update on our progress with SP2 and the password portal in this summer.
I can certainly echo Alemero's original sentiment - Ensynch also has companies that are very anxiously awaiting functionality in the new Password Portal because while it's not entirely original, it is a) free, and b) will integrate with their existing or future MIIS deployments. Having seen the beta, and Chris Macaulay's presentation at DEC, I think I can understand why Microsoft choose to decouple it from SP2 as there is still quite a bit of work to be done and even if it is "free", Microsoft does seem to be doing the right thing here by placing form and function above a quick and easy release. I'm hoping that means we get a very functional product as opposed to something that belongs in the Resource Kit (like the MIISWorkflow example).
2 comments:
I am grateful to have found a Blog posting where Simon Veale clarifies the position on MIIS SP2 and dated as far back as April.
We have a tool that Simon and several of his Microsoft colleagues are supporting by having demo setups when making customer visits.
FastPass Password Manager is a web based tool for Active Directory installing against AD as an add-on (and very shortly ADAM). It requires no SQL, nor additional hardware and the install file is all of 6 Mb. Installation takes approx. 2 hours and coupled with another value add tool of ours, User Account Self Claim Tool for MIIS, we can via a web service from the same password reset GUI drive Directory cleanups and ID mapping from the user desktop.
So what's the proposition here ?
We enable the AD to be MIIS ready without an MIIS deployment and giving an instant ROI !
We shift the workload to the IW and away from the HelpDesk.
We enable increased IW productivity.
We strengthen security.
We are EMEA based and have been closely tied into the Microsoft EMEA partner eco-system to bring value and fill the void that the password portal has left behind. We have just entered into an agreement with a large southern US based SI to distribute the tool as well as for use on their own customer sites.
Who facilitated this entrance to the US market ? Well, Microsoft did ! Watch this space.
Another product to check out is MyPassword by The Dot Net Factory.
http://www.thedotnetfactory.com/MyPassword.aspx
It offers password self-service and fully integrates with MIIS for multi-system password push through MIIS. It also has user interfaces for SharePoint, web, Outlook Web Access, and a Gina extension for the Windows Logon. It is also part of a larger identity management suite called EmpowerID.
Patrick
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