It's something that Microsoft arguably would prefer not to touch - why provide choice when monopoly is so profitable? :-) - so I'm glad someone is doing it. It takes the world as is and provides an "out" for those enterprises (and they probably include everyone) that run more than Windows. :-)Ĭentrify isn't trying to steer buyer behavior to or from Microsoft's Active Directory. So, instead of building a big database to replicate and synchronize (Tom noted that the underlying identity stores may not support synchronization, anyway), Centrify decided to embrace and extend Active Directory, allowing customers to reduce the number of identity stores, leveraging AD and putting in on steroids. If you've standardized on some other directory, this package will.
Single sign-on systems (essentially, metadirectories) were then developed to solve the problem, but the solution created other problems: such schemes rely on big databases to provide replication and synchronization, which costs a great deal of money and introduces additional complexity. If you're using Active Directory and also have systems running UNIX, Linux or Mac OS, Centrify Express is worth learning about. In other words, Centrify allows administrators to deploy an Active Directory server but make it work with non-Windows clients (Mac OS X machines or Linux or.whatever).Īs Tom noted, most enterprises have 50-60 identity stores, which requires users to have multiple logins to use their company's IT systems. Instead, Centrify decided to focus on enabling heterogeneity in the client world.
Few want to risk identity management on a clone. Centrify Express is not only the quickest and easiest solution to use and deploy for integrating Linux and Mac systems with Active Directory, but delivers more functionality and more to upgrade to than alternative offerings. IAM services depend on active and lightweight directory access protocol. Choice is good.Ĭentrify opted not to develop a server-side clone of Active Directory, citing customers as the reason. Identity-as-a-service is usually delivered completely on-site with the use of a. In other words, it lets customers choose to leverage their Microsoft technology without being forced completely into the Microsoft ecosystem.
Centrify DirectControl secures.non-Microsoft platforms using the same authentication, authorization and Group Policy services deployed for your Windows environment. centrally secures.heterogeneous systems, web applications, databases and storage systems using Microsoft Active Directory.
In Centrify's case, it extends Active Directory to platforms other than Microsoft, meaning that it. To change an Active Directory users password: /usr/local/bin/adpasswd -adminuser domainadminusername. This guide is intended for system and network administrators who are responsible for managing user access to servers, workstations, and network resources.
Centrify is not open source but, depending on how you look at it, either solidifies or dilutes Microsoft's hold on its customers. Centrify DirectControl and Active Directory. Last week I spent some time talking with Tom Kemp, CEO of Centrify.