The development of a "holistic" model incorporating business strategy formulation with IdM strategy formulation

Identity management (IdM) not only improves the process of creating and maintaining digital identities across the business systems, but, if implemented successfully it can contribute to the strengthening and positioning of the business for success. In order to lead successful IdM implementation organizations need to step back and determine a course of action that would solve enterprise-wide issues. Short-sighted actions can lead to confusion, unnecessary expenses and the delay of beneficial results. This paper presents guidelines for application of strategic management principles regarding IdM implementation. By gathering and interpreting information from a real life case study on how a typical large South African business organization approached its IdM implementation, a theoretical model incorporating IdM implementation planning within business strategy formulation is proposed. This study results reveals five important guideline steps regarding IdM implementation.