Price
starts at $19 per user
RATING BREAKDOWN
- Features:
- Ease of Use:
- Performance:
- Documentation:
- Support:
- Value for Money:
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QUICK READ
- Strengths: Solid features with a lot of flexibility across many platforms.
- Weaknesses: Management GUI can be slightly confusing at first.
- Verdict: Lots of features and good value if you are willing to take the time to learn how to manage this solid product.
The Avatier Identity Management Suite, or AIMS, takes a full service approach to user lifecycle management. This tool is made up of five distinct pieces that all work together to manage users across the enterprise. These modules are Account Creator, which streamlines creating user accounts across several platforms; Password Bouncer, which manages password rules to ensure passwords are kept strong and secure; Account Requester, which allows users to request access to resources through an automated workflow process; Password Station, which allows for users to reset and manage passwords on a self service basis; and Account Terminator, which gives administrators an automated process to ensure user accounts and mailboxes are completely deactivated when necessary.
From initial installation and configuration through actual user management, this product is very easy to use. Installation can be done on a member server of the domain running Internet Information Services (IIS). The installation itself is guided by a setup wizard and takes just a few minutes. Once setup is complete, management is done through a management application. This application has a well organized interface with a clean look.
This tool can plug in and integrate out of the box with over 30 target operating systems, databases and applications. This, paired with the complete user lifecycle management capability, makes the application extremely flexible and easy to integrate into almost any environment.
Documentation is definitely not light. It comes in three paper manuals, which include two installation guides and a very large reference guide. While the reference guide is quite lengthy, it is also well organized and indexed, so it is easy to navigate.
Avatier offers annual support maintenance contracts to customers. The support services include version upgrades with five days a week/11 hours a day dial-in support center, and 7/24 email and web support.
With a price starting at about $19 per user, this product can become quite costly for very large environments. However, we do find it to be a good value for the money based on its solid feature set and intuitive management of the user lifecycle.
