The clipboard held the VIP list that kept the crowd behind the velvet rope. The clipboard gave your queue back stage, “you’re on after the juggling cat.” The clipboard helped us count things.  The clipboard was pervasive. The clipboard conveyed authority.

Recently, Novell queried security professionals around the globe and found identity and security management will be the largest investment area for 2010 and 2011. One of the major areas of focus was compliance. According to the results, three quarters of respondents claimed 80% of their user access management processes are manual. Which probably means thousands of clipboards are at work counting, crosschecking and verifying who has access to what.

The clipboard has finally found its match with Identity Manager 4. Launched last week, Identity Manager 4 offers out-of-the-box reporting capabilities and tools for data cleansing and policy framework design.

In his article, "Novell Extends Identity Manager into the Cloud,"  Sean Michael Kerner writes in an interview with Justin Steinman, VP solutions marketing, Novell:

“Among the key enhancements in Identity Manager 4.0 from its predecessor are new built-in reporting capabilities. Those new reporting capabilities include the ability to report on recent activity levels and customize and automate reports, as well as the ability to save reports to a repository. Steinman noted that it's important to not just control access but to also be able to report on access for compliance requirements.”

Now, when the CIO says, “can’t you just spit out a report I can give the auditors to prove we’re complying without spending so much time and messing around with these clipboards?”

You can say, “What clipboards? I’ve got your report right here.”