The deployment, completed two years ago, brought data from 12 network directories into one repository and helped Rodriguez cut the 650-employee firm's IT staff from 30 to 15. You can go on and on about how great the technology is, but they want the cost savings. Businesses are finding they are using scores of directories that often contain duplicate information on users, applications and systems. Organizations are beginning to wind down Y2K spending, experts say, and now is the time to get management buy-in for enterprise directory services. IT managers should begin to assemble pitches that include case studies of how enterprise directory services can enable e-commerce and collaboration among partners and find examples of how the technology can cut costs and improve security by centralizing the network infrastructure.
People make the mistake of selling directory services by talking about how nice it is.
Much of that expense is caused by the highly manual processes needed to cleanse, normalize and integrate data from multiple directories into a single enterprise directory. Enterprise directories achieve that kind of return by eliminating much of the overhead needed to continually update multiple stand-alone directories. Metadirectories, such as Isocor Corp.'s MetaConnect and Microsoft's Zoomit, can provide additional returns by connecting network databases, operating system directories, e-mail directories, human resources databases and application directories. Enterprise and metadirectory vendors are rapidly adding new features. Version 8 of NDS, for example, can handle as many as 1 billion directory entries.