Let's consider something completely different but that we will all be familiar with. We've all, at some point, wanted or needed to buy something be it a new car, clothing, some form or service (legal, financial), some electronic gadget. We all have different ways of going about it, but in the majority of cases there will come a point that you will speak with someone who you consider to be an expert, or someone whose opinion you treat with great respect.
Hey, in the field of Identity Management it should be no different. If you want to get your IDM project off the ground, run smoothly and executed professionally, then make sure you are talking with people who have the experience. The IDM vendors help you here by appointing partners who will undertake the services delivery on your behalf (for a fee of course!) and I'll say it - some are better than others and that is where you're own contacts and judgement comes in.
From your own perspective, the stakeholders within the organisation also need to be selected carefully, and by this I do not mean choosing people who will just go with the flow and say "Yes" to everything. You should select people from a varied background, some who will challenge, some who are new, some who know the politics and, yes, some who will support the project through thick and thin.
I said at the top "they're not just technical!!" This is one of the biggest mistakes organisations make when entering into these kind of projects - they do not include non-technical staff in the stakeholders and resources of the project. Although they may not be actively involved on a day-to-day basis the following people should be considered for inclusion:-
- Business analyst
- Users for testing
- Data managers
- Security Officer
- HR and Legal (for data protection issues)
- Third Party (and citizen) users
- CIO/IT Director/IT Manager