Based on recent comments by Tivoli GM Robert LeBlanc and parent IBM's purchase of Access360, Tivoli is betting that the next hot-button software purchasing decision for enterprise systems customers will be security, and particularly identity management. After placing its chips on the table, it's now up to the Austin-based IBM Software unit to deliver enterprise-level security solutions.

Analysts at IDC expect the security management software market will outpace other enterprise software segments over the next five years by growing at over 30% annually, from $550 million in 2001 to more than $2 billion by 2006. Access360 produces the enRole identity management platform, which enables systems administrators to automate user identification and authorization for distributed networks, which for many enterprise environments has becoming a time-consuming and people-intensive effort.

For IBM and Tivoli, looking to the outside for technology marks a decided change from the company's past focus of trying to solve every customer's problem with internally developed solutions. Instead of tinkering in the garage and hoping people will want its newest invention, Tivoli is trying to orient product development efforts towards products that customers need now, and not problems that don't yet exist. As analysts and customers have noted, Tivoli's attempts to solve problems themselves have not always worked out. "The Access360 solution is a much easier piece of software for mid-tier and large enterprise customers to deploy and maintain than the current Tivoli solutions," said Aberdeen Group vice president Jim Hurley.
Perhaps it has something to do with the underlying technology. As Lou Rubbo, principal at DirSec, a directory and security solution provider in Centennial, Colo. who is familiar with the enRole platform notes, "some of the technology is integrated more closely with Sun than with IBM."

The critical question for Tivoli is whether they can quickly integrate these new solutions into their offerings and deploy working solutions for customers. The results remain to be seen.