Identity Management Will Increase in Importance over
Next Five Years According to Survey of
U.S. Government IT Professionals

Research Reveals National Security Trumps Personal Privacy, Great Concern for Loss of Personal Privacy and Data Security from Unauthorized Access

ALISO VIEJO, Calif. and RESTON, Va. – March 3, 2008 Quest Software, Inc.(Nasdaq: QSFT) today announced the results of its Identity Management Government Survey of federal, state, local and municipal government IT professionals conducted by Pursuant, a Washington, D.C.-based public opinion research firm. The research, commissioned by Quest Software, reveals new and significant data on government IT professionals’ perceptions on the progress of compliance with mandates such as HSPD-12, FIPS 201, and FISMA, the barriers to success, and the impact on national security, critical public infrastructure, and personal security. Read Press Release

“The Identity Management Government Survey reveals that the runway for government agencies is getting shorter and shorter, and this critical security concern cannot await a utopian solution . The most significant measure government agencies can take today is to leverage prevalent infrastructure investments, such as Microsoft Active Directory, to serve as a centralized identity repository and immediately begin working towards single/reduced sign-on.”

-- Paul Garver, Vice President of Public Sector, Quest Software

Highlights

• About 35% of government IT professionals project that their organization or agency will be compliant with government identity management mandates within the next two years, while 37% report that they “don’t know” when their organization or agency will be compliant. This may reflect on the challenges inherent in the complexity of the requirements and the difficulty experienced by respondents in juggling ongoing and unfunded IdM efforts with existing priorities.
• Respondents point to real business and technology challenges that stand in the way of compliance. The top obstacles cited include the lack of funding, technological complexity and staffing resources.
• The majority of respondents believe Congress should play a more active role by providing more funding and/or require greater planning/collaboration among government entities.
• Over one-half of government IT professionals believe that national security should be the priority even if it means that Americans’ personal privacy could be negatively impacted.
• Over one-half of government IT professionals have either personally seen or heard about someone violating their organization or agency’s security protocols.
• According to about half of respondents, a heterogeneous (mixed-application) environment is “very challenging ” or “somewhat challenging” for their organization or agency’s IdM system.