We were recently asked this question, and managing Non-Employee Identities is a common challenge for organizations when implementing an Identity and Access Management (IAM) solution. We work with a wide range of clients across the Fortune 1000 and this is what we have seen:
1) 80% build a home grown web-based registration form that creates a non-employee identity in the directory. The identity is tied to a manager and an SOW with a defined end date. There are automated reminders to the manager starting 30 days out that the end date is coming, and the option to renew/update the worker.
2) 10% use another external application to manage identities. We’ve seen customers integrate with recruiting systems, vendor management systems, and even Remedy (The helpdesk ticketing application).
3) 5% use the contractor module in their HRIS system (for example, SAP’s contractor module)
4) 5% use an external provider (e.g. Covisint) to manage non-employee identities and then use Federation to manage access to corporate IT resources.
