Wednesday, November 27, 2019

Make Childhood Obesity Bad Again Professor Ramos Blog

Make Childhood Obesity Bad Again Photo Credit: https://www.choc.org/health-topics/childhood-obesity/ There is a saying for when it comes to eating and gaining weight - and no offense by the way. That saying is, â€Å"You are what you eat.† But letting this be the case for adults, what about for children, adolescents, and teenagers as well? For some youths that come from different backgrounds and descents of different ethnicities, their forms of obesity are based on their ethnicity. This is the case for children and adolescents of African-American descent, Latino-American descent, and Asian-American descent. As the experiences of obesity from different ethnicities are being shown, the solutions in combatting against obesity are shown as well so that the next generation of adolescents won’t have to suffer like some are. While there are some adolescents of different ethnicities that fall under the clutches of obesity, restaurants, companies, schools, and children and adolescents that fall under this disorder should change the foods that are served and consumed and alter their habits in order to fight against childhood obesity. Photo credit: https://www.owensworld.com/funny-pictures/cartoons/you-are-what-you-eat Among the various minorities in the United States, childhood obesity is â€Å"prevalent among African American children† (Davis et. al 1). In other words, obesity is a concern for African American adolescents due to causes that vary from family to socio-economic causes. According to a study conducted by Dr. Melvin Davis, Young, Sheila P. Davis, and Moll, they found out, in the state of Mississippi, that obesity in African American adolescents is high in girls than in boys. This is proven with the study showing that 49% of African American girls were obese while 39% of African American boys (Davis et. al 1) were obese. In a sense, gender role also plays a role in adolescent obesity. Another cause to adolescent obesity in African American adolescents and teenagers are parenting styles. According to researchers, they stated that â€Å"parenting style is likely to be a fruitful area of current research into childhood obesity etiology† (Davis et. al 2). The reason for this being that parenting styles are â€Å"essential for controlling childhood obesity† (Davis et. al 2). More specifically, the control factor towards childhood obesity is based on the interaction between children and parents. According to Davis and her research group, they stated that depression â€Å"appeared to compromise African American mothers abilities to engage in more optimal forms of parenting† (2). In other words, depression in parents is a negating factor when it comes to bonding with children while dealing with childhood obesity. Another factor for childhood obesity in African American adolescents is that the parents â€Å"have a history of trying unsuccessfully to help their child lose weight† (Davis et. al 2). That being said, parents sometimes have a misunderstanding of how their children deal with childhood obesity and find different ways in dealing with it. But while there may be ways for their children, there were unsuccessful outcomes to those so lutions. Another factor to childhood obesity in African American adolescents is the family’s history. According to Davis and her group, she stated, based on their research and interviews with the parents that participated in the experiment, that â€Å"14% of their siblings were obese, and 32% of the parents had an obese grandparent† (3). While African American children are affected by childhood obesity, Latino American children are also similarly affected in the same way as African American children. Photo credit: https://theblackdetour.com/the-obesity-crisis-in-black-america/ In a study conducted by Gloria P. Martinez, her research showed that 44% of Hispanic and 32.2% of non-white Hispanic adolescents (Martinez 1) suffered from childhood obesity. In comparison to African American children, her researched also proved that there is a â€Å"prevalence of obesity among Mexican Americans and Hispanic Blacks† (Martinez 2) with a percentage of 49.2% African American children (Martinez 1) that are found to be overweight. The main cause of child obesity in Latino American adolescents are the culture and habits absorbed once they spend time in the United States doing activities that increases their weight. Specifically, the main cause is that â€Å"they adopt American lifestyles behaviors and social norms† (Martinez 2) such as binge-watching and eating foods that are high in fat and sugar. Another cause to obesity in Latino American adolescents are the types of foods they would eat. In a study conducted by Guerrero, Ponce, and Chung, it is stated in their research that Latino American children have a higher tendency for fast food and sugary foods and drinks than vegetables and fruits (Guerrero et. al 4). Moreover, Guerrero and her group’s study shows that Latino American children are â€Å"less likely to consume 2 or more vegetable servings in the previous day than their non-Mexican Latino counterparts† (Guerrero et. al 3). Specifically, Latino American adolescents have less healthy foods in comparison to Asian American adolescents. According to Guerrero, Ponce, and Chung, their study showed that Asian American adolescents - specifically Korean, Filipino, and Vietnamese adolescents - have a tendency for vegetables and healthy foods than Latino adolescents (Guerrero et. al 4). When it comes to fast food, Korean and Filipino adolescents share the same rate of tendency in fast food as Latino adolescents (Guerrero et. al 4). In comparison between Asian and Latino American children and adolescent, their obesity rate s are almost similar except at the point where Latino American children prefer fast foods and high calorie foods and beverages than vegetables. Photo credit: https://www.mprnews.org/story/2012/01/15/youth-latino-health (left) ; https://asiancorrespondent.com/2015/01/new-study-reveals-40-of-chinese-urbanites-overweight/ (right) In regards to the aformentioned ethnicities, one of the places of childhood obesity can be found in schools. According to Suarez-Balcazar et. al, there are many cases in which schools â€Å"are grappling with the problem of unhealthy lunch options and unhealthy items in the vending machines† (1). In California, there was an instance in which the state banned junk foods and drinks from vending machines in schools and introduced salad bars in the luncheon menu (Suarez-Balcazar et. al 2). While that’s not enough, many people from schools were â€Å"concerned about the school luncheons and vending machines† (Suarez-Balcazar et. al 2) since it wasn’t enough to combat obesity. Another state that had a similar movement was in Illinois. Taking place in Chicago public schools, the CFSC, known as the Chicago Food System Collaborative, was formed in order â€Å"to help increase access to healthy foods in a minority community† (Suarez-Balcazar et. al 3). Furth ermore, Chicago public schools were given salad bar luncheons by the Cool Food group which â€Å"involved contracting with the existing school food service vendors in order to include a salad bar option in a few of schools at a time† (Suarez-Balcazar et. al 7). Photo credit: https://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/04/education/04vending.html Photo credit: https://www.fic.nih.gov/News/GlobalHealthMatters/september-october-2017/Pages/preventing-childhood-obesity-in-latin-america.aspx While adolescents may be enjoying fast foods, soft drinks, and anything else they can get their hands on, there are ways to fight against childhood obesity and change the lifestyles that these adolescents conform to when it comes to food, drinks, and activities that are easy to enjoy and indulge yourself in. One way children, adolescents, and teens can fight against obesity is reducing how much food and drinks they consume. Also known as dosing, it is a way to moderate how much children can intake so that they don’t accumulate too much body fat while indulging in food and drinks and not exercising. According to Hoelscher, Byrd-Williams, and Sharma, they stated that dosing â€Å"has been found to be significantly associated with outcomes in child obesity-prevention interventions† (2). Dosing is a common action when it comes to dieting and exercising in order to fight against obesity. Another factor that can be considered is considering environmental factors inside and o utside the places you go and in the food and drinks you consume. When it comes to kids’ meals in fast food restaurants and in other foods that are deemed healthy as inscribed on the label or as seen on TV, they may not be as healthy as it seems. As it turns out, â€Å"commercials still promote predominantly unhealthy food† (Hoelscher et. al 2). So while there are some foods that are not-so healthy, there are other healthy options to consider. Another factor in environmental causes to obesity are the limited number of places for children to play in. According to Hoelscher et. al, â€Å"the lack of safe play areas can decrease physical activity opportunities for preschool children† (2). It is not just in the play areas for small children, but also in the places that adolescents could go to for exercise as they grow. Sure they can’t go to a children’ playground - unless if they want to do so. But there are other places that adolescents can exercise i n, such as the park, basketball court, tennis court, and even the gym. Photo credit: https://www.star2.com/family/children/2016/11/20/tackling-the-problem-of-childhood-obesity/ With obesity being a common concern for today’s adolescents, especially children of different ethnicities, that concern can be combatted with the actions of moderating the intake of high calorie food and drinks, having more healthy options, and exercising. Obesity is not a joke, especially for some of us who may be in this problem. The problem of obesity comes from internal causes - such as what we eat and drink; if we exercise or not; what bad habits we have; history of obesity in the family bloodline - and external causes - such as how restaurants and companies give out their products; how the environment affects what children and adolescents eat, drink, and exercise. Annotated Bibliography Davis, Melvin, et al. â€Å"Parental Depression, Family Functioning and Obesity among African American Children.† Journal of Cultural Diversity, vol. 15, no. 2, Summer 2008, pp. 61– 65. EBSCOhost, http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=truedb=sihAN=32667343site=ehost-live. This article talks about the different causes of child obesity in African American children. These causes varied from social, from within the relationship between parents and children, to the background history of the family. This article will be used to show the causes and statistics regarding child obesity in African American children. Melvin Davis is a professor from Jackson State University and is a part of the university’s Department of Psychology. Sheila P. Davis is from the University of Southern Mississippi. George Moll is from the University of Mississippi’s Medical Center. Guerrero, Alma D., et al. â€Å"Obesogenic Dietary Practices of Latino and Asian Subgroups of Children in California: An Analysis of the California Health Interview Survey, 2007-2012.† American Journal of Public Health, vol. 105, no. 8, Aug. 2015, pp. e105– e112. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=truedb=sihAN=108279158site=ehost-live. This article discusses childhood obesity in regards to Latino and Asian American children. Moreover, this article shows a comparison of obesity rates between Latino and Asian American adolescents. This article will be used to convey the statistics and characteristics of obesity in Latino American and Asian American children. Alma D. Guerrero is from UCLA’s Department of Pediatrics and David Geffen School of Medicine; she also has connections with the Children’s Discovery and Innovation Institute and Mattel Children’s Hospital. Paul J. Chung is from UCLA’s Department of Health Policy and Management and the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health. He also works with Guerrero in UCLA’s Department of Pediatrics and the David Geffen School of Medicine. Ninez A. Ponce is from the Center for Health Policy and Management, Center for Global and Immigrant Health, and UCLA’s Fielding School of Public Health. Hoelscher, Deanna M., et al. â€Å"Prevention of Obesity in Early Childhood: What Are the Next Steps?† American Journal of Public Health, vol. 108, no. 12, Dec. 2018, pp. 1585–1587. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=truedb=sihAN=134666820site=ehost-live The article discusses some solutions in fighting against childhood obesity. These solutions range from dealing with restaurants and companies that supposedly give out healthy foods, the places where children can be active, and much more. This article will be used to show that there are solutions for children, adolescents, and teens in combatting against childhood obesity. Deanna M. Hoelscher and Courtney E. Byrd-Williams are affiliated with the Michael Susan Dell Center for Healthy Living, University of Texas’s Department of Health Promotion/Behavioral Sciences. Shreela V. Sharma is affiliated with the Michael Susan Dell Center for Healthy Living, the University of Texas’s Department of Epidemiology, Human Genetics, and Environmental Science. Martinez, Gloria. â€Å"52. Social and Cultural Correlates of Latino Children’s and Adolescent Obesity.† Conference Papers American Sociological Association, 2009 Annual Meeting 2009, p. 1. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=truedb=sihAN=54430419site=ehost-live This article discusses the statistics of childhood obesity in African American and Latino American children. Moreover, this article specifically shows the perspective of Latino American adolescents being under the veils of childhood obesity and how they cope with it. This article will be used to compare the forms of childhood obesity between African American and Latino American children. Gloria P. Martinez is a professor at Texas State University and is a part of the Department of Sociology. Suarez-Balcazar, Yolanda, et al. â€Å"Introducing Systems Change in the Schools: The Case of School Luncheons and Vending Machines.† American Journal of Community Psychology, vol. 39, no. 3/4, June 2007, pp. 335–345. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=truedb=sihAN=25277755site=ehost-live In this article, the story of unhealthy luncheons and vending machines are told in this article written by Yolanda Suarez-Balcazar and her group. These narratives are told based on their observations in public schools in both California and Chicago. This article will be used to discuss how schools were places that influenced childhood obesity through their unhealthy luncheons and junk foods and beverages given to adolescents through vending machines. Yolanda Suarez-Balcazar is from the University of Illinois’s College of Applied Health Sciences. LaDonna Redmond is Minnesota’s District 3 Hennepin County Commissioner and is currently a part of The Pollination Project as a part of the project of food justice. Joanne Kouba is a dietitian and a professor at Loyola University Chicago. Rochelle Davis is from the Healthy Schools Campaign. Louise I. Martinez is from the University of Illinois’s College of Applied Health Sciences. Lara Jones is from the Consortium to Lowe r Obesity in Chicago Children (CLOCC).

Saturday, November 23, 2019

Case Analysis of Barilla Spa Essays

Case Analysis of Barilla Spa Essays Case Analysis of Barilla Spa Essay Case Analysis of Barilla Spa Essay CASE ANALYSIS OF BARILLA SPA Problem seen in Barilla SpA by Giorgio Maggiali-Director of logistics is the demand fluctuations imposed on the company manufacturing distribution system. Brando Vitali which was an earlier Director of logistics in Barilla SpA proposed an idea of Just- in- time distribution (JITD) for this problem. Instead of Distributors giving orders according to them, company should deliver its products on time by its own logistics system on the basis of end consumer needs. By implementing this idea of JITD, company faces many problems like Barilla customers are unwilling to share their business data with company due to which company is unable to predict forecast demand delivery decisions. -Company own sales marketing people feel that if this idea is successful they will be out of the company as their will be no need of sales marketing team after this JITD implementation. Now scenario was that no one except this idea neither internally by company own employees esp ecially sales marketing people nor externally by its own distributors retailers. In 1875 Pietro barilla started Barilla SpA in Italy . Pietro passed company to his son Ricardo which in 1940, further passed to his sons-Pietro Gianni which were far more successful than their ancestors. Core competency of a company - High quality products supported by innovative marketing programmes. -Marketing practices creating a strong brand name image for its pasta. -Selling pasta in a sealed cardboard box with a recognizable color pattern Pietro Gianni barilla made a pasta plant of 1. 25 million sq. etre which was the world largest most technologically advanced pasta plant in the world which put them deeply into the debt they have to sell this plant to American MNC, W. R. Grace. Now according to me this situation was due to the following factors -Demand was not forecasted as market needed pastas in such a great quantity or not -Logistics system of distribution was also not discussed while making a plant outside Parma city in a rural town which is 5 km away Gurjeet Bhatia - Indore -Such a highly technological plant will definitely be highly costlier may misbalance the financial situation of a company. American MNC was also failed in spite of additional capital investment professional management practices to the company due to difficult economic conditions new Italian legislation at that time. American MNC again sold the company to Pietro Barilla. As crucial time of difficult economic condition passed on new legislation was also been stabilized, the capital investments organizational changes that Grace had brought to Barilla became a powerful tool for a company company now progress a lot through expansion of existing businesses, both in Italy and other European countries. By this we learn that – External factors like economic condition of a country new legislation system plays an important role in a success or failure of a company. -Internal factors like capital investment organizational changes also play an important role in a success or failure of a company Amongst the 35 % of all pasta sold in Italy the traditional barilla brand represented 32 % of the market. It sh ows that -People like traditional Pasta products as these products satisfies their taste most -People of Italy were of traditional culture Half of barilla’s pasta was sold in Southern Italy and half in Northern Italy . Northern Italy has more market share than Southern Italy due to its larger size. Barillas also have a 29 % share of the Italian bakery products market. Manufacturing Distribution system of Barilla SpA (Seven Divisions) -Three pasta divisions -barilla,voiello braibanti -Bakery product division-manufacture medium to long shelf life bakery products -Fresh bread division -manufacture very short life bakery product -Catering division -distributes cakes frozen croissants to bars pastry shops -International division Corporate headquarters were located adjacent to the Pedrignano plant It shows that -Barilla SpA was organized in a systematic way as every different product has their different divisions -To have full control over an organizational structure of a company, company located its headquarters near to the plant. Gurjeet Bhatia -Indore Per capita pasta consumption in Italy averaged nearly 18 kg per year which was far more than Western European countries -This means that Pasta was a highly demandable consumable product in Italy also used for regular meal product People of Italy may like Pasta so much due to Pasta historical picture of being â€Å"Since time immemorial, Italians have adored pasta† -Pasta has a regular or smooth demand round the year because of its use in summer as well as in winter Italian pasta market growth in Italy was only 1 % per year in 1980 by 1990’s only some pasta products like Semolina Fresh pasta shows some growth but the real factor of growth for the company was due to Eastern European countries seeking low priced basic food products like Pasta Products. It shows that consumer in Eastern European countries needs a low priced basic food products Italian Pasta fulfills this need therefore be the big hit in Eastern European countries. â€Å"RIGHT PRODUCT AT RIGHT TIME IN RIGHT PLACE† Barilla plant network is strong as spreaded throughout Italy also seems cost conscious. -Barilla invested in R D facilities for developing testing new products production processes. In Barilla Pasta plants set up cost is low product quality is high as a single product was maintained with high quality. Big lot sizes were manufactured which helps in keeping products price competitive. -Barilla employees used bicycles in big plants due to which there is no wastage of time money by not using fuel consuming vehicles which may also pollute an environment in a plant can ultimately change the product tastes. -Due to the company investments in R D facilities, it became a master in producing specialized products finally results in good tastes, due to which product consumption increases hence company got good sales figures. Even according to the size of the product, particular plant was used to take 100 % output from production facilities. -Even products have been divided into fresh products dry products categories according to their short long shelf lives which may help a product to be sold in its limited time horizon. -As per consumer needs of 5 kg,2 kg,1 kg1/2 kg packing, the most popular pastas being made sold . This may give a full grip to a company over its customers. Barilla has two central distribution centers (CDC) in Northern Southern part of a country which helps a company in controlling monitoring inventories. Fresh products not became obsolescence or wastage, hence distributed quickly within time. Gurjeet Bhatia -Indore -Inventory management is also strong by keeping 3 days of fresh products inventory a 30 days of dry products inventory in CDCs. The entire channel management from plant to warehouses throug h independent agents helps the company in the way that the fresh products to be reached on time through 70 regional warehouses. The main consumption i. e. 2/3 part of barilla dry products was through distributors which supply to the supermarkets. Balance part was distributed through own companies warehouses to small shops. Earlier logistics Director Vitali wants to implement JITD system in this major 2/3 part to get maximum outputs but was not successful. It shows that Barilla wants to make its distribution system stronger. -Small shop owners are directly not linked with the company . Brokers play an intermediary role as numbers of small shops are largely high. For Supermarket chains, the chain’s own Grand Distributors (GD) plays an intermediary role for Independent Supermarkets intermediary are organized distributors (DO). The purchase decision of Barilla product was fully in hands of these GDs DOs as they buy SKUs according to their needs does not prefer pasta products in multiple packing. To replenish orders in supermarket 1-2 days time was taken by distribution centers. Till now, it seems that -Manufacturing Distribution of fresh dry products of the Barilla was fine but Barilla has no control on Sales as major products were sold through GDs and DOs. Barilla advertises strongly its premium products through athletes and celebrities in their respective countries. Barilla wants to make loyal relationship with Italian families. By trade promotions retailers buys in bulk for trade discounts and their future needs. Incentives for Barilla sales representatives were also based on their sales targets It shows that Demand for Barilla products was not stable since Barilla applied push strategy, company want to sell what it makes whether it is demanded or not. Company does not know the actual demand of end consumer. -By giving discounts, incentives, FTL discounts barilla want to maintain its production smooth. Due to sales strategy based on incentives, salesman of the company gives its full attention to stores not towards supermarkets. -Lead time was not constant as Barilla fulfills orders between 8-14 days. -ROP can’t be maintained by distributors as demand rate ‘d’ seems constant but Lead time ’LT’ is not constant(The major fault for uncertain lead time is the delivery schedule of the Barilla which is between 8-14 days) -Company faces fluctuating demand due to its distributor’s unstable demand. To cope up with this problem manufacturing logistics managers want to push more inventories as safety stock to distributors but due to distributor limitations of space or enough regular stock they discarded this idea. Gurjeet Bhatia -Indore Vitali clearly argued that the demand can be stable by knowing distributors sales data replenish orders on behalf on these sales data distribute products on time to keep stock out levels low. This will give more profits to distributors, retailers also to the company -By knowing end-consumers inputs only, the entire supply chain should work on behalf of it. To stream line the entire supply chain small shops are well technologically equipped the retailers distributors should share their current SKUs sales data every day -The entire manufacturing strategy, selling distribution strategy should be on behalf of actual demand of end consumer. Logistics manager Maggiali faces arguments from its company sales representatives also from its distributors. They show no interest in changing their strategies The only distributor Marconi was responsive but its further retailers don’t want to share their sales data does not want to become a part of an entire supply chain. -The top management like sales executives vice president general manager also take interest in JITD but distributors are not ready to be the part of JITD. Now barilla applied JITD in its own Florence depot successful in reducing inventories increasing fill rate also successful in keeping depot manager satisfied with current inventories. -JITD also shows good result in another depot. Now it seems that company got success in JITD within its depot till now. But distributors are not yet ready to apply this JITD -Maggiali was successful to bring all its company top management people like Sales Director, Managing Director ,Logistics Managers, Service Managers, JITD Implementation managers of course the large DO (cortese) closure in implementing JITD in cortese warehouses. In JITD programmes in cortese warehouses company collects its 6 months historical data on basis of it set its shipments. Sales data information was also sent through fax afterwards through EDI. In this way by correct shipments Information, Inventories were reduced Customer retailer service level increases. Now Barilla maintained its customer records through current SKUs, forecast sales, watch carefully stock outs via EDI . Barilla used this information in shipments -Each truck load was cleverly handled on behalf of customer stock-out level loaded truck according to the customer needs. -Heavy products are loaded first than lighter products to maximize truck loading space -Various weighted average are used for forecasting future sales. Gurjeet Bhatia -Indore SOME FINDINGS LESSONS LEARNED It is clear from barilla spa case that to be successful for any project implementation, all the top management should be involved . no project can be successful without top management interest. Though middle level like store managers sales representative also played an important role. ?Technology also play a critical role like EDI, fax etc. in this case in success or failure of any pro ject. ?Transparency and Proof is must like How to handle the project, what benefits we all gain, what effort we have to put ultimately the stream line of Manufacturer, Distributor, and Retailers Employees is strongly required. ? Head of the project like Maggiali in this case should clearly know that what steps should be taken at what time . As Maggiali when unsuccessful in assuring JITD results to its Distributors, Implement JITD in its own depot and successful in reducing inventories and increasing fill rates . Thus gain confidence from its top management and its distributors. ?â€Å"WHERE THERE IS THE WILL THERE IS THE WAY† Maggiali prove this saying never rest until got success. According to me the name of case should be Success story of Maggiali in Barilla SpA. ?Relationship (like with Cortese) +Concept (like JITD) +Technology (like EDI) =Success

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Identity management challenges Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Identity management challenges - Essay Example The same user profile may be replicated a number of times in different applications, each time with a different level of access permission. In large organizations competently managing user profiles - ensuring that they have the correct authorizations - is a time consuming, and therefore expensive - procedure for IT staff and managers. Increased regulatory compliance requirements such as Data Protection legislation in the European Union and Sarbanes-Oxley across the US mean that organizations are at greater risk of financial penalties and the loss of goodwill if they are perceived to be non-compliant. In a typical network each account holder needs to be authenticated, authorized and granted access permissions to network objects. In order to share data users must be able to access the same network objects. This requires the IT users and mangers to spend precious time walking over the same ground, with perhaps one or two changes in access permission on a case by case basis. For organizations with thousands of network users this is neither time nor cost effective for IT teams/managers or ultimately network users. IAM solutions are relatively new, and consist of an integrated stable of tools. Increasingly these tools are based upon open standards to ensure as much backward compatibility as possible with legacy systems. The tools assist organizations to streamline identity management, manage data consistently across different platforms and hence enhance regulatory compliance. Well known tools include: Centralized user directories (such as light-weight directory access protocol, LDAP) - to track a user's credentials; Password management systems - allow users to reset their passwords using a variety of means of authentication; Access management (or provisioning) systems - manage user access to multiple systems. Such systems usually provide workflow capabilities to handle change requests from users or departments. Web access management tools - primarily used to manage user access to multiple web-based applications. Single sign on systems - allow users to sign on once for access to multiple applications. Costing an IAM integration project depends on the number of users, types of applications already installed, platform interoperability, the time-scale, the amount of expertise within the organization and so forth, leading to a wide variation in final project costs. It is very difficult to centrally manage multiple applications, particularly when they reside on different operating systems and hardware platforms, with different authentication and authorization protocols. A minimum cost for implementing an IAM is $100,000 per annum in license fees (in a market which is predicted to grow from $1.2b in 2005 to $8b by 2009) (Tynan, page 2). The most costly and time consuming area of digital identity management is support for legacy systems (such as mainframes and older applications). Such systems rarely support external user management tools in the