Identity management is a discipline which encompasses all of the tasks required to create, manage, and delete user identities in a computing environment.It covers issues such as how users are given an identity, the protection of that identity and the technologies supporting that protection such as network protocols, digital certificates, passwords and so on.

Identity management encompasses all the processes used to create and manage information system user accounts. In the information system world, the creation of private networks, where users had to identify themselves with a user name and password occurred first. Only as systems expanded and the field of computer science grew into the Internet in the early 1990’s, did the role of the public or general user develop.

As a result of this expansion, identity management has evolved from a centrally controlled user ID process managed by a "gatekeeper" into a system of user driven self service. Users are now responsible for password resetting and management, downloading a central function of system maintenance away from the technical staff and placing this role in the hands of the user community. To address this shift in process, complex workflows surrounding the management of user access, approvals and account management has been developed.

With the huge expansion in the use of information systems in everyday life and in the workplace, identify management has become increasingly important. The original concept of a series of independent systems led to an unexpected problem. With the rapid increase in the number of systems, the number of unique user IDs users were required to maintain multiplied.

In response to the fear of security breaches, the required complexity of identify management solutions grew. The minimum number of characters in a password increased, as did the requirement for a combination of letters, numbers and characters. These changes were made in an attempt to reduce the effectiveness of computerized programs designed to break the identity management system. This shift actually reduced the quality of the security provided in an identity management system, as users simply write down the system name, their user ID and the password on paper or in another software tool in an attempt to manage this data.