IBM has made available its first security software based on technology from its March 2008 Encentuate acquisition.

The new IBM Tivoli Access Manager for Enterprise Single Sign On (TAM ESSO) software has been positioned as a business productivity tool.

After users sign on once to the corporate network, TAM ESSO automates additional authentication to subsequent applications.

Analyst firm Gartner estimates that companies spend around $150 per user each year to maintain secure passwords, but IBM expects loss of productivity to be greater considering that 40 percent of help desk calls are about forgotten passwords.

"Our identity and access management software integrated with security information and event management is a cornerstone of IBM’s approach to help customers achieve their company-wide security and compliance goals," said Al Zollar, general manager, of IBM Tivoli Software.

"While superior technology and extensive integration are significant keys to IBM’s growth in this area, one must not overlook how these technologies are applied successfully in the context of business and IT processes.

"We are simply enabling our clients to apply security to these processes to enable the right users to access the right applications and information for the right business reasons," he said in a statement to the media.

TAM ESSO includes additional support for authentication methods such as mobile phones and building access badges, and centralised and customised event reporting and auditing for governance and compliance initiatives.

The software also provides new 'visual profiling' for simpler set-up and supports 13 new languages for extensive global use.

IBM has been ranked by analyst firm IDC as the overall revenue leader for the second straight year in 2007, growing its revenue by six percent from 2006 and further extending its lead ahead of the nearest competitor.

According to IDC, the total worldwide revenue for identity and access management grew to more than US$3.1 billion in 2007 and is expected to reach US$5.3 billion by 2012.