Microsoft Corp. today announced the acquisition of Alacris Inc., a global provider of certificate management and identity assurance software products. The acquisition enhances Microsoft’s strategy of providing easily administered identity and access management solutions.

“Customers have told us that smart cards are becoming an increasingly important part of their authentication and authorization strategy,” said Mike Nash, corporate vice president of the Security Technology Unit at Microsoft. “Through this acquisition, we’re excited to gain technology that makes it easier for customers to take advantage of the smart card capabilities in Windows® with tools to simplify smart card life-cycle management.”

Today, Microsoft® Windows provides a best-of-breed platform for utilizing smart cards and other strong authentication technologies on the desktop through Active Directory ® and Microsoft Certificate Services. However, enterprise customers are still challenged with the complexity of provisioning smart card hardware, deploying digital certificates, managing certificate revocation, and auditing IT pro and end-user activity. The key to successful smart card implementation is tailoring the infrastructure to the specific needs of the organization. Alacris’ products address this need by delivering integrated solutions that provide simplified management and end-user experiences through advanced policy and workflow.