And while watching this summer's blockbuster release of Minority Report, I groaned when Tom Cruise's character used old identification information to access a secured area. Really, my reaction had nothing to do with the severed body part he used to attain access; it was all about the provisioning. Looking around the theater at the grimaces on everyone's faces, I could see that they all agreed. With all this advanced technology, you'd think this "precrime" company would have removed Cruise's account once he was on the run. But thank goodness it didn't -- another plot saved.

But let's face it -- even in real life, organizations with complex structures can easily lose sight of how much time they spend adding and removing accounts, and changing passwords and access control to adjust to employees' changing responsibilities. Organizations can compromise security if they're careless with employee credentials. In our cover package, "Employee Provisioning," technology editor Lori MacVittie delivers a masterful performance covering all the bases, including getting employees up and running quickly, which can be just as important as removing credentials when the employee leaves. And Lori moves deftly to the second act, an RFI and labs-based evaluation of four employee-provisioning solutions designed to solve this tricky problem.

Also in this issue, senior technology editor Mike Fratto reviews managed VPN services (see "Add Some Fiberlink to Your VPN Diet,"). With these services, you can divest yourself from the responsibility and management nightmare of maintaining your own VPNs. Mike also stars in a Sneak Preview of ActiveScout, an attack-mitigation tool. And those of you who need to understand the nitty-gritty of optical networking technology will appreciate contributing editor Darrin Woods' subtle performance in "Shining Light on Optical Networking." This workshop explains everything from WDM (wavelength division multiplexing) to signal amplification to optical connectors. As fiber optics become more pervasive, this is a great reference to help us understand just what's happening with those tiny strings of glass.

Of course, if Hollywood understood employee provisioning, maybe we'd be short two good movies, so I guess it's just as well. Please read on and maybe we'll help you prevent World War III (but you can find out Rosebud's identity for yourself).

P.S., those of you who were expecting that beautiful picture of Jim Hutchinson at the top of this article, rest assured -- he'll be back next issue. He is taking a well-deserved vacation and let me wrestle my way into his column, at least this once.