Benefits of ID Vault - being a consultant who works with customers many times I have to explain the benefits they will receive by spending the energy and resources to implement new technologies such as ID Vault.  In all the documentation I have read, none have given the following benefits which I feel are the key reasons to implement:

1. No longer need to restore an expired ID - Unfortunately most customers do not have ID Recovery implemented and hence rely of having a backup of the ID from user registration with a default password.  If they haven't changed the default certification expiry to be greater than the 2 years they go to "restore" the users ID on some network drive with the default password (which users never change which is a security risk) only to find that the ID has expired.  Many times the user is registered again to get around this and all encryption is lost plus read/unread marks.  With ID Vault there is no longer the need to defer to that backed up ID which solves a big headache for help desks.  The latest ID with all name change information, recertification, password changes etc. is automatically stored in the ID Vault, awesome!

2. Default passwords - the fact that customers give all new users a default password is a massive security risk especially considering many companies do not force the Notes ID to change.  However with the logistics of managing Notes IDs, you can understand why an organisation would resort to having a default password.  However now with ID Vault that is no longer required as you NEVER need to know a user's password as that is no longer the only mechanism that can unlock the ID file.  This is a dramatic change for many companies and once they grasp the simplicity of how easy it is to manage the IDs they are more open to no longer having a default password.

3. Most recent ID captured - in a non-ID Vault (& ID Recovery) world if a user changes their name or their ID is recertified that ID file is not backed up again onto the "network" drive hence if that users loses their ID or can't remember their password the backed up ID from user creation is not the same.  When companies realise that ID Vault always has the latest version of the ID including names changes etc. they really understand the power of ID Vault.

4. Time Saving - If you did a time trail between how long it took to reset a password via, ID Recovery, ID Vault and the final option of a backed up ID with a default password the time difference of approximately 5 minutes (or less) for ID Vault and potentially hours with the other options you recognise the value of ID vault.  The other two options can be quick if...and there lies the problem.  If the ID's backed up are incorrect or expired the turnaround for getting the user a working ID can be blown out.  If ID Recovery requires more than one person to recover an ID then logistically you have an increased time frame.

5. Zero touch - Lastly when ID Recovery came in I was an advocate who tried to convince clients to move to that model.  It was great once implemented for users that were newly registered as the ID was placed in the ID Recovery database automatically.  The problem was retro fitting the current user base.  Telling customers the way to get current users IDs into the ID Recovery database was to send the user an email where they had to Choose Actions - Accept Recovery Information, and then enter your password and then send it was an issue.  One of the issues was users didn't read or necessarily respond to emails from the Help Desk.  Another issue is that how do you keep track of what users have responded and which ones haven't and therefore you can never be confident you have a true "Recovery" of all users IDs.  With ID Vault there is no end user involvement, no requirement for the Help Desk or Admin to do anything apart from implement ID Vault.  The fact that the techonology of the client and server gathers the ID and uploads it automatically without human intervention is a big plus!  Zero touch resonates with customers who have limited resources and budget restraints.

If you read the other fantatics articles in this wiki about ID Vault plus the Administration Help which is awesome you will see many other benefits listed.  The above benefits I believe assist IT to justify allocating resources or finances in implementation which for many of us as technical people is our first barrier in rolling out new technology.