I agree with the SSO and the once you have an ID it can't change (don't agree with the idea in general but I know that legislation and other factors are involved for many Companies). As for the USER folder being gone/dead I disagree. A user directory has nothing to do with that and rather depends a lot more on the type of business you work in. I would guess that many companies have no need whatsoever for a user folder - Medical, maybe MFG, etc... But that does not mean that it has gone away for thousands of other companies or has been replaced by some new magical technology or method. It is a place to store user data when and where applicable to the Company needs.

Don't forget that there are many Countries that don't adhere to any of these recent draconian regulations either.