Identity and access management (also known as IAM) can be defined as a framework for business procedures that accelerate the management of online or electronic identities.
IAM enforces policies and technologies that support identity management.These technologies enable IT workers to have full access to sensitive information within their employed company. Not only that but most IAM solutions employ a control system that gives employees access to their specifically selected sections and only their sections, no exceptions are made with IAM technologies as that would prove a security risk for users’ personal information.
There are numerous benefits to this system, however these vary in quality from provider to provider.
One of these benefits is increased productivity and reduction in support desk costs due to the self-service nature of identity and access management solutions. Employees are known to be more productive when they have simple sign-procedures, too many usernames and passwords to remember equals complication. IAM utilises easy sign-in techniques to avoid this problem as well as automatic performance of self-service tasks like resetting passwords and permitting use to a locked application.
Genuinely good IAM solutions will fully automate the provisioning procedures, providing a hands-off approach overall. These include complete control over access privileges for workers, contractors, vendors, affiliates, partners and guests. By this method, provisioning and de-provisioning are automated thus speeding up the process and eliminating mistakes potentially made by human hand.
Another feature that comes with robust IAM solutions is the support for law and regulatory standards such as the well-known HIPAA law and the PCIDSS (credit card data ruling), among others. In the case of regulatory standards, a proper solution which means one that can automate audit reporting can also simplify the path for regulatory testing and assist in the production of comprehensive reports needed to satisfy those requirements.
Even though the benefits mentioned above are clear and great, the cost can be monumental to implement and the implementation depending on the complexity, can disrupt the everyday tasks of any company. However, if security and blocking any potential breaches is your biggest concern then the employing of a comprehensive IMA solution is imperative to that very goal.
Traditional security measures are growing obsolete by the day, companies looking for IAM solutions must consider the uprise of the digital workforce and an extremely complex group of applications. A solid and reliable IAM solution is bound to lower costs, lift pressure from standard IT networks and assist enterprises in satisfying compliance and regulatory standards, all whilst relieving managers of their commitments, simplifying provisioning/de-provisioning for usage and increasing worker productivity. An investment in IAM can prove to be a fantastic addition to a company’s infrastructure but one should also be wary of its potential developmental shortcomings.
