Identity and access management is taking on an increasingly central role in companies’ security architectures. With nearly 20 years of experience of shaping and implementing IAM (Identity and Access Management) strategies for key accounts and mid-sized firms, we are sure of one thing: IAM is not static. Once the initial need is met, it will evolve and grow. IAM is a very dynamic system, which will live long after the initial build: IS uses and technologies evolve, new regulatory changes emerge, new user needs develop, and so on.
For example, in Access Management, it is common to start with well-defined projects such as the deployment of multi-factor authentication to protect accesses to cloud services, or the roll-out of self-service password reset for users, but what is certain is that new needs will emerge later: Web SSO and identity federation, enterprise SSO, etc.
Having a long-term vision of your IAM strategy is much more effective and profitable than having to accumulate various solutions that may not be compatible and are not always well integrated.
The components and functionalities of identity and access management bring numerous benefits to all users who are drawn into the organisation’s ecosystem, whatever business sector they each belong to. Before committing yourself to an IAM project involving one or more of its components, it is therefore crucial to determine your strategy.
One of the strengths of Ilex is that it allows you to address all Identity and Access Management issues, thanks to a comprehensive IAM platform that will enable all your use cases and be central to an iterative, scalable deployment strategy.
The benefits of an IAM strategy
A clear identity and access management strategy is essential for organisations to operate effectively. In practical terms, it will garantee secure access to the information system, ensure compliance with regulations, reduce a large number of operating risks, improve productivity and the quality of service delivered to users, support the upgrading and opening-up of the IS to digital technology, mobility, the cloud, etc.
The positive impacts of your IAM strategy will be felt beyond your own company. In fact, the whole population of users who interact with the company’s ecosystem will benefit:
How do you shape a comprehensive,
long-term IAM strategy?
It is a long time since IAM projects were implemented in one “big bang” build covering all areas from the word go. An iterative approach is by far the best option, moving forward one functional module, geographical or organisational entity, or user or application scope at a time. You have to make step-by-step progress, starting with a small, controlled scope that meets the most pressing needs.
To deploy all the different components of your IAM strategy gradually the best approach is to build on a centralised platform capable of supporting all the intended IAM services.
CIOs and CISOs must prioritise solid foundations: their IAM platform will be the basis on which they build to meet all the organisation’s future identity and access management needs.
A comprehensive software platform
to meet all your customers, partners and employees needs
The sector-specific challenges
of an identity and access management strategy
Some of the challenges and objectives of an IAM strategy may vary from one business sector to another. It is important to get a good understanding of these challenges and factor them in when shaping your strategy:
Our latest news
What’s new on Sign&go Global SSO!25 June 2021
Formind joins Ilex International partners programme17 March 2021
