The goal of IAM (identity and access management) is to make sure every digital identity in an enterprise has access to the needed resources, like systems, applications, files and networks. In this way sensitive business data and systems are protected as only the authorized identities have access to the correct resources.
IAM is a broad concept that includes many identity management and access management features including, but not limited to, Life cycle management, Governance, Single Sign-on (SSO), Multi-factor Authentication (MFA) and Privileged Account Management (PAM)
But why do you need an identity and access management solution? Find out below!
"Identity management is key to ensure trust, as well as to facilitate collaboration and improve analytics" - William Crowell (Former Deputy Director of the National Security Agency)
These tools can improve the processing time for access and identity changes as well as reduce errors. This because of the centralization of the identity and access management life cycle and the ability to create automated workflows focused on your companies’ structure.
Reducing costs is one of the main benefits of IAM, and this can be done on different levels and aspects:
Do your employees work on a lot of different physical locations? With IAM, users (employees, partners or clients) have access to all the connected resources whether they are in the office, at home or travelling.
IT departments consume a lot of time with auditing and reporting; when and where are specific credentials used? Is this normal activity or are the credentials compromised? IAM systems make it a lot easier for IT departments to figure out which user is compromised and what data was accessed during a breach.
Remembering dozens of usernames with all kinds of credentials can be difficult for a lot of employees, partners and clients. This is a wide spread problem, which leads to password fatigue and increased risk. With IAM, an identity can be created with which users have access to multiple different systems without the hassle of remembering different credentials.