Identity and access management (IAM) is described as one of the most important functions of IT. IAM is how an organization makes sure its people have access to what they need to do their jobs while also making sure assets are secure.
With increasingly hybrid workplaces becoming the norm, identity and access management is more important than ever.
The following are five key things to know about IAM and its implications.
1. IAM Securely Connects Users to IT Resources
Gartner describes IAM as a part of security that allows the right people to access the right resources at the right time for the right reasons. It’s how your users can connect to applications, networks, and files. The use of identities, which are unique user profiles, is what facilitates this connection.
Identities can be configured on an individual user basis so that each one has access that’s well-controlled to Wi-Fi and servers. Still, there are restrictions on their ability to access assets they don’t need to do their jobs.
Core directory services platforms are how an organization can achieve IAM. These platforms store user identities and federate them to IT resources.
2. IAM Strategies Aren’t Optional
Since remote and hybrid workplaces are now the norm, this means that IAM strategies are no longer optional—they’re required. Identity compromise is the top cause of data breaches, so we can describe IAM as the most important security tool in some ways.
Remote and hybrid environments and workplaces mean that IT strategies have to move from network-based to people-based.
Most employers have already said they don’t have plans to move back to an in-office environment at least not full-time, so they have to start thinking about to facilitate work in this current environment.
3. Holistic IAM Platforms Are Critical
When a company invests in an IAM platform that’s holistic and cloud-based, it should include single sign-on capabilities and directory services so that users can connect to needed IT resources through principles of Zero Trust. At the same time, IT has control over identities in a significant way.
Modern platforms that control IAM services and policies give users a single identity that they’re required to use and remember, and simultaneously, IT admins have centralization and high levels of control.
4. The IAM Landscape Is Made Up of Six Major Components
The following briefly outlines the components making up IAM:
- A directory service is a starting point that stores the credentials of users. The directory for IT admins gives them a way to organize all the managed identities into logical groups. Then, policies such as conditional access for these groups can be applied against them.
- Directory extensions can then be created to fill gaps that are left by conventional directory services.
- Privileged access management or PAM determines what your users can and can’t access. With the evolution toward cloud-based Infrastructure-as-a-Service platforms, privileged access management is especially important and relevant.
- Once directory services and PAM approaches are established, single sign-on is something that can be added to deliver both security and convenience for admins and end-users. End users are constantly accessing applications to work, and they’d otherwise need separate usernames and passwords for access to each of these, hindering productivity. SSO solutions simplify things for users who don’t want to remember many usernames and passwords. SSO is also helpful from a security standpoint because it reduces the likelihood of a user having a weak password or reusing the same password across accounts.
- Password vaults can store and manage all kinds of account credentials, while SSO is for web applications supporting SAML. Vaults can generate complex passwords, so they’re more secure, but users don’t have to remember them.
- The sixth core element of IAM is multi-factor authentication (MFA). MFA improves security by requiring additional information beyond a username and password for access authentication. MFA usually requires information a user knows and then a second factor. The second factor can be something they have, like a smartphone or something they are like a fingerprint. MFA is easy to implement and almost impossible to breach, making it one of the most essential parts of secured IAM.
5. Cloud Directory Platforms Are An Optimized Solution
Finally, a Cloud Directory Platform is the primary piece of technology that facilitates IAM. Cloud Directory Platforms are modern and efficient. They combine directory services, web app SSO, directory extension and privileged access management, and MFA into a single SaaS solution.
Cloud Directory Platforms create centralized identities mapped to resources, including applications, devices, and networks. The experience is seamless for users and organizations.
