Identity and access management is one of the fastest evolving aspects of IT security and as an organization you therefore need to ask yourself if your current solution meets the current needs of your organization. Is it time to upgrade to an identity and access governance solution?
With digitalization moving at top speed, and employees’ ability to quickly be enrolled in these new digitalized processes and applications, the identity and access management evolution is a priority for many organizations.
The latest research from leading US research institution Gartner notes that 63% of organizations have identity and access management solutions that do not meet their evolving needs, and furthermore, of the identity and access management technology organizations plan to replace, 27% say they will replace with an identity and access governance solution. Why? According to 70% of these same organizations, because the technological environment has changed, and their incumbent solution does not meet today’s needs.
The IAM evolution
Access governance is the next step in the identity and access management journey after identity and access management. Identity and access governance is among others especially important in relation to hybrid IT environments, supporting the so-called ‘cloud first’ strategies, which many organizations are starting to implement, as well as the general increase in digitalization.
The increase in hybrid IT environments means organizations require seamless access governance across both on-premise enterprise solutions and cloud-based services and platforms. For most, it is today challenging to ensure that the right people have access to the right information at the right time across cloud and on-premises applications. An advanced identity and access governance solution, working across both cloud and on-premises applications, is therefore crucial to minimize risk and maintain security around identities and data.
Organizations need a solution which includes access requests, provisioning of users, accounts, applications, entitlements, and recertification across multiple platforms and systems. It must be easy to establish an overview of access data across hybrid IT environments, monitor access to critical data, validate and ensure that only the right people have access to critical data, and govern users, applications, and cloud resources. An efficient solution should enable segregation of duty (SoD) policy management, role-based access control (RBAC) and other assignment policies such as provisioning, validation/reconciliation, compliance reporting, and attestation/re-certification, meaning that the organization can ensure greater governance, thereby working to close the governance gap across all cloud and on-premise platforms. This in turn creates full visibility and a strong foundation for comprehensive control across all of an organization’s applications, identities, and entitlements.
Automate the identity lifecycle
Automating your organization’s identity and access management process not only provides efficiency and enormous time saving, it can also improve the quality. If identities are not given the correct permissions, the organization faces increased cyber security risks, both from externals sources looking to wreak havoc or the quiet insider threat.
By automating identity lifecycle processes, organizations not only ensure that new employees, partners, and contractors can be up and running from day one, but the organization can also automate processes common processes around identity lifecycle management, meaning the employees’ entire journey through the organization, such as maternity leave, promotion, and retirement. This thereby increases the security, speeds up efficiency, and frees up necessary resources for among others the IT department.
Role-based access: reduce complexity and costs
Knowing who has access to which systems and why is today alfa and omega. Today’s cyber threat is high, for both public and private organizations, and having an up-to-date solution is essential. Organizations are exposed in the media and their reputation tarnished if they do not have adequate control of their data, and with only just over two months to go until the introduction of the GDPR, full control is only even more relevant.
Role-based access control is a vital part of an optimal identity lifecycle solution. Implementing role-based access control means that what you have access to – and just as importantly, what you do not have access to – is defined by your role.
Instead of managing user access rights on a granular level, access rights and user access rights are consolidated across various systems to a set of roles. With role-based access control, organizations reduce both the complexity of user access rights and the associated costs. It also provides the possibility of reviewing the access rights to ensure compliance with various regulations, as well as optimize processes so that new employees can be up and running from day one, as it is predefined which systems the new employee should have access to, all based on his or her role in the organization.
The hybrid IT environment
Identity and access governance is also essential in relation to modern hybrid IT environments, supporting the so-called ‘cloud first’ strategies, which many organizations are starting to implement, as well as the general increase in digitalization.
The increase in hybrid IT environments means organizations require seamless access governance across both on-premise enterprise solutions and cloud-based services and platforms. For most, it is today challenging to ensure that the right people have access to the right information at the right time across cloud and on-premises applications. An advanced identity and access governance solution, working across both cloud and on-premises applications, is therefore crucial to minimize risk and maintain security around identities and data, thereby also future-proofing the solution.
A future-proof solution
The journey to next generation identity management and access governance helps your organization ensure that only the right people have access to the right systems and with the right purpose. It allows the organization to implement a future-proof solution, with added business benefits, complying with new and cemented regulations, overall increasing security, efficiency, and compliance across the organization.
Learn more
Read more about hybrid identity and access governance and get in touch with us to learn more about how Omada can help your organization in its identity and access management evolution.
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