Choosing an Identity Governance and Administration Solution

How to Build a Business Case for an Identity Governance Solution

We recognize many may not have the budget or ability to tackle complete access management programs that include IAM, PAM and IGA. You may need to start small with high-impact projects that will get you the best ROI. These bite-sized achievable tasks will help you steadily piece together the access management digital transformation puzzle.

After performing a prerequisite inventory (illustrated below), you can complete these initiatives in any order, but each little project will help you build a new access management model and begin your efforts around a comprehensive authentication and identity program. By tackling segments of both, you will create a foundation for future 360-degree access management success.

Access Management Challenges  

Organizations face unique access management challenges. However, by creating the right access management processes and pairing them with a properly designed solution that includes IAM and PAM, your organization can handle many of these challenges. The best part? You will reclaim hundreds of hours for your IT leadership to spend on more strategic projects.

Top challenges with access management:

 1. Getting Started

The first step is always the hardest, and for organizations working to implement a new IAM solution, it's a steep uphill climb. Building support among decision-makers continues to be difficult for most, making it challenging to move forward with IAM, IGA and identity administration projects. It's a daunting task, to say the least, but with the right approach, you can get your IAM programs up and running.

Starting small with introductory projects (i.e. begin automation to clean up credentials and identities) can help build some momentum. It will also give your IT team some use cases to put in front of leadership and hopefully inspire confidence to further invest in these initiatives. Implementing these new solutions and processes will take time, but with flexibility and perseverance you can get started on the road to stronger identity and access management.

2. Aging Homegrown and Legacy Systems

Many companies are often saddled with legacy and homegrown solutions they have been using for years, on account of limited and constrained budgets (along with siloed structures and processes). While these systems may have met the organization's needs at one time, they have grown inefficient over time and prone to increasing human error. All too often, the mastery of these systems is concentrated among one person or a small group of people due to their DIY nature. If or when that person leaves, another vulnerability is created.

To combat risk and reclaim hours, you need to prioritize updating legacy access management systems and processes. With a digital transformation strategy focused on a singular approach to bring all of the critical actions of access, identity, and privilege together, you will be better equipped to manage access and reduce the risk of unauthorized entry.

 3. Blended Roles and Non-Hierarchical Structures

It’s not uncommon for someone in a company to take on several different roles simultaneously. And when you include external access, it is common for many users to maintain many more than two roles. Privileged access systems are versatile enough to support these multi-role requirements, preventing potential exposure of confidential information while simultaneously protecting the organization’s cybersecurity.

Decentralized architecture with frequently disparate systems is also a hurdle. Each department within an organization may have a unique structure, creating obstacles when aligning individual departments with the overarching systems. Identities may not match up, or appropriate access can be incorrectly granted or blocked. A robust IAM and identity governance solution (paired with access management best practices) can organize and automate these contrasting frameworks, minimizing misappropriation and maximizing interdepartmental access alignment.

These hybrid roles can present another challenge for the segregation of duties (SoD). With a robust separation of duties policy, no individual user can conduct an end-to-end transaction without the proper checks and balances in place. These strategies help reduce the risk of fraud and human error. A full-featured IGA solution can help with tools like contextual risk-based access review, identity-level visibility and control, and real-time alerts.

 4. Dynamic User, Granular Permissions and Staff Populations

For organizations with heavy turnover, the onboarding and offboarding of large numbers of users presents an even higher risk. Some users may even have levels of access beyond the typical user case, which makes automatic offboarding crucial to maintaining the security and integrity of your system.

This active, overlapping and manual process is rife with human error and misappropriated accounts and profiles. It can also be time-consuming and cause delays in onboarding, sapping valuable time and limited bandwidth from IT staff and leadership. And when the process breaks down, it creates orphaned, dormant and stray accounts that increase risk and vulnerability to bad actors if left unchecked.

An access management solution, including IAM, identity governance, and PAM, automates and augments this process by strengthening governance and reducing vulnerability. An access management implementation cuts down on the number of inappropriate access rights and lost accounts by introducing automatic access deactivation and control processes.

Lastly, by automating these time-consuming tasks, companies make IAM and identity administration processes more efficient, optimizing their team, improving the users connection with the company, and, ultimately, freeing them up for more innovative projects.

Why You Need a Zero Trust Program

Zero Trust is a program, not a project. While that may sound intimidating at first, you can approach it with small but actionable steps (like Reduced Trust) over a reasonable timeframe to achieve it at your own pace. Even so, there are some adversities you might encounter during your Zero Trust program.

Access Management Responds to Rapid Change

Growing Cyberattacks

According to Verizon's 2020 data breach report, there were a total of 32,002 reported incidents and 3,950 breaches with confirmed data disclosure. With the rise in remote access, it's clear organizations will continue to face increased risks as more organizations move to software as a service (SaaS) applications.

Organizations can protect themselves against threats by staying a step ahead with IAM (including identity governance) and PAM. In an environment without access management and expected risk, many cybersecurity strategies involve damage control from exposure. By removing many manual tasks and static passwords, you can shift cybersecurity strategies from reactive to proactive.

Another step can be taken forward by adding predictive analytics and technology. These powerful tools, at the heart of cutting-edge access management solutions, can anticipate and forecast complications before they are exploited. Organizations can then further fortify these efforts with risk and threat assessment, plus resolution recommendations, completely moving away from reactive to proactive strategies toward risk.

Evolving Regulations and Compliance Requirements

Many organizations spend a lot of time and money on certification and governance initiatives, but without automation measures in effect, their compliant state will not last. IAM automation and identity administration strategies ensure rights are assigned and removed promptly, maintaining compliance without the need for manual interventions. Modern systems also automate the role review process and provide access for auditors, saving many hours of reporting and study.

Predictive analysis of users’ needs will then help reduce the number of generated requests, and an efficient workflow engine at the center of access management solutions guarantees those requiring approval are provisioned on time.

Zero Trust

The future of cybersecurity is the Zero Trust model as IT environments have become more fluid, open and vulnerable. More organizations are turning away from conventional methods such as virtual private network (VPN) to keep their networks secure, with many implementing Zero Trust — a security approach that addresses these new network realities by trusting no one.

While some companies may not yet be able to sprint toward Zero Trust architecture, taking crucial first steps, like network and inventory audits, can lay the foundation for success. Investing in IAM and PAM solutions that enable strong integration (for input and output) will allow an organization to scale more efficiently, add tools and features and implement initiatives like Zero Trust when they're ready.

Modernization and Optimal Experience

As more organizations embrace digital ecosystems, access management processes and technology can guide your digital strategy. IAM and PAM implementation creates a methodology across authentication, identity, privilege and “verify” governance. This practice lays the groundwork for comprehensive and secure modernization.

The winning combination also creates access management synergy and an optimal experience for all types of users where IAM creates identity and PAM secures it. As you move further into modernization, this hybrid 360-degree approach is required to remain competitive in the modern landscape we are in.

Why Your Vendor Matters

You have a choice when it comes to choosing an access management solutions vendor that meets all of your organizations needs.

The problem: While many modern IAM and PAM options are available, few are customizable and versatile enough to meet those challenges (both micro and macro) without making compromises along the way.

You need a vendor that will be with you throughout your journey — a relationship with an experienced team can help you select and sequence your IAM, identity governance, PAM implementations and more. At each phase, they should work with you to ensure smooth execution and performance.

The right partner can help you make critical strategy decisions that move your access management culture beyond legacy systems and ever-forward. A vendor with extensive experience can help you avoid project pitfalls specific to your organization.