Identity and access management is an integral part of any organisation's security. Having a good IDAM solution in place makes sure only authorised people can access your data and files, in line with their role.
In the age of flexible and remote working, it can be hard to control user rights and access while still enabling people to work away from the office. An IDAM system can help make this easier.
Here are five identity problems that having an IDAM solution solves:
Secure access for remote workers
More and more, people are working remotely and are not office-based. This flexible approach to working is a great way of attracting talent to an organisation, but it can also pose problems around security.
IT teams need to provide a full-featured, consistent IT experience for remote workers without compromising security, which can be challenging without an IDAM system in place.
How IDAM helps: A good IDAM solution solves both of these problems. Through verifying user identity, remote workers can securely access the network and apps they need from any device and any location with an internet connection.
Bring your own device (BYOD)
Today, it's very common for people to use their own device to access the corporate network. Staff, partners, customers and visitors may all need to connect to your network using their own devices, whether on site or from another location. This is challenging for IT teams, because they need to protect company data whilst still giving users the freedom to access the network from their own devices. It can also be harder to manage access privileges when people use their own device.
How IDAM helps: An IDAM solution lets companies grant and restrict access to applications and networks on both employee and company-owned devices, quickly, easily and securely.
Password problems
In work and at home, we use an ever-growing number of applications which all need passwords and/or authentication every time we access them. Remembering so many passwords can be unmanageable and unrealistic; and writing them down to remember them is not secure. The problem is compounded further if we have to change the password every 30 days, as some apps require.
Not only is remembering passwords a burden on the individual, it is also a drain on IT teams who spend valuable time resetting passwords and helping people who are locked out of accounts.
How IDAM helps: An integral part of most IDAM solutions, Single Sign-on (SSO) can solve all of these problems. SSO lets users access their network, cloud-based and on-premise solutions through a single password, which can be used across multiple domains.
While a single password for every account might seem like a recipe for disaster from a security perspective, when used together with multifactor authentication (more on that later), it is a totally secure way of solving the problems that come with having too many passwords.
Manual provisioning and deprovisioning
When new people join your organisation they need setting up with access to your network, file servers, email, printers and more. Without a centralised system to do the work, access is often granted separately for each application, which can be very time-consuming. It also means that the new starter waits longer to actually begin doing the work they've been hired to do.
Probably even more important is the deprovisioining of users when they leave the company or move to another department. You need to be sure that all their permissions have been revoked and they can no longer access your network. If you provision access manually, this usually means going through each account individually; which also leaves room for error. In short, manual provisioning - particularly in large organisations - is an impractical, time-consuming way of managing user identities.
How IDAM helps: With an IDAM solution, provisioning and deprovisioning of user access can be automated. This saves you time, removes the risk of human error and puts the IT team in full control of access rights for all users, from full-time staff to visitors.
Regulatory compliance
There are lots of regulations surrounding data that companies need to be compliant with. Since GDPR was implemented in May this year, it is more important than ever that businesses who hold data comply with this EU regulation.
How IDAM helps: A solid IDAM solution lets you determine access privileges for individuals, track approvals when these rights are modified, and leaves a trail of who has accessed what data, and when. This can all help with regulatory compliance and auditing.
