IAM Implementation and Solutions To Emerging ‘IT Security Challenges’

Increasing cloud adoption and widening data movement across networks are presenting new challenges to the organizational IT security.

Thus, the Identity and Access Management (IAM) has become a crucial part of enterprise IT in boosting the organization’s overall security posture.

But the expanding distributed mobile workforce is demanding a more complex and robust IAM system to secure data and assets.

At this juncture, cybersecurity teams would need more robust security controls to manage user identities and resource access.

Thus, your organization’s new IAM strategy should have covered the latest trends in authenticating identity and access management towards corporate applications.

Here in this blog, we shall investigate a list of emerging IT security challenges and how IAM Solutions answer them, followed by IAM Solution implementation.

Emerging IT Security Challenges and IAM Solutions

Challenge-1: Distributed Workforce

Thanks to the COVID-19 crisis that has shown a new path to the industry in the form of remote working. With this, there is a drastic rise in cloud adoption to accommodate the distributed workforce.

With this, the location is no more a barrier, and organizations are finding it more comfortable to recruit and retain the best workforce. Here is where the enterprise IT security faces a challenge in the form of a distributed workforce, where the same experience is expected but without a ‘security compromise’.

IAM Solution address this by offering enhanced visibility and access control over the distributed workforce.

Challenge-2: Distributed Applications

Cloud-based and Software as a Service (SaaS) applications gave a new rise to the trend of distributed applications. The digital transformation drive across firms is adding to the trend. The impact is what we see today in the form of collaboration tools and critical business apps such as Office365, Salesforce, among others. So, the work is ‘on the go’.

In this scenario, it is crucial to managing identities to secure logins, which cannot be hassling the user. How?

IAM answers this challenge by assisting administrators in controlling, consolidating, and simplifying access privileges, irrespective of the application location (in a cloud or traditional data center).

Challenge-3: Resource Provisioning

Resource provisioning is a complex task if it must be done manually. Moreover, that consumes time and efforts hitting the productivity factor. In a security setup, such delays in revoking access can pose a serious threat to corporate data safety.

Unfortunately, that is the case in many of today’s organizations, where IT staff performs identification, management, and revoke actions manually. Considering the changing security landscape, manual provisioning or de-provisioning does not help anymore.

IAM Solution addresses this problem by offering automated provisioning and de-provisioning process, helping IT teams gain full control over access and contributing to strict enforcement of security policies.

Challenge-4: Bring Your Own Device (BYOD)

The trend is that companies had to keep the options open for employees in bringing their own devices. One side, BYOD policy saves costs for the company and offers more flexibility for the staff. But it has a negative side in terms of IT security. It is not about the threats coming in, and it’s all about organizational readiness to face such attacks and keep data safe. This could be more challenging when accessed on mobile devices.

IAM Solution helps firms develop a strategy that brings in ease in access and perform revoke actions for all corporate applications in line with corporate guidelines. IAM also develops appropriate solutions to address the challenges arising out of technology shifts.

Challenge-5: Password Issues

In the expanding cloud space, it is hard to remember multiple passwords and undergo multiple authentication protocols across different applications, accounts, and domains. This can cause frustration to the user in accessing a service.

Moreover, multiple password management is also a difficult task for IT staff, which will have an impact on time and productivity. This can also cause multiple iterations between users and IT teams.

IAM addresses this problem by offering Single Sign-On (SSO) capabilities to SaaS, cloud, and virtual applications. SSO helps with integrated password management, enabling ease in access through multiple domains.

Challenge-6: Compliance

Meeting compliance is the toughest challenge for most organizations today, considering the heavy penalties that authorities impose for failing to meet compliance requirements.

Determining access privileges, tracking extended or expanded access permissions, documentation of data access and related activities, and ensuring seamless security audits make up critical means of meeting compliance requirements.

IAM has a solution to all these requirements. Compliance is one primary driver of IAM spending. IAM helps you meet many popular compliance regulations such as GDPR, HIPPA, among others with ease. A robust IAM program automates audit reporting and generates comprehensive results, simplifying conformity to regulatory requirements.

ALSO READ | Best Practices for Implementing an IAM Solution

IAM Solution Implementation: A Stepwise Process

We have seen how IAM responds to various emerging business challenges. But you get desired results only if the IAM solution is implemented correctly.

An effective IAM Solution implementation involves multiple stages:

Stage 1:  Start with a self-service module with password reset abilities for immediate commercial advantage.

Stage 2:  Go for a virtual or meta directory solution to implement an organization-wide user repository.

Stage 3:  Implement a process for role management.

Stage 4:  Automate the identity lifecycle business process.

Stage 5:  Design an access management framework for both internal and external users.

Stage 6:  Implement web single sign-on offering ease in access across domains.

Along these stages, the implementation cycle involves defining scope, planning scalability, pilot runs, and regression/integration testing.

Following are considered as the best IAM deployment practices: 

• Embracing the IT vision
• Laying a strong foundation
• Stage-wise implementation
• Stakeholder awareness

In Conclusion 

IAM Solution and Services hold high prevalence in the current digital world, where security is always a concern given the nature and mode of transactions.

A perfect IAM implementation can alleviate many data security hurdles, along with improving organizational security posture. Veritis can be your right partner because of its expertise, experience and deep presence in the US IT industry.