How Identity and Access Management Quietly Powers Your Company

Companies are in possession of critical data: customer information, employee credentials, partner and vendor accounts. So how should you secure data while still providing a positive experience for your customers, employees, partners, and vendors?

The answer: identity and access management, or IAM, which ensures that the right people have the right access to the right resources at the right time. An effective IAM solution creates streamlined, secure day-to-day operations across the enterprise through a suite of tools and capabilities.

Identity and access management provides a seamless experience

Identity and access management solutions are so well-integrated that users don’t even notice the controls that are in place. With IAM, users only need a single identity to access a multitude of apps across different devices. For instance, employees log in via Single Sign-On to access the various apps they need without having to remember different usernames and passwords for each app. This defined, consistent identity translates to efficiency and reduces the frustrations that come with password lock-outs and help desk requests.

Identity and access management solutions also enable fast and easy integrations with popular apps teams use day in and day out, such as Box, G Suite, Office 365, and Slack. Employees will appreciate — and come to expect — this access, without even knowing it’s powered by an IAM solution. 

IAM provides dynamic access without compromising security

Identity and access management grants users access based on the roles and permissions assigned to them. But IAM also allows bespoke access based on a user’s history, the risks they present, and the context in which they’re requesting the access.

With identity and access management, IT teams can create custom access policies for different user roles and groups. Adaptive multi-factor authentication adds a necessary security layer. For instance, admin users connecting to internal databases over an unsecure network will be denied access. Meanwhile, an HR staff member who needs access to employee data will be prompted for an additional factor before gaining access. While this contextual access is incredibly sophisticated, busy teams and IT departments only need to know one thing — that it works.

Identity and access management eliminates complexity and enhances productivity

IAM reduces the complexities of access by organizing all access policies into a unified system. It enables a centralized, consistent, and scalable way of managing users, and makes granting permissions simpler and adopting new applications faster.

Instead of constantly resetting passwords and providing access to every application, IT admins can utilize the automated provisioning and Lifecycle Management tools that comes with identity and access management solutions. In turn, users need not wait because they have instant access to everything they need as soon as they’re onboarded, depending on their role, rather than requesting different tools and resources ad hoc. This means fewer demands on IT and more productivity overall.

For DocuSign, investing in an IAM solution meant significant savings. Employees spent less time trying to access applications and more time on the work that drives the company, resulting in an annual productivity increase of over $100k. The number of help desk tickets for password resets and lost URLs also decreased, leading to $45k in yearly IT savings. 

Modernizing identity and access management is critical for agile businesses in today’s identity-driven world, but for most companies, building the in-house infrastructure to do this requires an unmanageable investment in people, hardware, and managing time. An external IAM solution is a seamless alternative — it works discreetly in the background, is always on, and provides security without sacrificing a great experience for both ITs and employees company-wide.