Improving Digital Customer Experiences Begins with CIAM

Today’s pre-packaged, grab-and-go products and services are designed to satisfy our growing desire for instant gratification. In the digital era, everything is always on and available at our fingertips, which has created high expectations for consumers interacting with brands online. 

The consumerism of online services has created an insatiable demand for safe, user-friendly, transparent, and simplified access to digital services. Consumers expect a positive and personalised experience wherever and whenever they click. They understand the need to share some of their personal information, and in doing so, they expect a high level of privacy and security in return.  

Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM) is part of the broader framework of Identity and Access Management (IAM) that can create these secure, seamless experiences. CIAM governs the identities of customers accessing an organisation’s applications, websites, web portals, and more. Customers using these applications and services require frictionless access no matter their device or location. A modern CIAM solution allows all users—customers, consumers, patients, and citizens—greater control over their information.

Modernise your customer experiences

The digital era, Internet of Things (IoT), increased mobility, and the pandemic have all contributed to increased demand for seamless customer experiences. In healthcare, for example, technology has ushered in telemedicine, health-focused cloud apps, and innovative medical IoT devices, which are all improving the patient care experience. Any barriers to accessing these digital services, however, will degrade the experience. Rather than improving customer acquisition, these roadblocks will increase abandonment during online registration and e-commerce.

Companies succeed or fail based on how well they meet customer needs, and modernising access to business applications and services is paramount for success. What customers want is simplicity, transparency, and security. Eliminating login and access friction through a well-designed, implemented, and deployed CIAM solution is key to modernising customer experiences. 

By using a modern CIAM solution, you can take your customer identity capabilities even further. For example, you can integrate with multiple apps, services, and back-end systems, and securely store sensitive data within a vault for identity proofing. Identity proofing protects user privacy by verifying and authenticating the identity of the user against authoritative sources. You can also stay on top of privacy and compliance regulations like the CCPA and GDPR by securely managing customer data and consent. A strong CIAM strategy will ultimately help you protect your users and their information.

Simplify and secure access to multiple digital systems

An effective CIAM solution will have secure Authentication, User Management, and Multi-Factor Authentication. It also requires knowing your customers’ preferences and using their data to improve their omni-channel experiences. This can only be accomplished by combining multiple siloed back-end systems into a cohesive solution that allows consumers to log in once and have access to all of the services they need. 

CIAM is more than technology enablement—the keys to its success are the designs, processes, workflows, and implementations that go into making a quality customer experience. Customers shouldn’t have to shoulder the burden of the underlying complexities associated with identity management, cloud and hybrid IT environments, application connections, and various policies and configurations. 

Effectively managed CIAM improves business outcomes

It is complex and difficult work to effectively manage CIAM, including uniting diverse back-end technologies, users, and services, all within distributed locations. Creating a single view of the user, enabling a seamless customer experience, and meeting regulatory compliance is no easy task for any organisation, no matter their size or budget. It requires highly integrated and efficient technologies, processes, and people. 

A joint solution, with CIAM technology from Okta and managed identity services from Simeio, is a great way to offload these complexities and achieve value. The differences between do-it-yourself identity versus identity as a managed service are clear: managing identity internally has increased overhead, costs, and risk, whereas leveraging best-of-breed technologies, out-of-the-box workflows, third-party integrations, and the human capital of an Identity as a Service provider lead to operational advantages and savings.

To remain competitive, businesses must align their energy, time, and resources to focus on their core competencies. To that end, Simeio helps businesses deploy and manage CIAM solutions like Okta by providing a cohesive identity management strategy and integrating and automating CIAM functionality across all of an organisation’s applications. This allows the organisation to focus on running its primary business operations, while Simeio enables a single view of the user, provides a quality customer experience, and addresses regulatory requirements.

Simplify your view of the consumer

Digital transformation is impacting virtually every business decision and affecting how organisations approach customer identity. Having a secure, seamless customer experience is critical for success, but creating that experience requires a single view of the customer. Businesses that leverage an effectively managed CIAM solution can be one step ahead in delivering a reliable, safe, and frictionless customer experience that exceeds user expectations for digital services. To learn more, please visit the Okta and Simeio partner page.