Nowadays security issues are a prime concern because most identity methods are not so effective. The more technology is improving, the more new threats are coming and IAM is needed to significantly mitigate them. Due to the amount of information which is stored, used and transmitted, companies must define certain restrictions regarding who is allowed to access data. Providing a secure access is a serious challenge to IT professionals who must simultaneously meet the needs of different users across numerous, disparate applications.

Meeting these demands across a variety of on-premises and cloud applications requires the use of agile identity and access management solutions. Effective IAM solutions help enterprises provide secure and efficient access to technology resources across diverse systems. They also deliver a number of significant benefits which is a good reason to implement Identity and Access Management Solution in your business.

1. Ensure Automated Deprovisoning:

Modern IAM solutions provide additional tools to help control user access, especially when a user’s credentials become compromised. One such control is automated deprovisioning of accounts. All too often, when it’s time to close the books on an engagement, an account remains active until someone in IT manually removes the account from the directory services and revokes the user’s access to all applications. When left to a human, this is a time-consuming process that is easily overlooked or even forgotten altogether. When this happens, your company is put at great risk, as these orphaned accounts still maintain access to systems and data, making them extremely attractive to attackers. Automated deprovisioning eliminates this risk. With a single, automated workflow, all user accounts tied to a person can be deactivated as soon as he or she leaves the organization.

2. Bring fast access with SSO

When users receive access through a centralized platform, they benefit from the use of single sign-on (SSO) technology. It limits the number of interactions they have with security systems and increases the likelihood that their legitimate attempts to access resources will succeed.

3. Take back control by full identity lifecycle management

The right IAM solution provides secure, full identity lifecycle management. Not only will the solution take care of the provisioning and deprovisioning of user accounts, but it will also manage resource access for all of an organization’s users. By providing a database of roles determined by location, manager, department, or other variables, IT administrators can easily assign users the proper entitlements. Some of these solutions even make this process as easy as dragging and dropping a user into a group. So, from day one of an individual’s employment, only the resources to which the user has privileges can be accessed and nothing more. As those needs change, the IAM solution’s full lifecycle management capabilities help by adding or removing necessary entitlements.

4. Working from anywhere and everywhere

Many businesses are also turning to cloud services to handle everything from data storage to applications and even infrastructure to help save money and put resources into the hands of experienced professionals. And, while these trends help businesses save money, improve efficiency, and make workers happier, they present organizations with enormous security risks. Because more systems and hardware have moved outside your network, this also puts data outside of IT and perimeter security controls. In some companies, the only control that IT has over an employee’s computer is the remote control software that IT uses when users need help.

Unfortunately, businesses and IT departments have no choice but to embrace these trends, so it is more important than ever to have a solution in place that is able to give users access to the data and systems they need, in a manner that is secure enough to keep out attackers. That is why IAM is so crucial.

5. Provide an additional layer of security

Compliance regulations often require the restriction of administrative accounts or at least a record of who has access to what. However, security-focused organizations recognize the true risk that poorly managed administrative accounts present and opt for IAM solutions that address compliance by providing greater security

Companies focused on achieving compliance, simply aren’t doing enough to address today’s security threats. Modern IAM solutions, with features like continuous access certification and PAM, provide an additional layer of security that enable you to lock down your organization’s most valuable assets, keeping your network resources, your intellectual property, and your customers’ data safe.

6. Reduced security costs

 Using a single IAM platform to manage all user access allows administrators to perform their work more efficiently. A security team may have some additional upfront work integrating new systems into an IAM platform but may then dedicate time to the management of that platform, saving time and money.

The threat landscape has changed. Attackers are targeting your users because they know if they can gain control of their accounts, they can eventually find confidential data. This reason is exactly why your organization needs to put as much effort into managing and controlling user accounts and their entitlements as you do with firewalls and intrusion prevention technologies. If your organization intends to go beyond compliance and into defence, IAM must be at the core of your security program.

For more information about other PATECCO solutions, check in the new e-guide: