Why solving the identity management crisis facilitates the adoption of digital transformation

Identity data is frequently stored by organizations using a variety of sources, formats, and protocols, sometimes making it impossible to access essential identity information needed for security and business decisions. Without precise identity data, systems cannot decide what users should and should not be able to access which resources. Even worse, to make life easier for the admins, sometimes the default is overextending access and over-privileging accounts. This raises the possibility of a successful breach, as well as the possibility that it will go unnoticed for a longer period of time.

The number of identities linked to companies has also been increasing exponentially -- a recent study by Gartner Peer Insights  found that 60 percent of organizations have more than 21 identities per user.

Due to organizations' overlapping, incompatible, or inaccessible sources of data -- known as identity sprawl -- it becomes difficult to create clear, up-to-date and accurate user profiles. More than two thirds of organizations report they have identity sprawl, but they don’t how to address it, and 61 percent report that identity management is too time-intensive and costly to address.

Because of the numerous login credentials that employees must remember for the many tools, apps and accounts they use daily, a fragmented infrastructure presents a major irritation for employees -- not to mention severe GDPR and security risks. Businesses must be able to manage, control, and have visibility into identity data before they embark on any digital transformation project.

Rocky path to digital transformation

Each business has its unique digital transformation strategy, and everyone follows a different road to success. The key issue for organizations struggling to operate in a hybrid model -- maintaining both their legacy systems and migrating to the cloud -- is to begin with an identity data management strategy.

While digital transformation often implies a move to the cloud, IT leaders still acknowledge the need for legacy technologies, with 68 percent of tech executives from our research rating legacy technologies as "very" or "extremely" important. They need an Identity Access Management approach which can integrate both, however many of the legacy identity stores used by organizations fail to meet modern standards, and weren’t designed to function in a cloud-first environment.

Many Identity Access Management solutions were built for discrete purposes -- they’re specialized in what they do, but they’re not built to integrate with other tools, and therefore are extremely inflexible. Companies spend a significant amount of time repeating processes and customizing solutions.

Organizations going through the process of digital transformation need a solution that allows applications to access identity data in both contemporary cloud repositories, and legacy on-premise technology, without requiring thousands of hours of brittle customizations.

Establishing a single source of identity data  

Organizations require Identity Access Management systems that can meet the demands of scalability, performance, and security in the contemporary work-from-anywhere era. Ideally, it would be an IAM solution bringing together all of a user’s attributes into one single global profile.

An Identity Data Fabric helps organizations to collect and analyze accessible identity data by combining scattered identity data from all sources into one repository.

An Identity Data Fabric provides a connective layer between consumers of identity (applications, services, as well as other identity solutions that provide access management and governance) and all the silos of identity data. Applications can now connect to a single, reusable service, on-premises or in the cloud, and use the format and protocol of their choosing to access unified, normalized identity data. In addition, applications can efficiently delegate the challenging identity integration work, and concentrate on the primary functions for which they were created.

Businesses must implement strategies that can prevent identity sprawl by ensuring they have a uniform global profile, as the number of cyberattacks is significantly rising quickly. Further data breaches will affect organizations that don't manage identity data, as identity sprawl creates a larger attack surface. When identity is the new perimeter, having a strong grasp on identity data is more important than ever.

Photo Credit: Sashkin/Shutterstock

Wade Ellery is Field Chief Technology Officer at Radiant Logic.