Identity & Access Management (IAM) is a structure of policies and business processes that ensure authorized users have the required access to the technological resources they need to perform their tasks. IT teams use IAM solutions to monitor user identities and control access to enterprise resources, particularly sensitive and vulnerable systems and data.
Keep reading this blog to discover more about identity and access management and why the IAM strategy is critical for organizations to implement.
What is an Identity Access Management (IAM) Strategy?
IAM strategies are a set of security practices that include implementing policies, processes, and technologies to manage user identities and control access to critical resources. The main goal is to ensure that only authorized individuals can access an organization’s data, applications, and other resources. Restricting unauthorized users from accessing business resources further helps prevent security breaches.
Things to Consider Before Implementing the IAM Strategy
Effective planning is essential if you want to balance ease of use and secure user access. Here are some things to consider at the initial stage:
1. Map Your Network Architecture
The first step in implementing an access management strategy is understanding the layout of existing network resources. Create a map of work connections, critical applications, and any cloud-based services users access.
Discover existing IAM processes and conditional access. Use this information as a starting point for a roadmap from an obsolete scenario to an effective, relevant deployment.
2. Understand User Community and Privileges Situation
Planners must know who uses the resources protected by identity and access management tools. Build a directory of all active users and link users to their access levels and business needs. These are users with wide-ranging network access. They are the primary target for external attackers.
3. Assess Risks of Data and Applications
Execute a full risk assessment of each application. Understand where confidential information resides in the network environment and who has access to this data. Apply sensitivity analysis to focus your identity and access management strategy on these high-risk assets. The aim is to balance ease of use with security so that users can access the required information.
4. Enhance Your Data Governance Practices
Before implementing identity management strategies, it is important to clean up existing data storage practices. Standardize data formats to suit IAM solutions and organize data to make it visible to security managers. Assess security policies to ensure they include strong security regulations, including penalties for data misuse.
5. Selecting the Right IAM Tools
Look for an ideal IAM solution and consider various technologies. Most modern businesses benefit from cloud-based IAM solutions, but legacy-focused IAM is also available. Search for products that deliver core IAM methodology, including:
- Authorizations
- Multi-factor authentication (MFA)
- Single sign-on (SSO)
- Auditing systems
- Identity federation
Search for a solution provider that offers all the above features. This will enable seamless transitions from legacy systems to multi-cloud hybrid environments.
Importance of Implementing an Identity and Access Management Strategy
One can face significant challenges without an effective identity and access management implementation plan. These include exposing users and data to security risks, as inadequate user access control can result in unauthorized access, data breaches, and security vulnerabilities.
Additionally, businesses without a well-defined IAM strategy roadmap may find it difficult to adhere to regulatory compliance and industry-specific requirements, potentially resulting in legal and financial consequences.
Another major issue is inefficiency, where manually managing user accounts, access permissions, and authentication becomes time-consuming and cumbersome, impacting the overall efficiency of IT teams. Ultimately, this can lead to poor user experience, with employees encountering challenges in accessing necessary resources, further reducing productivity.
Therefore, addressing these challenges necessitates the implementation of a strong IAM strategy. IAM offers the framework and tools to establish secure, compliant, and streamlined access management systems. It guarantees that only authorized users securely access designated resources. IAM strategy aids in simplifying the use of access management processes, enhancing accountability, and optimizing access management operations as organizations grow.
How to Develop an Identity and Access Management Strategy
To create an identity and access management strategy that aligns perfectly with your business needs, below are some of the critical steps to follow:
Step 1: Define IAM Objectives
The first step to developing an IAM strategy is to define your key objectives. This involves recognizing the organization’s goals and how IAM can support them. For instance, these goals can include regulatory compliance, risk reduction, and improving user productivity. By defining your objectives, you can prioritize IAM efforts and focus on areas that provide the most value to your business.
Step 2: Monitor Resources and User Profiles
Once the objective part is done, the next step is to identify all the IT devices inventory present in the organization, especially those that require protection. This includes data repositories, hardware devices, applications, and network resources. An IT device inventory provides an extensive view of your IAM requirements and identifies resources that need extra security.
Step 3: Set up IAM policies
Create IAM policies and procedures that align with your business objectives and industry standards. They should include password policies, access control guidelines, and user provisioning and deprovisioning procedures.
It is essential that these policies are documented, communicated to key stakeholders, and subject to regular review and updates to ensure they are relevant and effective even if any change occurs.
Step 4: Look for Effective IAM Solutions
After setting up the IAM policies, the next step is to choose an efficient and advanced IAM solution that will help your IT team streamline authentication and authorization processes.
You can opt for an identity and access management solution that offers single sign-on, multi-factor authentication, identity and access governance solutions, and identity and access administration features. These features will allow your IT teams to control, manage, and monitor your user access to crucial business resources.
Stage 5: Evaluate and Bolster the IAM Strategy
The final step involves testing the IAM strategy in a controlled environment. This evaluation should involve IT teams and end users, covering all the aspects of IAM, such as authentication, authorization, and end-user provisioning. Based on the feedback from the evaluation, businesses can improve the IAM strategy, making any required changes to ensure its effectiveness, efficiency, and alignment with the organization’s security objectives.
Creating a Secure and Effective Identity and Access Management Strategy
An effective identity and access management strategy is more than a security measure—it’s a foundation for the seamless operation of your organization. By establishing clear objectives and understanding the specific needs of your user community, you can create a tailored IAM approach that enhances security without compromising usability.
The right IAM tool will support your safeguarding efforts, offering features that adapt to both current and future demands. Regularly refining your IAM strategy ensures it evolves with your business, maintaining strong protection against emerging threats. This commitment to a strong IAM framework is essential for maintaining the integrity and resilience of your enterprise.
Explore OneIdP, a UEM-integrated IAM solution by Scalefusion. Schedule a demo with our team of experts.
