Dealing with internal breaches and data security lapses can be hard. Beyond the financial implications and obvious paperwork that follows due to noncompliance, company repute and brand value could be at severe risks. It may take years to recover from a serious breach. Having a proactive stance towards insider threats is necessary, especially when compliance requirements are growing complex by the day. An identity & access management suite is basically a system that simplifies user access management. It allows a company to have a fair idea of who and how accesses data, information, apps and resources at a given point and time, and how these rights are managed, monitored, cancelled and modified.
If you are looking for an identity & user management tool, here are some of the aspects to consider.
- Scalability. Corporate IT environments are complex in nature, and you need an IAM tool that’s scalable and can will grow with your company. Also, whether the tool is a complete suite for identity & access management or just an extra thing is something you need to consider, as well. Deploying IAM programs can take considerable time, effort and understanding of core compliance aspects, and you need a company that can deliver.
- The range of access management. This is another important aspect that must be considered, because companies need the same level of security and access control for various apps, services, data and resources. Check if the company can offer solutions for a hybrid IT network, if they have options for multi-factor authentication (MFA).
- Ease of use. Large corporate firms need to manage thousands of employees, and as many applications, services and resources. How the management is going to manage, edit, modify, approve and delete user access is something worth discussing. It is also necessary to see the range of automation tools that will be made available for the management. For instance, in case there is a suspicious activity from an account, the system should be responsive enough to block the account automatically.
Finally, pricing is an important factor because you need to find an IAM tool that’s scalable and fits your budget. However, the scope and features of access management tools are much more important and have to be considered. Discuss all other relevant pointers, such as the means available to consolidate and manage identity data, before taking the final call on an access management system.
