What is Identity and Access Management (IAM) Software?

Identity and access management software enables organizations to create user identities and manage role-based permissions to access organizational assets, applications, and data. This helps in saving your business assets and data from unauthorized access.

IAM tools are used to provision and deprovision user identities and restrict access to the company’s assets. Through this software, user identity is created on a job role basis and access is provided via multiple authentication methods.

IAM software ensures that only authorized users have access to the company’s resources including sensitive data and applications. Additionally, this software helps organizations protect their assets from unauthorized users, prevent data leaks, tampering, and loss, and ensure data integrity.

What are the Key Features of Identity and Access Management (IAM) Software?

Here are some key features that you will find in every identity and access management system.

• Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA): Organizations can use MFA methods to get access to any organization’s assets. Employees or customers can authenticate via password, one-time passcodes (OTPs), fingerprint sensors, hardware token, biometrics, iris scanning, etc.
• Identity Lifecycle Management: Easily manage the entire identity lifecycle including provisioning, de-provisioning, access permissions, and more.
• Control Permissions: Ensures permission-based access to different systems, data, assets, etc., based upon the roles and designation.
• Directory: Maintain all the details of employees, clients, and customers on a single platform. Also, record the details about identities and passwords used by your employees to access the company’s assets.
• User Activity Monitoring: IAM software enables senior authorities to monitor employees' activities to identify any anomalies in users’ behavior. It will help administrators to alter permissions for a specific user or identity if any unusual behavior is detected.
• Single Sign-On (SSO): This enables users to sign into different applications and access the company data through a single, unique login credential.
• Automated Access Control Recommendations: Get automated access control recommendations through AI-based users identities filtering and security credentials verifications.

What are the Benefits of Identity and Access Management (IAM) Software?

• Improved Security: The IAM Solution enables organizations to manage access permissions, permitting only authorized and valid users to access the organization’s assets. This prevents any unauthorized use of the company’s data and assets, thereby improving its overall security.
• Better Work Productivity: Employees of an organization need not log into multiple applications through different credentials. Instead, they can access data and different company assets through a single sign-on (SSO) password that saves their valuable time and improves their work productivity.
• Advanced Tracking of Anomalies: IAM software comes with various advanced technologies such as machine learning, AI, and risk-based authentication to easily recognize and block any kind of anomalous activity like sharing the confidential data without permission, accessing restricted applications, etc.
• Helps in Eliminating Weak Passwords: Identity and Access Management (IAM) solutions use the best practices such as MFA methods and public key infrastructure (PKI) encryption for users' credential management. It eliminates the risk related to employees using weak and default passwords.
• Manage Access Requests: The IAM solution manages bulk access requests in real time. It automatically approves access requests through multiple MFA (Multiple Factors Authentication) methods.

Who Uses Identity and Access Management (IAM) Software?

IAM software is very beneficial for the following group of people such as:

• IT Professionals: They use this software to provision and deprovision users' identities. It further helps them in analyzing all the stored identities and recognizing any unusual activity of a specific user.
• Information Security (infosec) Professionals: These professionals use IAM tools to ensure that only authorized users have access to the company’s sensitive information and assets. It also helps them in identifying and eliminating any threat to company 'security through various security protocols.
• Employees: Employees use this software to get access to all the companies' assets to perform their job.

Challenges with Identity and Access Management Solutions

Here are some challenges organizations can face with identity and access management solutions:

• Vulnerable MFA Methods: Currently, IAM solutions do not have effective multi-factor authentication methods and generally use OTP, email, or risk-based authentication that are not free from vulnerabilities.
• Identity for Both Cloud and On-Premises: Depending upon the type of organization and resources, an organization might require a cloud-based or on-premises IAM system. However, not all the IAM solution providers sell solutions for both types of deployment. This does not prove beneficial for end-to-end security management organizations with hybrid deployment of its infrastructure.

How to Choose Identity and Access Management (IAM) Software?

Consider the following factors to buy the right identity and access management (IAM) software:

• Ease of Use: The solution you want to purchase should be easy to use and navigate through multiple modules.
• Authentication Methods: Choose software that offers multiple MFA methods such as OTP, email, mobile sign-in, biometrics, etc., to access company assets.
• Integration: The integration with existing software such as HR solutions can help in maintaining all the user identity data in a digital repository.
• Deployment: The identity and access management (IAM) software should offer both on-premises and cloud-based deployment to compliment your organization’s requirements.
• Pricing: Select an IAM solution that best fits in your budget and has all the features to improve the organization’s management of all identities and access permissions.
• Mobile-Friendly: Accessing identity and access management software through your smartphone will help you to manage data and tasks even from remote locations.
• Scalability: A scalable IAM system can manage many identities and access control for a growing organization.