Identity Management

Identity Management encompasses all the processes necessary to create, maintain, and delete user accounts across all the systems in an enterprise. At its most basic level, identity management is about controlling which users have access to systems and information. It can impact various levels of a business including:

• The technical infrastructure required to maintain identity information
• The legal responsibilities of the company with regard to the information that's stored and how it is kept secure
• The personal rights of users with respect to privacy

A subset of Identity Management is the concept of provisioning. Provisioning is the process of coordinating the creation and management of user accounts by enforcing rules, roles, and workflow. In the identity management world, systems are used to automate these processes. For example- a common provisioning use case is the scenario where an employee is terminated. In this scenario, the desired outcome would be for that user's system access rights to be revoked immediately once the termination is made in the top-level HR system. This way both the employer and the employee are protected from liability for any malicious actions that might occur in the underlying systems post-termination.

Identity Management also includes the concept of password management and self-help. When left unregulated users are inherently prone to using weak passwords, risking the discovery of login information by malicious third parties, and/or forgetting their login information. Companies can counteract these issues by deploying controlled Identity Management processes such as forcing users to regularly change their passwords, enforcing the use of strong passwords, and providing self-help mechanisms for retrieving forgotten login information. These measures can better position the company for compliance while minimizing the number of support cases generated for user management.

Common acronyms for Identity Management include IdM, IAM, and IDAM. 

Would you like to hear more about how we can help with all your Identity Management needs? Feel free to contact us!