Introduction
Identity modernization is the response to the conventional identity management technology that couldn’t navigate the digital transformation journey of a business amid the global cloud adoption.
Enterprises have been deploying different identity management systems for decades to manage their employees’ identities. These systems have done pretty well about the demand of enterprises in that particular period.
However, things have rapidly changed amid the introduction of the customer identity and access management (CIAM) solution. The adoption of cloud computing and shared servers by enterprises has increased the complexity of identity management.
The conventional identity management solutions cannot keep up with the needs of today’s SaaS applications, especially the ones deployed over the cloud.
Hence, adopting a modern cutting-edge identity management platform that works flawlessly for on-premise and cloud-native applications is swiftly becoming the need of the hour.
Let’s understand the aspects and importance of identity modernization and how it paves the path for growth in the coming years.
What is Identity Modernization? Why is it in the Limelight?
Organizations relying on traditional identity management solutions lag behind their competitors since they’re not gaining all the benefits of the modern cloud. Also, it becomes quite challenging to control the way consumer or employee identities are managed from a security perspective.
So, how can businesses best meet the unique requirements of users leveraging the cloud and require access to applications and software deployed on-premise?
The answer to this question is to leverage a cloud-based customer identity and access management (CIAM) solution that meets today’s customers' demands, especially when it comes to security and user experience.
So, in a nutshell, identity modernization is moving from the conventional legacy identity management solution to modern cloud-based identity and access management systems for reinforcing security without hampering user experience.
With the changing digital landscape, cybersecurity is becoming more complex as attackers find loopholes in the traditional identity management systems to exploit crucial business data and sensitive user information.
Hence, enterprises must move to a more robust identity management platform that can handle security and scalability and cater to clients' diverse needs to enhance the overall user experience.
What Drives Identity Modernization?
Enterprises shouldn’t ignore the fact that a modern identity management architecture should consider how to support applications and software resting behind legacy identity.
Moreover, the identity management solution must support every cloud-driven operational model, including Zero Trust, and ensure the application user experience is transparent across different clouds.
Zero trust is the security concept based on a belief that enterprises shouldn’t automatically trust any device or individual, whether inside or outside its perimeters and should strictly verify everything before granting access.
In a nutshell, zero trust relies on the principle of “don’t trust anyone.” This architecture cuts all the access points until proper verification is done and trust is established.
No access is provided until the system verifies the individual or device demanding n access to the IP address, device, or storage.
Zero trust security is undoubtedly the driver of identity modernization and helps enterprises thrive in business success.
Benefits of Incorporating a Zero Trust Identity Management Infrastructure
#1. Secures sensitive business information and maintains brand repute
Securing sensitive business data should be the #1 priority for enterprises embarking on a journey to digital transformation, which prevents losses worth millions of dollars and eventually preserves brand reputation.
The lack of a robust security mechanism could also lead to compromised consumer identities that further cause financial losses.
Moreover, consumers’ refusal to do business with a breached enterprise will naturally affect the overall revenues.
Enforcing an effective Zero Trust solution will ensure that only authenticated and authorized individuals and devices have access to resources and applications and help mitigate data breaches, preventing many of these negative consequences.
#2. Better visibility
Since Zero Trust never trusts anyone, you can always decide what resources, data, and activity you’ll need to add to your security strategy.
All information and computing sources are secure, and every user needs to go through a stringent authentication process to gain access to specific resources.
Once you have set up the monitoring that covers all your activities and resources, you gain complete visibility into how and who accesses your organization’s network. This means you have precise data regarding each request's time, location, and application.
#3. Secures remote employees
Moreover, the dependency on firewalls, which aren’t the best line of defense, is reduced as a robust security mechanism reassuring that users spread across the world can securely access data across the cloud.
In Conclusion
The modern digital business landscape has provided endless opportunities but has also increased the risk for both users and the workforce.
Cybercriminals are rapidly exploiting the conventional identity management systems, which is a threat that business owners often overlook.
Incorporating a modern cloud-based identity management system could help businesses secure customer information and sensitive business data since it can provide robust security without compromising user experience.
