If you work in the IT sector, you should know all about IAM. It’s a concept that continues to take hold in information technology, and it has many business applications. We’ll cover some IAM facts in this article that company owners should know.
IAM Basics
What exactly is IAM? It stands for identity and access management. It’s how you ensure that individuals can access the resources they need to do their jobs while also ascertaining their identities.
IAM involves the concept that anyone in your company can access whatever they need to succeed according to the parameters you set, and no more than that. In other words, someone who’s low down on the company’s totem pole can’t access classified documents or anything that’s outside of their purview.
At a time when hybrid work happens more, meaning some employees work at home and others from a central location, IAM matters more than ever before. Now, let’s move on to a few IAM facts that company owners or operators should know and consider.
IAM Helps Protect Companies from Security Incidents
All kinds of security incidents can occur that can rattle companies. For instance, a hacker can try to penetrate your network, or a phishing attack could occur.
IAM cannot save your business from every threat variety, but it’s particularly helpful in allowing admins to automate various tasks. These are usually user-account-related chores that your workers would have handled in the past.
With IAM in place, your admins can automate new employee onboarding. They can grant them access to systems or apps they need to do their new jobs and no more than that.
An IAM system can also have what IT professionals call one-button control, meaning they can remove an employee’s access from all systems with one button touch. This way, if a disgruntled worker ever leaves a company, you can immediately make sure they don’t sabotage anything.
You Can Use IAM to Guarantee Compliance
Many companies have to work according to regulations that various governing bodies set. For instance, most business entities need to think about OSHA compliance to protect their workers from any physical dangers they might encounter while on the job.
IAM can help with that compliance. A company executive can show any interested party that they have safeguards through IAM protocols that ensure they never stray outside of the set parameters that allow them to keep functioning correctly. Compliance matters since if you don’t follow set guidelines, state and local governments or other entities might shut you down.
You Can Use IAM to Keep Track of Employee Activity
An IAM system also lets you keep a close eye on the software suite you utilize or the apps that your company uses daily. You might have a software suite that all your workers use, regardless of whether they’re at home or a brick-and-mortar location. With IAM tracing protocols, an admin can easily see what any employee does, based on their given designation.
If you ever see activity on the platform that doesn’t look or feel right, you can see what employee did it. Each worker has an electronic signature when you use IAM. If they’re doing something wrong, either accidentally or on purpose, you can figure that out quickly and take steps to correct those actions.
IAM Can Save Both Your New Workers and Admins Time
Saving time and money isn’t always possible in the business world, but when it is, you need to jump on those opportunities. IAM gives you a chance to cut back on the time your admins use dealing with user account-related issues.
Every time they sign on a new worker, they can automate that, and it is much less likely that there will be complications. The streamlined process allows your admins to concentrate on more critical issues.
New workers can easily verify their identity when they log into your network once you’ve set up IAM. They can get back the authorization they need to start their work. If they ever run into problems, they have an easy way to contact the admins who can instantly identify the problem based on the oversight capabilities that IAM also affords them.
IAM Involves Multiple Security Protocols Working Together
Part of what makes the IAM model so successful is that it’s not just a single security protocol, but several of them working at once. This is what allows you to install several defense lines to prevent either active or passive hacker attacks.
With IAM, you’re probably going to have two-factor authentication. That makes it less likely that anyone unauthorized can access your network just because they got their hands on a worker’s password. They will still need a second identity verification method, which they presumably do not have.
IAM uses single sign-on systems, and it also uses privileged access management. We mentioned that earlier: it’s what allows your workers to see only what pertains to their job while keeping them away from company areas that don’t involve them.
If you try IAM for your company, what you’re getting is a system that flawlessly combines all your needed programs, technologies, and policies seamlessly. It’s one of the most modern identity management protocols that can protect your business entity like few other technology breakthroughs can.
If you’re ready to try it, you can talk to your IT department about that. If you own a smaller company and don’t have any permanent IT staff members, then you can contact a freelancer. They can look at your business model and figure out how expensive and difficult implementing IAM will be.
It could cost more depending on how large your company is, how many workers you have, etc. Still, spending that money is worth it. Doing so will prevent more security breaches, and a single one can devastate your company.
You need to look into technologies like IAM that can preserve your company’s reputation. If you don’t, you’ll probably lose both potential employees and customers.
