Managed Services

Outsourcing the IAM environment means less work for the in-house IT team. This is most obvious in platform operation and maintenance. However, supporting, documenting, and safeguarding the IAM solution also requires considerable effort – e.g., promptly importing all updates and patches, some of which are security-critical – so outsourcing has a positive impact from day one.

After choosing a suitable solution, one of the biggest challenges in implementing an IAM platform is integrating it into the company’s complex application and identity landscape. In an outsourcing model, the partner provides a best-of-breed solution tailored to individual requirements, and ensures its seamless integration. This way, companies can immediately tap into the solution’s full potential.

This may come as a surprise: In most cases, switching to a managed services or an IDaaS model means that critical credentials are significantly better protected than on-premises. Providers who host IAM as a service generally utilize state-of-the-art infrastructures. They have experienced expert staff available around the clock who have direct access to the vendor and are certified for the security-critical operation of IAM. These are the best prerequisites for security.

What applies to infrastructure security also applies to monitoring, documentation, and auditability: As a matter of course, the specialist service providers operating in this segment always document their performance and service levels, and ensure compliance with legislative, industry-specific, and country-specific requirements.

With regard to the scope of services, runtimes, or licensing, IDaaS models offer companies maximum flexibility. Additional services, additional locations, increasing or decreasing numbers of employees – all of this can be adapted conveniently, and usually in a matter of minutes.

Particularly important from a commercial point of view: By outsourcing IAM to an MSP, companies avoid making high one-off investments in their own hardware or software, and instead pay in manageable monthly installments. This way, they maintain liquidity, create scope for further investments, and can immediately claim tax relief on the expenditure.

Companies who receive their IAM from a provider no longer have to worry about updates or patches: The outsourcing partner always provides the latest version of the software and is responsible for the stability and security of the new release. This also means considerable relief for the team.