Many companies are now comfortable with outsourcing their identity and access management (IAM) to specialized external providers. Even in strictly-regulated industries, IDaaS is no longer taboo. Finding the right partner for such a project is not always easy, but the effort is worth it: today’s outsourcing models offer a whole range of convincing advantages.
Advantage 1: Less stress for staff
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.
Advantage 2: Seamless integration of best-of-breed components
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.
Advantage 3: Higher level of security
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.
Advantage 4: Seamless reporting and end-to-end compliance
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.
Advantage 5: Flexibility and scalability
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.
Advantage 6: CapEx becomes OpEx
Particularly important from a commercial point of view: By outsourcing IAM to a Managed Services Provider (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.
Advantage 7: Always up to date
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.
Conclusion
Outsourcing IAM is the best choice for many companies: It relieves the burden on in-house IT staff, is economically attractive, and helps take security and compliance to a whole new level. Particularly in view of the rapidly increasing number of endpoints and users – and the associated administrative overhead – switching to an IDaaS model is a forward-looking step.
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