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Identify access and management (IAM) is a framework of policies set in place to ensure users have access to the technical resources they require. As a whole, IAM falls under cybersecurity and data access management.
IAM software helps companies implement and manage their security policies on their ecosystem of platforms, apps, and devices.
Proper implementation and monitoring allow them to identify security violations, eliminate inappropriate access privileges, and revoke them altogether.
See below to learn all about the current IAM software market:
See more: Okta vs. Azure Active Directory (AD): Product Comparison
IAM market growth
The global IAM market was valued at $13.4 billion in 2021. With an estimated compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14.5%, it’s expected to reach $34.5 billion by the year 2028.
Regionally, different countries contribute varying rates of growth in the IAM market:
- The U.S. had 40.6% of the IAM market in 2020 at $1.3 billion
- China is expected to maintain a CAGR of 30.8% from 2020-2027, reaching a market value of $2.1 billion
- Japan and Canada are forecast to grow at 22.3% and 23.7% over the 2020-2027 period
- Germany is forecast to grow at a 23.8% CAGR from 2020-2027
- The European IAM market is estimated to reach $2.1 billion by 2027
- Australia, India, and South Korea are forecast to lead the Asia-Pacific market toward $1.8 billion by 2027
By industry, several sectors are leading the demand and consumption for IAM solutions.
- Health care
- Retail
- Telecommunications
- BFSI
- Automotive
- Advertising and Media
- Manufacturing
IAM features
IAM management software performs two primary tasks.
It is responsible for confirming a user, software, or hardware is what they claim to be, before granting them access. Submitted credentials are compared against a pre-existing database.
IAM software also regulates access privileges. Instead of a set of credentials granting an entity access to the entirety of the ecosystem, IAM limits access and edit privileges as necessary.
On-premises IAM
On-premises deployment of IAM software offers you complete control of the data and the ability to manage your own security. This option requires having dedicated staff, time, budget, and technical expertise to make the most of it.
Cloud-based IAM
Cloud-based IAM solutions are generally more secure, flexible, and cost-efficient than the alternative. While switching from on-premises to cloud-based IAM is a process, cloud-based systems tend to cost less in the long run and are compatible with a variety of OS, platforms, apps, and providers.
Considered a zero-trust architecture, IAM solutions must have a set of principles and features included.
- Zero-trust policies
- Centralized identity management dashboards
- Secure access protocol through multi-factor authentication (MFA) and adaptive authentication
- Policy-based authorization control
- Privilege and admin accounts management
- Auditing, reporting, and analytics
Benefits of IAM
With a rapidly evolving cybersecurity landscape alongside a drastic increase in using online platforms, applications, and cloud environments to host services and run operations, comes a great need for IAM systems.
Some benefits of IAM systems include:
- Optimized user experience (UX)
- Reduced password issues
- Boosted productivity
- Centralized access control
- Improved business agility
- Enhanced security
- Fault-proof identity verification and authentication
- Compliance with security regulations
IAM use cases
As more companies partially or fully shift their operations and services online, the need for IAM solutions is more persistent.
These use cases show how organizations in multiple industries benefited from IAM software:
The Glennie School
Located in Queensland, Australia, The Glennie School has been offering education and pastoral care programs for girls from kindergarten to year 12 since 1908. Some of its services and resources are offered through an online platform for students, parents, and the school’s staff.
The Glennie School realized that it needs a solution to streamline the user login experience for over 2,000 users on multiple apps. Working with OneLogin, it was able to implement seamless single sign-on (SSO) and an IAM solution.
“Since we switched to OneLogin, adoption and use have grown dramatically. The login process for our users is significantly more seamless and error proof,” says Matthew Russell, IT manager at The Glennie School.
“The relationship with the distributor has been a good move, as we now have access to support from OneLogin directly, who work predominantly on the U.S, time zone, and our local time zone distributor.”
Gogo
Gogo is a provider of in-flight broadband internet services for business and commercial airlines. With its headquarters in Chicago, Illinois, Gogo serves over 2,500 commercial and 6,600 business aircraft with just over 1,000 employees.
During the spring of 2020, when the pandemic affected the commercial aviation industry, Gogo’s IT team needed a way to cut costs. They needed a way to consolidate the company’s IAM solution to better serve the company’s clients before an approaching three-year contract.
Gogo decided to migrate their thousands of internal and external users to Microsoft Azure Active Directory (AD), allowing them to make use of Microsoft’s IAM tools.
“We want to be able to protect our custom apps that we create with our airline partners. Security is a big deal — we’re putting our stuff on airplanes,” says Chris Szorc, director of IT at Gogo.
“When you ask for FastTrack, you get a team that knows what to do and where to put people, and they help you organize. They really know how to get that particular task driven to completion.”
Commercial International Bank
Commercial International Bank (CIB) is Egypt’s leading private sector bank. Employing over 8,000 employees and offering over 1,000 ATMs and 210 branches across the country, CIB provides banking and financial services for retail and corporate customers.
In 2016, CIB began a five-year transformation strategy seeking to improve its IAM and identity government systems. Working with IBM and using a variety of its security solutions for the bank’s databases, protecting sensitive servers, managing compliance, and automating IT audits, CIB was able to achieve its IAM security goals.
“We relied on IBM’s expertise and their support. Then they handed over the knowledge to the local identity access management team and CIB to resume the journey and start integrating more and more applications,” says Shatssy Hassan, chief security officer at Commercial International Bank.
“The in-depth strategy we’ve implemented is now providing customers with more secure solutions.”
IAM providers
Some of the top IAM providers include:
- Microsoft
- Okta
- OneLogin
- Oracle
- Pin Identity
- SailPoint
- IBM
- CyberArk
- Twingate
- Cisco
See more: Top Cloud Security Tools & Software
