IAM/IAG (Identity Access Management/Governance) is changing. The Computing Troika of Cloud, Mobile, and Social Computing creates new challenges. Different deployment models, new devices and mobile users, and more groups of users to deal with more closely are fundamentally changing the business demand for IAM/IAG. The good thing: There finally is strong demand not only from IT, Information Security, and Audit for IAM/IAG, but also from business.

However, there are new challenges and new types of demand. The need for quickly on- and off-boarding business partners, giving access to business partner applications, managing access to the Cloud, integration of customers using various types of logins, etc. – all these are new challenges that extend the scope of IAM and IAG.

Addressing these challenges is neither about doing something different nor about killing and replacing your IAM. It is about extending and embracing what you have and move it to the next level, to support the new requirements businesses are facing.

That is the reason why it is time to set back and review IAM programs: IAM/IAG is changing. Thus, it is mandatory to review what you have today and think about how to best extend that to a future-proof IAM/IAG that supports the new business demand. The IAM/IAG infrastructures of most organizations will become hybrid, with components running on-premises and others in the Cloud. The term “hybrid” indicates that this is about something that is integrated. Hybrid is not about having an internally-facing and an externally-facing IAM/IAG infrastructure, but a consistent, integrated, well thought-out approach that protects existing investments whenever possible and adds what is required for the future.

KuppingerCole Advisory Services support you in the review and redefinition of your IAM/IAG Strategic Planning. And there is no better place to learn about the changing landscape and new solutions than EIC 2014.

This article was originally published in the KuppingerCole Analysts' View Newsletter.