IDaaS IGA

The Buyer's Compass provides a framework for evaluating Identity as a Service (IDaaS) Identity Governance and Administration (IGA) providers and services. Emphasizing use cases, functional and non-functional criteria, technical and organizational prerequisites, it aids organizations in making informed decisions. It suggests beginning with identifying primary use cases and applying these to evaluate vendors based on criteria such as user provisioning, identity lifecycle management, and access governance capabilities. IDaaS IGA has grown significantly, driven by its ability to provide effective identity management for modern IT environments and reduce costs of on-premises IAM solutions. The adoption of IDaaS is challenged by concerns such as data residency and vendor dependency, yet it presents an evolving and promising alternative for transitioning from on-premises IAM. Evaluating IDaaS vendors calls for consideration of their architectural strategies, deployment models, support for industry standards, and ability to support hybrid IT environments. Technical and organizational prerequisites include assessing vendors' scalability, integration capabilities, and governance strategies. The document outlines critical questions to ask vendors to assess product maturity and fit within an organization's IAM framework, complemented by related KuppingerCole research resources.

• IDaaS IGA growth is primarily driven by the need for enhanced time-to-value over traditional IAM deployments.
• IDaaS vendors generally fall into two major categories focused on Access Management or IGA capabilities.
• IDaaS systems are delivered entirely as SaaS, hosted, and managed by vendors, distinct from hosted on-prem software.
• Major IDaaS vendors have expanded their capabilities beyond basic authentication to support cloud and consumer access use cases.
• IDaaS solutions have evolved to address modern IAM challenges for cloud and legacy applications.
• Key IAM functions served by IDaaS vendors include Identity Lifecycle Management, Provisioning, and Access Governance.
• Many IDaaS IGA vendors offer virtualized directory services for managing information scattered across diverse identity repositories.
• There is a growing trend toward moving access governance to the cloud for integration and better time to value.
• Directory sync facilitates real-time synchronization of identity information across diverse systems and applications.
• The adoption of IDaaS is obstructed by data residency concerns and the need for extensive customizations.

• "A Buyer's Compass is not a complete guideline for selecting vendors but should provide an excellent starting point to streamline the decision-making process."
• "IDaaS has evolved to provide a wide variety of solutions ranging from Single Sign-On to full Identity Provisioning and Access Governance for both on-premise and cloud solutions."
• "Access governance represents the group of capabilities that are least mature and still frequently absent from the portfolio of IDaaS vendors."
• "Access governance can be run by and within the organization to retain absolute control over governance functions."
• "Beyond regular review campaigns, solutions should also support risk-based and other types of reviews that reduce the workload for reviewers and focus on high-risk items."
• "By delivering a cloud-based service to serve the common IAM requirements of an organization's hybrid IT environment, the IDaaS IGA solution succeeds in integrating access management functions with some IGA and Access Governance features."
• "Understanding the key differentiators between different vendors is essential. Determine how important or relevant these differentiators are to your IAM program."
• "Ensure that technical support services of a vendor incorporate intelligibility of specialized documentation of the product, which should be up to date, comprehensive, and available for easy access."
• "Technical knowledge and skills are essential, with vendors expected to offer training or managed services to fill gaps in expertise."