1 Introduction / Executive Summary
Convergence, swim lanes, suites, one-stop-shopping: There are many talks these days about whether and to which extend different areas of IAM will and should converge. These conversations take place amongst vendors, looking at the technical integration of product offerings and SaaS services, but also amongst end-user organizations that are in the process of modernizing their IAM or just beginning their IAM journey.
There is no silver bullet for making such decisions. Too many factors are impacting the decision about which tools to use. These include the concrete requirements of an organization, the size and skills of their IAM teams for managing complex IAM environments, the current IAM infrastructure and the current system and application landscape.
Concepts such as the one of Identity Fabrics can be used as the foundation for defining a holistic approach on IAM and identifying the capabilities and services that are needed in this environment.
It is not just IAM that must be considered in a converged strategy. The KuppingerCole IAM Reference Architecture illustrates the wide range of capabilities within IAM – not all needed by every organization – and as well the integrations. Integrations such as to Endpoint Management or IT Service Management can deliver significant benefits to organizations.
In any case, it is strongly recommended to take a holistic view on IAM, across the various functional areas of IAM. While, depending on the state and size of customers, the decisions about whether to use only one or several IAM solutions will change, a consistent, integrated approach to IAM is a mandate. Specifically for the lower mid-market and medium-sized businesses, fully or widely converged IAM solutions are beneficial, reducing the complexity of managing multiple IAM solutions and building integrations between these.
Also, such converged approach will deliver good support for Zero Trust requirements, covering major parts of Zero Trust, from the continual authentication of users to controlled access to systems and applications.
ARCON provides a converged IAM suite that covers all major areas of IAM, but also extends into Enterprise Single Sign-On, Password Management, and the ability to manage systems and applications.
