{"id":3611,"date":"2023-01-28T15:48:50","date_gmt":"2023-01-28T20:48:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.indigoconsulting.ca\/?p=3611"},"modified":"2024-01-31T18:14:19","modified_gmt":"2024-01-31T23:14:19","slug":"why-working-with-an-iam-specialized-msp-is-essential-for-modern-enterprises","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.indigoconsulting.ca\/fr\/blog\/why-working-with-an-iam-specialized-msp-is-essential-for-modern-enterprises\/","title":{"rendered":"Why working with an IAM specialized MSP is essential for modern enterprises"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Physical workspaces and boundaries seem less relevant than ever before today, especially with how interconnected\u00a0 modern workplaces and tech stacks have become.<\/span><\/p>

The world has been on the path towards digital transformation for years. COVID-19, however, caused everything to surge forward. It accelerated cloud adoption, forced us to transition to distributed work, and dissolved what little remained of the security perimeter.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

And with the dissolution of the perimeter, traditional network access was rendered functionally obsolete. Businesses can no longer rely on whitelists, password-based authentication, and firewalls. Nor can they continue moving forward with a mindset centered around traditional network access.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

What they need instead is Identity and Access Management (IAM). IAM shifts the focus of access management from devices and physical location to user and machine identities. <\/span>Gartner<\/span><\/a> notes that it \u201cenables the right individuals to access the right resources at the right times for the right reasons.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

IAM is foundational not just to digital transformation projects, but for day-to-day operations in a digitally-focused enterprise. Yet for all that enterprises appear to acknowledge the value and importance of IAM, there are <\/span>staggeringly few mature IAM programs<\/span><\/a>. There’s a reason for that.<\/span><\/p>

The Problem With Inhouse IAM<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>

An IAM program requires a fundamental shift in your organization’s approach to network access. Because of this it’s incredibly challenging to design, build, and deploy an IAM program completely in house, particularly if your organization lacks existing expertise. Many businesses also forget that IAM is not simply a project that can be marked as completed.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

It’s an organic, always-on set of processes, technologies, and frameworks that needs to keep evolving in tandem with both your business and your industry. It requires strategic thinking, proper stakeholder stewardship, and long-term planning, so that you may continuously improve your security, authentication journeys, and level of authorization.\u00a0 Finally, it demands that you keep up-to-date with new innovations from IAM vendors and also stay attuned to <\/span>trends within the IAM sector as a whole<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

For enterprises that already employ people with the required knowledge, this is challenging but achievable. For everyone else, it’s a task so herculean that it verges on the impossible. This is in large part thanks to the ongoing cybersecurity skills shortage.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Skilled security practitioners are in short supply. Finding security practitioners with the <\/span>desire,<\/span><\/i> skillset, and required ancillary knowledge <\/span><\/i>of infrastructure, networking, and the agile methodology<\/span> to work on IAM is even harder. Because this scarcity lends itself to a highly competitive job market, it’s difficult to even <\/span>find <\/span><\/i>a full-time IAM engineer.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Even if your organization is lucky enough to hire someone who can manage its IAM program, retaining that individual is a challenge in and of itself. There’s nothing to stop them from leaving once they’ve learned what they need to know about IAM. And if that happens before you can find and train a replacement, your IAM program is dead in the water.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

You can’t sidestep this problem by leveraging existing engineers to inherit an identity platform, either. Most of the time, they aren’t interested. The IAM sector, after all, is nowhere near as exciting as most other security disciplines, but don\u2019t let that diminish its importance.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Working with a consulting firm is often a non-starter, as well. They’ll collaborate with your business to plan its roadmap and strategy, help with implementation\u2026then most will leave. If you don’t have someone knowledgeable enough to configure the system and maintain its integrity, you may as well have never hired that consultant in the first place.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Perhaps these factors together are the reason that many enterprises treat IAM as either a sub-service or an afterthought. They take one look at what’s required and end up soured on the entire process. IAM simply requires too much of their time, effort, and budget.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Fortunately, there’s an alternative to trying to bludgeon one’s way through IAM inhouse \u2014 working with a managed service provider (MSP). A managed IAM vendor provides you with access to not only the necessary expertise to operate your IAM program, but also the <\/span>resources <\/span><\/i>to do so. More importantly, it does this at a fraction of what it would cost to run things in-house, allowing you to both save money and keep focusing on your business.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Getting Started With Managed IAM<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>

Before you contact a managed IAM vendor, you must define your priorities. What are your business drivers? Why do you need to establish an IAM program, and what objectives are you looking to fulfill in doing so?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Some common use cases include:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>