The IAM systems. Agile business that is secure, employee-friendly and in line with regulations

Remote work requires special control over when and who has access to the company’s internal systems. Enterprises face a new challenge consisting in the remote management of employees. How can you do it effectively and efficiently, while ensuring data security? Choose an Identity Access Management system.

Such solutions support businesses in three essential areas: data security, commencement and termination of collaboration with employees and contractors as well as business management.

1. Key data security management

• Granting and revoking privileges

All employees need access to various corporate systems (ERP, CRM) and applications. An efficient process of granting and revoking privileges is very important, particularly in the context of remote work. The IAM systems allow to define user roles within an organisation and assign privileges to job positions and groups. A specific role is tied to selected privileges. It means that it is not necessary to grant individual privileges to particular systems. It is enough to assign a specific role to an employee and change it when the scope of duties is modified.

• Control

The IAM systems provide ongoing visibility of who has access to key enterprise resources and on what principles. It facilitates the control, verification and monitoring of user privileges regarding IT systems.

• Detection of irregularities

SailPoint, one of the leaders in the market of the IAM systems, implemented machine learning and artificial intelligence in its solutions. They allow for detection of irregularities, e.g. unusual behaviours in the system or situations when a person gets access to a given company resource against the internal policies and rules.

2. Employee management

• Employment automation

The IAM solutions support the process of employment. The assist in granting relevant access privileges and automate the training assignments among other useful functions. They coordinate the collection of all necessary permissions, authorizations and confirmations for the purpose of accessing various sources. They provide quick and automated distribution of login credentials for systems, e-mail services and documents.

• Change of the employee’s role in the organisation

These systems also support HR departments when employee switch to a different job position. It is enough to register a relevant note about the new role of the employee in the HR application. The IDM will automatically redirect this operation to the review of access privileges by the new superior. It will revoke and grant the privileges in line with the new role in the organisation and will also inform all interested persons about the changes.

• Secure termination

Once the collaboration is terminated, the IDM solution will automatically revoke and block all of the employee’s access privileges. It will also inform all interested persons that the employee has left the organisation. In the event of dismissal on disciplinary grounds or when it is necessary to remove the given person from the system immediately or to enforce a suspension, the employer may use the so-called red button. It enables instant blocking of all access privileges.

3. Enterprise management

• Business agility

Business agility is the foundation of management. This includes remote work too. It simply means adjustment to external and internal changes quickly, smoothly and without committing large human and technological resources.

Such changes include hiring new employees, commencement and termination of collaboration with in-house and external workers, contractors and customers. The IAM solutions shorten the time needed to carry out these processes.

• Control over processes

Segregation of duties (SoD) is a concept which implies that a business process or task needs more than one person to be completed. When granting new privileges to an employee, e.g. due to a promotion, one can overlook the fact that such a person gets access which is excessive and out of proportion. It may pose a threat to company finances or cause other negative effects.

The IAM solutions provide the company with protection against such risks. As a result, they limit the number of potential errors. When more people take part in a process, the control becomes more effective and it is easier to detect any irregularities on time. Such solutions protect the enterprise against double-dealing and fraudulent practices by employees and against sensitive information leaks.

• Compliance with regulations

Each company is under the obligation to follow external regulations (e.g. GDPR) and internal policies (e.g. security policies). By using the IAM systems, an enterprise can quickly detect, solve and report any data-related problems in line with the GDPR or the Act on Cybersecurity.

Moreover, the digital identity management solutions ensure compliance with the company’s internal regulations such as procedures, standards and security policies. They define who can have access to IT resources and on what principles. The implementation of the IAM systems facilitates the adherence to such guidelines.

The team at Concept Data will be glad to suggest the areas in your company which can benefit from an IAM system. Please contact us at: info@conceptdata.pl.

More about IAM systems:

Remote work which is secure and effective. What tools to choose

Secure assess to company data. How to facilitate remote work, protect resources and support IT departments

Safeguards which understand the user. CyberArk Identity Adaptive MFA

Digital Identity Management. Where to start?