Implementation of Enterprise Identity &
Access Management Solution

Implementation of Enterprise Identity and Access Management Solution

Our Implementation Methodology

1. Define Enterprise Identity and Access Management Vision

The critical foundation for successful Identity and Access Management (IAM) implementation is understanding IAM as a combination of technology solutions and business processes to manage identities and access corporate data and applications.

• Start to tie business processes with your IAM program from the concept stage.
• Build your current and future IT capabilities, such as cloud-based implementations based on the current IT and network infrastructure.
• Engineer the roles between users and applications regarding privileges, rules, policies, and constraints.
• Map access privileges to business roles, identify excessive privileges, accounts, and redundant/dead groups.
• Fulfill all auditing requirements to comply with compliance regulations, privacy, and data governance policies. This will help the teams make informed decisions.
• Take the enterprise-wide approach in implementing authorization procedures, security, and management, integration across domains as part of your IAM architecture.

2. Develop a solid foundation

This requires a comprehensive evaluation of IAM product’s capabilities and its synchronization abilities with organizational Infrastructure. This should be followed by an effective risk assessment of all organizational applications and platforms.

• Identification of Operating System, third-party applications currently in use, and mapping with the functionalities offered by the IAM program.
• Customizations made to fulfill new requirements.
• Technological capabilities and limitations.
• Involve IAM Subject Matter Experts in standardizing and enforcing the IAM policy.

3. A Phased Implementation

A stage-wise procedure is recommended to avoid complexities in the IAM implementation process, and have a clear path of progress, while staying true to project goals and outcomes.

1. Distributed Workforce
2. Distributed Applications
3. Resource Provisioning
4. Bring Your Own Device
5. Password Issues
6. Meeting Compliance

4. Stakeholder Awareness

The IAM program-related stakeholder awareness program should cover detailed training on the underlying technology, product abilities, and scalability factors.

The IAM solution implementation awareness program should have an approach tailored to the requirements of different user communities.

More than anyone, IT teams require detailed know-how of the IAM program and its core activities. The Operations team should be aware of the capabilities across different stages of the IAM lifecycle.

The training process should be continuous and happen in tandem with the changing processes or emerging capabilities.

5. Consider Identity as Primary Security Perimeter

Organizations should shift from the traditional focus on network security to consider identity as the primary security perimeter. With the explosion of cloud and remote working culture, network perimeter is becoming increasingly porous, and perimeter defense can’t be effective. Centralize security controls around user and service identities.

6. Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)

Enable MFA for all your users, including administrators and C-suite executives. It checks multiple aspects of a user’s identity before allowing access to an application or database instead of regular sign-in aspects. MFA is an integral part of identity and access management.

7. Single Sign-On (SSO):

Organizations must establish Single Sign-On for their devices, apps, and services so users can use the same credentials to access the resources they need, wherever and whenever. You can achieve SSO by using the same identity solution for all your apps and resources, whether on-premises or in the cloud.

8. Zero-Trust Policy:

The zero-trust policy assumes every access request as a threat until verified. Access requests inside and outside the network are thoroughly authenticated, authorized, and scrutinized for anomalies before granting permission.

9. Enforce a Strong Password Policy

Implement an organization-wide password policy to ensure users set strong passwords for access. Ensure employees update their passwords regularly and avoid using sequential and repetitive characters.

10. Secure Privileged Accounts

Securing privileged accounts is imperative to protect critical business assets. Limiting the number of users having privileged access to the organization’s critical assets reduces the chance of unauthorized access to a sensitive resource. You must isolate the privileged accounts from the risk of being exposed to cybercriminals.

11. Regular Access Audits

Organizations must regularly conduct access audits to review all the granted accesses and check if they are still required. As users often request additional access or want to revoke access, these audits help you manage such requests accordingly.

12. Passwordless Login

Passwordless login is the process of authenticating users without needing a password. It prevents scenarios where cybercriminals leverage weak and repetitive passwords to gain access to the network. It can be implemented through various approaches, including email-based login, SMS-based login, and biometrics-based login.