What is Identity and Access Management?

IAM is an information technology (IT) framework combining powerful policies, processes, and technologies that enable the management and oversight of digital identities, ensuring that the right people and roles can access the tools and data they need to do their job.

With a robust Identity and Access Management program in place, IT managers can control user access to proprietary information within the organization, using a powerful set of systems, including Single Sign-On (SSO), Two-Factor Authentication (2FA), Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA), and Privileged Access Management (PAM).

These systems act as secure stores for identity and profile data, while also offering data governance capabilities. While IAM systems used to be deployed solely on-premises, safe behind enterprise firewalls, today’s modern IAM systems can also be delivered through cloud-based subscriptions or deployed in a hybrid model.

What does IAM enable and why is that important?

The sharp rise in digital identity-driven crime, combined with an increasingly stringent regulatory landscape—including GDPR, CCPA, and similar mandates—puts an ever-increasing burden on enterprise identity teams to protect corporate resources and safeguard all user data—or pay large fines for failing to do so. IAM automates once-manual tasks, enabling granular access and auditing of corporate assets, whether they’re stored on-prem or in the cloud.