Most organizations approach identity and access management the wrong way, says Gartner

By eGovInnovation Editors | Feb 24, 2011

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Analyst firm Gartner revealed recently said that most organizations approach identity and access management (IAM) the wrong way.

“Between half and two-thirds of organizations attempting to establish a truly effective IAM program approach it in the wrong way,” said Earl Perkins, research vice president at Gartner.

”IAM process requirements should always precede organization and technology decisions. But currently, most IAM planning is done around clusters of technologies, rather than by addressing specific IT or business processes,” he added.

Gartner said IAM started out as a “fix the plumbing” concern. However, with the advent of risk, compliance, accountability and transparency, this has changed.

According to the analyst firm, the basis for good IAM now involves a very active role by the organization as a whole, as only they can truly say what and how accountability and transparency of access should work for them. 

“IAM should not be planned with operations in mind; rather, it should be based on the foundations of the organization relative to policies, processes and people,” said  Perkins. “Products are actually a relatively small focus of the decision process in an IAM program.”