Companies can take advantage of newfound capabilities by “refining” business processes during a migration to a cloud-based platform. For example, let’s look at how cloud-based IGA can transform business.
Modern IGA solutions – those that are cloud-built with adaptable & frictionless design – deliver agility in various ways. Modular and customizable, they depart from traditional static, monolithic structures. Cloud-native solutions support business changes – from managing cloud identities to securing SaaS applications.
Many identity platforms promise lower risk profiles, improved decision making, reduced compliance violations, and hardened security postures built around Zero Trust. But most don’t deliver. Platforms built with intelligent design, including AI/ML and robust analytics, will help future-proof your business.
Understanding Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)
Companies should consider total-cost-of-ownership (TCO) factors. Legacy IGA solutions stick enterprises with hardware purchasing, ongoing maintenance expenses, and complex — potentially impossible — upgrades. The standard data center paradigm is a constant loop of replacing old systems and supporting backup hardware to swap out when old systems fail. The cloud paradigm eliminates the upgrade cycle trap.
Companies often underestimate the impact of these efforts and costs relative to cloud alternatives, shares Saviynt’s Sr. Director, Product and Partner Success, Harvi Nagpal. “On top of the costs for underlying servers and hardware, there are teams dedicated to maintaining the infrastructure and expensive contracts with third-party service providers to support maintenance packages.”
Regulatory Considerations
ComputerWeekly suggests assessing whether the platform can meet the regulatory requirements for consent management, access requests and approval, periodic access review, and the management and enforcement of SoD rules.
Focus on the original premise of improvement too, knowing that your IGA platform is the primary means for enforcing critical governance and compliance policies. “Whether you’re a healthcare company under HIPAA or a financial services company under SOX or PCI DSS mandates, you need to know the controls, metrics, and capabilities a modern IGA platform enables,” shares Nagpal.
These factors create complexity and reduce long-term value. Nagpal suggests C-level leaders ask themselves, “Do I invest in a platform that will take months to implement, or are there solutions available that let me focus on workflow migration versus installation?”
Cloud-Based IGA Leads to Higher Returns
In its recent Total Economic Impact report, Forrester notes how many companies contend with onerous identity and access governance responsibilities using a “combination of on-premises, homegrown tools that require internal coding, regular maintenance and upgrading, and significant management time.”
During platform evaluation, look for differentiators like “comprehensive access governance offerings, granular integrations, intelligent user access review capabilities,” low-code/no-code environments, and a unified control framework to monitor and control applications. According to Forrester, the benefits of cloud-based IGA platforms include:
- Time saved with application access provisioning
- New efficiencies due to SOD automation
- Improved access reviews
- End-user efficiencies due to faster employee and contractor onboarding
- Coding talent cost avoidance
- Reduced IT resolution time
- Timely, on-demand privileged access management