With the long list of well-publicized security breaches in the past 12 months, many organizations may be taking a second look at their existing security infrastructure and how they approach internal and external threats. While you may think you have everything covered, you could be missing out on some key capabilities and benefits that are now available. Even if your identity and access management (IAM) programs are well-established, you may need help coping with new complications and business demands created by the mega-trends of cloud, mobile and social.

For instance, are you confident there is strong enough access protection for your key IT assets that could cause major harm if breached by unauthorized users? Are you able to meet the growing demand for compliance reporting and prove your users have the appropriate application access as required by the latest security regulations? Are your governance programs keeping pace with changing business priorities, including support of new cloud applications and new bring-your-own-device programs?

These challenges, coupled with demands for identity intelligence and user accountability, can extend far beyond your IAM solution’s original scope. Trying to incorporate new requirements while managing the effect of cloud, mobile and social access and changing user populations can strain budgets and staff and then fail to deliver the desired results.

While requirements for IAM have become more complex, at its heart, it still manages to ensure the right people get access to the right resources at the right times for the right reasons and be in line with security regulations and established business policies. However, orchestrating this with efficiency while delivering real business value can become more difficult as IAM encompasses multiple user populations across the extended enterprise.

Today’s best approach may be to embrace the future of the digital identity by updating and streamlining your IAM solutions to become threat-aware and agile so they can deliver value as quickly as possible. Actionable identity intelligence can strengthen your security posture while providing more transparency and accountability across the enterprise. An identity governance solution that helps solve business-relevant problems such as managing user roles, auditing activity and strengthening access controls will better position your company for success.

IBM Offers Top IAM Solutions

As a leader in IAM security, IBM offers a variety of threat-aware IAM solutions to help you meet your business needs now and in the future. For example, its identity governance solutions can help organizations enforce separation-of-duty restrictions, set appropriate user entitlements based on job function and implement security policies. Coupled with real-time identity and access analytics, the solutions can mitigate inappropriate user behavior and enable better decision-making while providing enterprise-wide security risk management.

IBM will showcase its latest solutions at the Gartner Identity and Access Management Summit, to be held March 16 -17 in London. The summit will take a business-centric approach to IAM, with an agenda that covers how to enhance business outcomes with IAM solutions while addressing the strategic trends that will drive IAM requirements over the next several years.