Companies are increasingly focused on identity and access management across their internal and external processes, especially since the start of the pandemic, when cyberattacks and scams surged worldwide.
To put it in perspective, a recent IDC report found that 59.7% of Latin American organizations consider cybersecurity a strategic business priority.
Another driver of this growing security investment is LGPD, Brazil's General Data Protection Law, which took effect in 2020 to regulate the processing and storage of personal data.
Companies have until the end of the first half of 2021 to comply with the law, and penalties can be applied starting in August.
Against this backdrop, identity and access management plays a fundamental role for companies seeking full digital security, strong IT governance and robust data privacy. Below, see what this process looks like in practice and how to optimize it in your business.
7 steps to optimize Identity and Access Management
In practical terms, identity and access management is the process of managing a business's users, whether internal (employees) or external (customers).
With it, companies can centralize login through SSO (single sign-on), gaining better control over operations and a more robust security infrastructure.
Here are some ways to optimize this solution:
1 – Measure the data and systems connected to the solution
The first step is to measure which data and systems are connected to the tool. That requires a technical understanding of how the solution works and supports your business flows.
Based on this mapping, check whether the tool has any limitations — in users, monitoring, automation or other features that could affect your company's performance.
2 – Develop internal security policies
For identity and access management to be well structured and followed efficiently and accurately across the operation, you need to define internal security and privacy policies.
These guidelines should be clearly communicated to employees and guide day-to-day operations, reducing risk and avoiding underuse of the technology, errors or other problems.
3 – Define access by role
One of the advantages of identity management is precisely the ability to centrally control users' access levels according to their needs, including their position in the company hierarchy.
Configure this information correctly to keep administration streamlined and manageable and to prevent sensitive data from being exposed.
4 – Assign owners to each stage
Implementing SSO is far from impossible, but it is a challenge given the complexity involved, both in integration and in ongoing monitoring.
That's why it's best to assign professionals to oversee each stage, as well as to execute, approve or develop new initiatives.
5 – Define technical security measures
Remember the robust security options that identity and access management offers?
Because all logins are centralized in a single authentication point, you can strengthen security measures — for example, by enabling two-step authentication.
6 – Measure deployments for potential adjustments
Companies often assume that once the solution is migrated and implemented, it will work perfectly without any follow-up. That's not quite how it works.
Adoption is genuinely fast and, when done well, poses little difficulty for technology managers. But that doesn't mean it doesn't need to be measured regularly.
Monitoring supports ongoing optimization and helps identify areas that need adjustment.
7 – Adopt the right technologies
Finally, no discussion of identity and access management is complete without stressing the importance of the right technologies.
It's essential to adopt a tool that meets your business needs, offers advanced options and comes with end-to-end support.
We can help your business
We are specialists in systems integration solutions, recognized in Brazil and internationally.
With more than 87 projects delivered, we can help your business implement robust security measures through our Identity Management solution, centralizing your systems and users.
The result is greater operational control, governance and competitive advantage for your IT team. Want to learn how it works? Get in touch with our team today.