With the recession driving increasing internal fraud and threats from cybercrime, analyst firm Gartner has said identity and access management (IAM) technologies are key forms of IT protection.
But Ant Allan, Gartner Research vice president is also warning organisations against throwing away old tech - or investing in new methods - without a thorough understanding of the IAM processes they want to automate first.
"The mistake people make when looking at IAM is to jump into a technology project," he said. "Technology might be the answer, but you need to look at the needs of the organisation first before you look for suitable tools."
He told IT PRO that large enterprises often choose well-established IAM technology suites without first investigating whether components in their existing IT security infrastructures may do as good a job.
Research carried out by the analyst also found nearly 50 per cent of organisations were only now developing IAM processes and investigating tools, while more than 25 per cent were still defining processes and using only basic tools.
"IAM is different from the rest of the information security infrastructure because it is so closely aligned with the business processes it supports, like user provisioning, as well as joiner and leaver staff management," said Allan.
He agreed with the general consensus that IAM would, as a consequence of increased threats to information security during the global economic downturn, probably withstand IT spending cuts as part of efforts to bolster IT security.
But the analyst said many enterprises were also planning to change the length and/or scope of IAM projects in order to save on up-front capital spending.
Even though those internal or external IAM projects, using federated approaches for instance, could ultimately help save costs by providing single sign-on access and control.
"It's possible to still continue to develop IAM processes and structures without having to invest in new tools," Allan added.
-
CISO job satisfaction is plummeting, and some are considering quitting altogetherNews CISO job satisfaction is being plagued by mounting demands, poor c-suite collaboration, and stressful working patterns
-
The IT Pro Podcast: Navigating Brexit data transfersIT Pro Podcast The transition period is over – what happens now?
-
Cyber security spending will hit $96bn in 2018News Regulatory changes such as the introduction of GDPR will cause businesses to up investment
-
Privacy audits must become regular part of corporate life, warns GartnerNews Gartner wants to see more firms tighten up their privacy compliance procedures.
-
Dell needs to reassure customers after going privateNews Gartner tells Dell users to ignore rivals' fighting talk.
-
Gartner: Worldwide UTM revenues top $1bnNews Analyst hails firewall refresh cycles and growing interest from SMB and mid-sized firms for market growth.
-
Big data and BYOD will challenge firms in 2012News Analyst firm Gartner has outlined the challenges it believes organisations will face in the year ahead.
-
Security services vendors in line for big bucksNews Global spending on security services is predicted to reach $35.1 billion in 2011.
