Four in five global IT decision-makers have already adopted, or plan to adopt or expand, cloud-based identity and access management (IAM) initiatives over the next two years, according to a ForgeRock and Google Cloud commissioned survey.
Entitled Identity and Access Management (IAM) for the Hybrid Enterprise, the report found that the industry has significant opportunities to improve the IAM experience for the majority of hybrid cloud adopters.
Conducted by Forrester Consulting, the survey covered more than 300 IT executives globally on the state of cloud adoption.
Investment and interest in hybrid cloud using a combination of on-premises, public cloud and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) is particularly high. This suggests that IT leaders are realising that hybrid cloud is a new reality and can be the quickest way to optimise their IT without disrupting business-critical applications. As ecosystems and cloud adoption expand, security professionals are increasingly aware of siloed data environments and the blind spots in their cloud and IAM strategies.
Approximately three-quarters (72 percent) of the respondents have a cloud-based IAM, but nearly half of them do not have key security practices in place.
Almost all that have IAM technologies face challenges meeting customer needs in a pure cloud environment. Two-thirds have process issues while 88 percent encoutner technology issues such as lack of product scalability and the inability to manage identity and access across current applications that prevent their adoption of IAM in the cloud. About half (48 percent) are faced with lack of cloud IAM expertise, or lack of support from leadership for cloud-based IAM adoption.
Two-thirds of respondents say that process obstacles – such as the flexibility and agility of IAM systems, and the ability of IAM to move between different hybrid cloud worlds – hold them back.
Adopting a hybrid IAM approach can bridge the gap. A hybrid IAM approach enables today’s large enterprise to run, unify, and secure all digital identities in a hybrid IT environment. More than 70 percent of respondents expect to see improved customer, employee, and IT benefits from investments in hybrid IAM.
“As this first-of-its-kind research shows, while IT leaders are faced with unique criteria and conditions that shape their IT strategy, hybrid IAM has emerged as a necessity in helping them deliver simple and secure employee and customer experiences,” said Peter Barker, Chief Product Officer of ForgeRock.
“The future isn’t just cloud, it’s hybrid cloud. This approach gives companies the ability to reimagine their business and modernize faster, and IAM needs to be at the center to ensure the future is both frictionless and secure,” said Hamidou Dia, Vice President and Global Head of Solutions Engineering at Google Cloud.
Entelechy Asia 