Identity & Access Management

Identity and Access Management (IAM) solutions and services are software systems or system components that help manage users’ digital identities and their access to system functions, data, and resources. The goal of IAM is to safeguard applications and systems from unauthorized access and make user activity trackable, thus enhancing security and risk prevention.

Almost any modern software application, be it web, mobile, or desktop, requires at least some identity and access management functionality. For example:

• If you want to enable your users to register and log in on your app, you will need to integrate an identification and authentication service.
• To allow them to use their social media accounts, like Google or Meta, to log in, your app will require a social login feature.
• If your solution involves some sensitive data and needs more rigid security, it might benefit from multi-factor authentication (MFA).
• Larger systems targeting multiple user roles (e.g. guest, manager, admin, etc.) need role-based access management (RBAM) to be implemented.
• Even if your application does not require any registration or login, you might still need an authorization service in place in order to ask for user permissions to access other apps’ data or integrate with other services.
  

Overall, depending on the systems’ needs and complexity, there are a number of identity and access management use cases that can be implemented. To get expert recommendations as to IAM implementation in your product, feel free to contact us for a consultation.

In terms of functionality, Identity and Access Management consists of the following components:

• Identity management - a component responsible for creating, editing, revoking, and other actions related to provisioning digital identities to users.
• Authentication - IAM component dealing with validation of user identity. The most popular methods include passwords, single sign-on (SSO), multi-factor authentication (MFA), and social login.
• Authorization - a component of identity and access control that is in charge of granting or denying access to specific systems, resources, or data to a user or a third-party application. This component is tightly connected with role management as different roles within a system can be assigned different access levels.
• Identity governance and administration (IGA) - a component responsible for the control of digital identities, including users, accounts, and groups, as well as the enforcement of security and access policies, permissions, and compliance regulations.

The best time to integrate the IAM component into your application is at an early development stage, preferably at the system design and planning stage. Considering identity and access management implementation in solution architecture from the start will take into account a smooth interaction with other system components, the selection of well-matching technologies, and less chance of bottlenecks. As a result, you can expect reduced development time compared to other integration scenarios and a well-designed user experience.