Ready to Explore Cloud Identity and Access Management?

In 2020 companies all over the world faced the challenge of providing hundreds of employees, applications and terminals with a secured authenticated and authorized access to central resources. With contemporary, cloud-based Identity- and Access-Management (IAM) these requirements can reliably be fulfilled. Nevertheless, such a change must be planned carefully: An IAM-Cloud-Assessment helps to set a course for a successful migration at an early stage.

In the past year, many remote solutions were launched ad hoc, which now, in the wake of COVID-19, have to be transferred to a sustainable and resilient basis. The idea of relocating parts or even all of the IAM to the cloud may have caused several questions for those who are responsible for IAM: Should the cloud be private, public or hybrid? What types of identities exist in our network and what roles and permissions do they need? Furthermore, how can on-premises legacy systems can be used continuously and be integrated?

Cloud Identity and Access Management as a Multidimensional Challenge

The number of open points alone indicates that the path to cloud IAM is not easy: there is a wide range of different IAM solutions on the market. But since the internal IT and security teams usually deal with such a migration project for the first time, it is difficult to find the right solution for your own company right away. In addition, there are further strategic, tactical and operational challenges – from early onboarding of all relevant stakeholders to the evaluation of the existing assets to the budgeting of the overall project.

Cloud Readiness Assessment: In-Depth Analysis of Infrastructure and Requirements

Anyone who wants to set the course for a successful move to the cloud is well advised to first lay a solid basis for the project as part of a dedicated IAM cloud assessment. The assessment usually includes the following steps:

1. Assessment of the company’s cloud readiness
   Check if your company is ready for a cloud-based IAM! Start with a comprehensive analysis of the actual and target specifications and the processes, and involve stakeholders and end users at an early stage to assess where your company stands.
2. Assessment of infrastructure
   Put your IT landscape to the test to ensure that it is suitable for switching to a cloud-based IAM and that it meets your current and future requirements.
3. Development of a high-level roadmap for the migration
   Analyze your IAM processes and define the current maturity level and future goals for each area. This enables a comprehensive gap analysis – and this forms the basis of your high-level roadmap.
4. Consideration of specific regional requirements
   Evaluate the different international locations of your company for any regional differences, for example with regard to data protection.
5. Analysis of individual needs
   Every company is unique and has its own expectations and demands on its IAM. Talk to stakeholders and end users at an early stage in order to map all individual requirements.
6. Overview of the IAM market
   The IAM market is developing extremely dynamically, and a wide range of cloud-based IAM solutions are already available. Get a detailed overview of the offer and compare the portfolios with your catalogue of requirements. Get the help of experts who have already used the products and integrated them in practice.

Demanding Migration Project

The IAM assessment can either be carried out on your own or obtained as a service from a consulting company specialized in IAM. In view of the critical nature of the project, however, it is expressly recommend calling in an experienced consulting partner at an early stage. On the basis of a large number of successfully completed projects, we at iC Consult have established best practices and procedures that guarantee a similar and high-quality approach. Our experts have extensive experience in complex IAM migration projects and help you to set up the assessment in a standardized way on the basis of proven methodologies.

The cooperation has various advantages for you:

• We offer you a complete turnkey package with everything you need to successfully transfer your IAM to the cloud
• Our experts pick you up from exactly where you are on your cloud journey – regardless of whether you are dealing with IAM for the first time or want to start a migration project
• For the kick-off, we will work out your main drivers and main goals of the cloud migration together
• Together with you, we develop a detailed high-level plan for your individual IAM cloud migration
• Together with you, we will design a complete IAM roadmap with a clearly defined migration scenario and a binding timeline
• You will receive a detailed cost plan for the next 3 to 5 years

In order not to arouse false expectations: Even after an extensive assessment, the cloud migration of the IAM remains a demanding challenge that demands a lot of strength and commitment from everyone involved. But it becomes a manageable, solvable and, last but not least, worthwhile t