Identity and Access Management (IAM)
Identity and Access Management (IAM) is a framework of policies, processes, and technologies enabling organizations to manage digital identities and control user access to resources. It ensures that the right individuals and entities have the appropriate access to the right resources at the…
Key facts
- First appeared
- 1990
- Category
- technology
- Problem solved
- IAM was created to consolidate the management of digital identities and access permissions across diverse IT systems, eliminating the chaotic and insecure practice of managing separate user accounts and credentials for every application. It addressed the sprawl of passwords, the high administrative burden of manual provisioning/de-provisioning, and the critical security gaps arising from inconsistent access controls and audit trails.
- Platforms
- Virtualization platforms, Containerization technologies (Docker, Kubernetes), On-premise servers (Windows Server, Linux), SaaS platforms, Cloud Infrastructure (AWS, Azure, GCP)
Related technologies
- Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems
- Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP)
- Active Directory
- Single Sign-On (SSO) systems
- Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)
- Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) tools
- Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)
- Cloud Computing Platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP)
- Privileged Access Management (PAM)
- Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems
Notable users
- Small and Medium-sized Businesses (SMBs)
- Government agencies
- Educational institutions
- Fortune 500 companies across all industries
- Cloud Service Providers (CSPs)