Today, the basic premises behind IAM are

changing, experts say.

What this is really about is asking yourself
the guiding question: What will be needed to
ensure that the users of this new technology
will get access when they need it
and will be
restricted from access when the organization
requires it? Sander says. This basic idea often
gets lost in the shuffle. As the systems move
outside of organizational control at their lowest
layers into the cloud, and their highest layer
onto mobile devices, ensuring that this basic
question about identity and access is well answered
will be your first line of defense.
In the past, Sander explains, employees may
have used a VPN to access the corporate data
center and logged into applications behind
that wall. Today, in many instances, they now
will go directly to a software-as-a-service provider s
site and log in. There s no need for a
special kiosk to access a corporate system it
just takes a smartphone or tablet logging in
from anywhere in the world.
It is the identity you log in with and the
access you re granted that act as the primary
security in these cases, he emphasizes. So IAM
must now be security before anything else.
This new emphasis on identity as the perimeter
is a significant shift for many IT organizations.
While identity management has long been
a part of the overall security umbrella, many
IT departments have spent the last decade
streamlining login processes by implementing
single sign on (SSO) mechanisms, which enable
users to log on to many systems and applications
through a single authentication process.
The Plateau Effect is a law of nature, as real
and as impactful as gravity or friction. It s
built directly into the genetic code of our
bodies, and into the planet we inhabit.
A real plateau means you have stopped
growing. It means your mind and senses
are being dulled by sameness, by a routine
which sucks the life and soul out of you, by
getting less and less out of life while doing
more and more.
Understanding this force, and tapping into
it, will let you get more from less effort, and
feel more in tune with the reasons you were
put on this planet.