Identity Myopia

Identity solutions aren’t chosen as the foundation of a business’s digital transformation efforts. Clear Skye’s Jackson Shaw explores how to fix that.

What is Identity Governance Fatigue?

I recently read a blog [1] about identity governance fatigue, and while I 100% agree with the author, I believe he is also 100% wrong. Companies have a bigger problem. It’s not identity governance fatigue. It’s identity fatigue.

The blog author calls out that “many IGA solutions are only integrated with a few authoritative identity sources” and there is a lack of consistent access visibility across the entire enterprise. How true!

That there are “operational inefficiencies” because teams are so overwhelmed with access request, approval, and certification reviews. How true!

That there is “no context” in the sense that IGA solutions do not provide visibility and context across multiple authoritative sources. How true!

And, finally, the author states that “static data” cannot keep up with the organization that changes dynamically every hour, every day, every week, and every month. How true!

“The bad news is legacy IGA solutions have created a new set of barriers to your organization’s growth and future success.” How true!

Your lack of progress is likely due to the limitations of your existing identity governance solution. How true!

But, replacing your existing identity governance solution with another identity governance solution that is not part of your company’s digital transformation means you are destined to fail, again.

Digital transformation and the re-engineering of businesses are leaving identity vendors behind.

Don’t get me wrong: Identity is hugely important.

But the big problem now, and for the future, is that a company is choosing their business platform(s) for the future and they are not starting with their identity platform. Identity is not seen as strategic to a company’s business and digital transformation.

Your identity platform is not seen as the strategic platform to base business transformation on. Yes, identity vendors believe that their solution is the correct solution. That their data silo is appropriate, that their AI/ML capabilities are the best, that their workflow, APIs, and their platform are the answer.

Unfortunately, it is these very identity data silos, AI/ML capabilities, “predictive identity”, workflows, APIs, and platforms that are *exactly* what companies’ board of directors and senior executives are trying to eliminate as part of their digital transformation initiatives.

Identity is not seen as strategic to a company’s business and digital transformation.

Digitally transforming your business by eliminating data silos, by reducing the complexity of IT architectures, by standardizing on a transformative platform for the business are the new priorities for most companies. Applying new artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms across the business, standardizing on APIs, and business workflows that are part of a bigger platform, and strategy, are the priority – not identity. Stitching architectures and platforms together is simply not working.

Rather than being a part of a company’s digital transformation, identity is typically apart from it.

The Digital Transformation of Identity

Digital transformation of identity isn’t as simple as doing something differently. It isn’t as simple as swapping identity solution A for identity solution B, or by spending more on your existing solution. It isn’t as simple as an identity vendor building another module or acquiring another company and saying they are a “platform”. They are not a platform no matter how they describe themselves or how much they expand their portfolio.

For identity to be truly digitally transformed, it must be part of a company’s digital transformation platform.

That is why we, at Clear Skye, have built our identity governance solution on top of the ServiceNow platform. The platform that nearly every identity project must integrate with. The platform that is in the Gartner leadership quadrant for IT Service Management, Integrated Risk Management (GRC), and Enterprise High-Productivity Application Platform-as-a-Service. The platform that is already driving innovation, increasing business agility, and unlocking productivity for thousands of companies.

Clear Skye, a part of your digital transformation. Not apart from it.

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