Let us face it, we do not have a choice. The overall context for all our activities and every interaction has been and is being changed without us being asked. Digital Transformation is here, and it impacts everyone, businesses, and governments. It is changing society as a whole and the way we engage with each other in virtually every area of life. The question of if and when to develop a digital transformation strategy is not even an issue. The need for a comprehensive approach and the resulting challenges are crystal clear.
The next normal will definitely not be the status quo ante. The mirroring of formerly analog processes in every aspect of our lives by their digital equivalents is a reality and has become part of the reality of everyone's life. Powerful end devices, which 30 years ago could be described as supercomputers, are in our pockets, sit on our desks, are central components in our car dashboards, and add gaming and entertainment to our televisions. Even more, the fact that the European Identity and Cloud Conference 2022 (EIC2022) will take place in May in Berlin in a hybrid form, so that participants can decide whether they want to "be there" in digital or analog form, is an unmistakable indication that this area of life, the event industry, is also changing accordingly, in other words, is being digitally transformed.
At the same time, the threat situation has continuously intensified. Identity theft and fraud are commonplace. Digital infrastructures of all kinds are subject to continuous attacks from a wide variety of actors. The geopolitical situation, which changed with force in March 2022, brings new and more threats, and the number of hostile actors increases even more. While this is only one of the drivers, the overall number of attacks is consistently increasing.
Platforms and users alike must be comprehensively and sustainably protected against this. This does not only concern the interaction of customers with online platforms for the sale of goods and services. Company employees (both employed and external) will also increasingly want to access company resources from anywhere in the future. Changing supply chains enable completely new ways of interaction between companies, their partners, and their respective employees.
All our daily interactions are becoming more digital, forward thinking decision makers have a responsibility here and now to make these changing processes strategically secure and user friendly.
Again, let us be honest: the last few years have spoiled us as users; we are now, after two years (and counting) of a pandemic, more accustomed than ever to extremely user-friendly digital processes. In online shopping, for example, we have a choice. If onboarding or using digital services is bumpy or lengthy, in many cases we can simply choose another digital platform that is more in line with our expectations.
All of this defines the standard we should set for any access to digital services, whether as an employee, a customer, a citizen, or a partner's employee: access must be as user-friendly and seamless as it can possibly be in any given situation. In parallel, the highest level of security and privacy must be ensured for personal data and the breadth of digitally transformed services provided.
Enabling appropriate and secure access of all identities to all services they need is a central credo of IAM (Identity and Access Management) at KuppingerCole Analysts.
The KuppingerCole Identity Fabric, an indispensable component in modeling future-proof IAM concepts has just been extended and updated in some details. As a framework and guideline describing a modern, future proof and adaptable IAM, it demands and promotes seamless and secure access for every actor to all required resources.
The same applies analogously to the KuppingerCole Analysts IAM Reference Architecture. It is the basis for the evaluation, further development, and provision of future-proof IAM architecture landscapes for manufacturers, end customers and, finally, for KuppingerCole Analysts itself.
Both are proven tools to manage complexity and design, implement and provide a seamless access experience to your customers, partners, and employees.
The challenges will not only stay with us, but we will also have to manage their further developments appropriately in the future. Let us get in touch and learn more about preparing for upcoming trends and leveraging best practices for seamless access in the digital transformation at the European Identity and Cloud Conference in May 2022 in Berlin.
