Commissioned by Deloitte
1 Introduction
Digital transformation is a clear business imperative. However, how to bring about a digital transformation in your own organization is often less clear. Critical building blocks of a digital organization must be intentionally assembled, and digital identity is one of these foundational enablers as it serves to connect anyone to any service, provide heightened security, and yield improved user experience.
Digital transformation is a response to fundamental changes to "business as usual" or BAU. The years 2020 - 2021 saw extraordinary external factors that supremely disrupted BAU like a mass work-from-home movement. But the global pandemic is not the sole initiator of digital transformation. Fundamental changes to BAU that upend your competitive landscape have been increasingly closing in on the business over the past decade and demand a response in order to compete in a changing world. But aside from outpacing the competition, organizations want to delight their customers by building 1:1 relationships with them and creating omni-channel digital programs. This undercurrent is what spurs you to look for what enables you to embark on your digital transformation to achieve your digital business.
If digital transformation is a response to the changing business environment, what actions should you take to begin that transformation? Digital transformation is not about implementing the latest technology advancements, but requires context to know why and how you should evolve your business. Digital identity has become the fabric of the digital economy. Together Deloitte and KupppingerCole recommend using identity as a frame for your digital transformation because identity is the center piece of the digital experience.
Digital identity is the unifying factor in modern enterprises because it facilitates communication and collaboration between the previously disparate and siloed organizational departments, as well as to customers and external partners: it connects customers to the services they access, business processes with suppliers and partners, employees to each other and the projects they manage, and enterprise resources with the individuals that may access them. To enable this, we recommend using an identity-centric approach called an Identity Fabric – a paradigm of comprehensive identity services that deliver capabilities required for providing seamless and controlled access for everyone to every service. Digital identity is a key component in any digital transformation initiative and serves as a key security measure for the de-siloed organization. An Identity Fabric offers an actionable architecture that enables anyone to connect to any service or process. Digital identity must sit at the center of your digital transformation efforts because it not only protects your people, processes, and assets, but it enables businesses to foster innovation and improve user experience.
