Closing Session

We're talking about driving innovation with identity fabrics and identity fabrics comprises a, a huge set of components or could comprise a huge set of components to look at and to understand better could a coal Analyst as an Analyst company provides insight and research in that area. So we are in a perfect position to support organizations in making the right decisions, right Martin?

We are, I think we have to research and we have to practice from all advisory teams. And if we look at our services, we can provide information in various areas. As you said, it's research, but it's also best practices on how to do things. And if we have a look at that there, there is a typical process how we get to such solutions and for the selection of, for, for often individual solution. This is usually a process that is along these lines that we can on the screen right now.

So it's starting with the collection of the proper requirements, understanding the market segment and getting them drilling down with the, through the vendors services down to a final decision based on the requirements. So if, if we look at this pro, this process, starting with requirements, where can we support and how can we do that? Martin? Yeah. And speak here. This is a subset of what we can support in our, you our advisor work in our subscriptions. This is the the tool choice part.

So you might have a strategy already said, okay, this identified pricing is cool, how do you come to the result? And it all starts with requirements. So when you want to say, okay at the end, we need a tool at the end usually need a tool, but you also need processs, you need organization, all that stuff. We can also help you with setting up, with making your decisions, with educating you. But when it's about a tool then it's really about understanding requirements.

And in our tool stress process, it is this requirement stuff for the research we help you with our leadership composes our market, composes our buyers, the buyers, composted buyers compost, listing key requirements that help you understanding what are typical main requirements as well as what are, so to speak, trends you should be aware of. So by by looking at our research and talking with the Analyst, you can understand, okay, what are the things that are emerging?

Because when you today say I want a tool for something, regardless of what identity, fabric or something else, you don't buy it for now. You buy it for the next five or 10 or 15 years. So you need to understand what's coming up, what's next. And you also need to clearly involve all the stakeholders, talk about the future. And then you can go to the next stage which is looking at what is the right market segment. And this is also something where we can provide you guidance with the market overview.

And again, we have these tools that structure all these vendors with all their offerings into segments that are well described in the buyers leadership market where we define the segments, the key capabilities so that you can match your requirements to this market definitions. And it also allows you to, and things you need to do, look at what do you have, what is in your architecture, what is missing? Where do you want to end? So this architecture work is something you need to do. It's not just picking a who first. You need this picture and then it must all fit in your requirements.

What do you have to target architectural target state, the operating models. This is a quite a bit bit of work to do, but if you do it, you will be way more successful than with trust picking a tool, Right? And when we talk about architectures in that context and the architecture blueprint is mentioned here in case research, of course this identity fabric concept is described in our research documents.

So if you want to dig deeper into this concept and also into reference architectures regarding, for example, identity access management, where this identity fabric of course is located, these documents are also available and can can be used as reference manuals for creating your own definition of this architecture. So it's beyond products, it's beyond services, it's beyond tooling. It's really helping you in defining your own strategy and your own architecture blueprint.

But moving on in this list, what the next step would be, the long list also a result of the leadership, compass Leadership and, and other types of information we provide. The the, the essential thing is you need to first understand who's really in that. And when I take a leadership compass, then we have a list maybe of 20 or 30 in the rating and another 10, 15, 20 or sometimes even more, which are lenders to watch which don't fully fit or which decline participation for whichever reason happens.

The, in the the research aspect is we notice vendors and we can tell you this is the longer list and from this list we need some key criteria to select, drill it down to what the shortlist is. So talking with us also talking about the updates.

So, but when we have a leadership, combust is published whatever in September, 2021, but you're starting a process at 2 20, 22, something says have, have changed. So reach out to us, talk with the Analyst, what has changed? Are there any new market trends, merchants and acquisitions, major developments to take into account. And then we can guide you in a structured process to your shortlist to the four, to five to six vendors. You want to take a closer look at this is narrowing it down by understanding what fits from a functional and a nonfunctional perspective.

So what is the type of vendor you want? Do you look, are you looking for one of the club leaders more or to say, do you say the most important thing is that they are close to me that have a very close collaboration for me, different aspects. I always recommend in such a short list to have a good mix of one or two of the big vendors or three, maybe one very innovative vendor or two for someone who's very close to you so that you also then the subsequence steps can understand differences and the benefits and maybe shortcomings of different vendors.

So this is again something which we support these documents which we support with our advisor methodology and our teams and where reaching out to the Analyst, having this option to talk with them is really essential to be successful. And then it goes into detail. Absolutely. And I think the, the next step, the RF I RFP process, this is really something where as practices and well defined processes come into play.

So really having a good RFI questionnaire with a proper size and structure and depth as you've mentioned, this is really of important to get to results that are specific to your organization and go beyond that traditional research can provide because research is a one size fits all in the first place and it's a printed version, although there are dynamic versions as well. But nevertheless, you want to move towards a solution that really fits your needs and therefore you need to define and execute a proper RFI process to get to a a drilled down list.

Even narrow the short list to those who are adequate for your organization. But I think to add research again helps because we have the perfect starting point for creating your list of requirements because we do the leadership, we have a questionnaire with very detailed analyzes a lot of questions that forms the foundation and that is then complemented by your specific questions and that helps you together with the talks you do with the vendors.

So part of this process processes, I always call it the beauty contest, the talks with the vendors and altogether this gives you the information about who, who seems to be the best fit. And then you might end up properly usually with two and then it's time for a poc because until then it was, yes, it was experience, it was market feedback, it was what the vendors told you and then it's time so to speak for the proof of the putting our proof of concept. So let them, let stress test them. It's not a pilot, it's not the pilot implementation. It's really a proof of critical capabilities, Right?

You need to identify what is really of important to you, what usually others don't ask for. But what is essential within your organization?

What, what are specifics or new functionality that you really want to have in this new solution? And let them demonstrate this to you onsite ideally within the boundaries of your own organization, within the boundaries of your own test infrastructure so that it's as realistic as possible and gives you the confidence to make sure that this is the, the right solution. And that hopefully, Yeah, that can be done well today. I think this is the cool thing, you know, in a virtualized environment I was having all the options in the cloud.

Building up test environment is rather straightforward and it's always essential to define a good set of use cases, some of which are checking just the baseline really work as expected is customization as easy as promised and a few selected really tricky things. And it might even be that someone doesn't deliver fully during a poc, but you learn about how they tackle problems, how they tackle challenges. And this is important because at the end it will be a long project. You run with vendors you need to trust, you need to be convinced that you can work well with them.

And this is where it then can make your decision that is fostered by enough information and experience and insight that you also will be able to less the storms that will come in every project. Sometimes it gets bumpy and then you need to stand strong and and reliable because you know, okay, I did a is right, I had made a right decision, so I'm convinced that we will weather to storm together and succeed with the project and this is where we can assist you with our services, the subscription service and the added project services, whatever you need. And part of that, our research. Absolutely.

And instead of starting with the tool and then trying to justify why you chose this tool, this leads to a process where you can, to the lower right box can say okay, we have a complete rationale behind this decision. You can document that and you can always show this was the right way to move forward. You've mentioned Martin, the the subscription services that this goes beyond just just throwing documents at you. It's really supporting the, the end user organizations with services on top of our really Yeah. Priceless.

More or less research because we have this information available but there is more required, you want to have more information, you want to have interaction and here we can see the individual offerings. Yeah, and we have these offerings, we have these offerings that start with access to the research. We have these offerings that add some access to events like our leading European identity and cloud conference that runs every year in May and Berlin. But then latest with the expert levels it is us can connect to the Analyst.

You get partners that support you and this is where where you really have to direct connection then to the Analyst, to the always current knowledge that can support you, that can guide you. And beyond that sort of subscription, then we always can go deeper and help you with the entire project, whatever you need. We have it in the subscription and in our advisory services and all backed by experience from advisory and our position in the research as the specialist Analyst company that is covering our global scale identity and cybersecurity. Nothing to add from that sums it up really perfectly.

So it's really getting from the professional level, which focuses on the on the, on the research, but that can be extended with interaction with analysts, with advisors that can then get you to more detailed and more specific information for the individual use case you are wanting to cover. Thanks again Martin. And that's a great overview about of how we can support you in with our research and with our additional services in as part of the of subscription services. If you're interested, reach out to us, reach out to our sales department or reach out to Martin or me. Thanks again Martin.

Thank you.