Security is driving the rise in customer identity and access management (CIAM) adoption, according to the latest report from identity provider Okta. The identity service provider’s report saw 9 in 10 respondents (89%) saying CIAM was very important or important to their overall security strategy, and just 3% saying it had no importance at all.
CIAM is used to authenticate customer identities. Some applications require its use for registration or creating new accounts for online and other services. With many companies offering digital transactions, CIAM allows businesses to embed a secure identity layer into their consumer and SaaS applications, facilitating secure, seamless end-user experiences across digital channels.
“An integrated, secure, and seamless CIAM solution is now a critical component to organizations’ wish to provide the best digital user experience to their end-users,” said Richard Marr, APAC CIAM lead at Okta. “While the State of CIAM in Asia-Pacific 2022 survey revealed a high level of awareness and adoption of CIAM solutions in the region, challenges remain for organizations that may lack in-house expertise or the necessary resources to keep up with an evolving cyber threat and regulatory environment.”
95% of PH organizations to boost Zero Trust initiatives — Okta
Managing digital identities: An indispensable need in a post-pandemic environment
Developers also cited security as the top attribute (33%) when selecting a CIAM solution, followed by reliability (22%), ease of use (16%), and a good user experience (15%).
However, the survey revealed significant concerns about CIAM implementation and potential business risks if done poorly. According to the report, most respondents said the biggest barrier to CIAM implementation was the risk of adversely impacting the user experience (61%), with many struggling to get this right internally, followed by a lack of available in-house expertise (42%), and the need to create a business case to justify implementation (30%).
The challenges and complexities of CIAM continue beyond implementation, with businesses that choose to build these solutions in-house needing to upkeep their deployments to withstand evolving cyberattacks. Of those organizations that have a CIAM solution, 60% say their biggest barrier in managing it is the need to improve their security posture, while 57% are challenged by the high level of complexity.
“In a world where in-house IT and security talent is scarce, keeping up with the fast-changing security landscape can be unsustainably stressful,” Marr said. “Organizations should consider outsourcing customer identity management so that they can focus on the more strategic aspects of customer loyalty development, and business growth.”