As organizations undergo digital transformation, they experience challenges along the way. This is due to the fact that this transformation often requires them to update and/or replace legacy solutions. They also have to implement new ways of securing access from the plethora of devices out there.
We recently fielded a research study with several hundred respondents worldwide to better understand the top identity and access management challenges that customers are facing.
Below are my top three takeaways from the VMware survey:
Takeaway #1: Most organizations allow end users to access corporate resources other than email from a personal device.
Email is often the first app that many of us think about accessing from our personal devices, but the reality is that we need more than that. The research shows that end users also need access to files and internal websites in order to be productive.
IT professionals should be concerned about the risk of data leakage from users accessing confidential information, whether it be on a file share, Microsoft SharePoint or from internal websites. Since personal devices are often not under management by IT, there is a risk that confidential company information can be copied to personal file services.
[Related: Introducing VMware Identity Manager—Identity Management for the Mobile-Cloud Era]
Takeway #2: BYO is a critical initiative for the majority of organizations.
The majority of organizations have either already developed a bring-your-own (BYO) policy or are in the process of developing one. The reasons for this are clear. Most of us don’t want to go back to the old days, when we could only do work on a corporate device. We want to be able to work anywhere, on any device.
End users also want choice—the choice to pick the device that reflects their work style and personality. Supporting BYO enables organizations to modernize with a flexible, user-friendly approach.
While supporting BYO is user-friendly, organizations need to have a policy that ensures that only the right access is delivered to the right people, on the right device. As we saw in Takeaway #1, most users are doing more than accessing email on their personal devices. It’s not enough to just have a policy—organizations must have the tools in order enable access from any device without compromising IT security.
[Related: VMware Identity Manager—A BYOD Solution Everyone Can Agree On]
Takeway #3: Password management is the top identity and access management challenge.
We’ve all been there before. We waited too long, and our password expired. Or we made a change, and somehow that change didn’t trickle down to all of the various systems we need to access.
Password creation, update and deletion (CRUD) is a real issue with real costs that IT wants to reduce. According to various analysts, password resets handled by the help desk can cost up to $70, and unfortunately for the help desk, a significant percentage of help desk calls have to do with passwords.
IT must look at ways to reduce the impact of password CRUD issues in their organization. This is why it’s so important to have solutions in place that eliminate the help desk call—the main source of cost in the equation. Having self-service tools that are easy to use and integrate with existing systems can alleviate much of the pain here.
[Related: Why the Future of the Digital Workspace Hinges on Identity Management]
Take the Next Step
With these challenges in mind, I encourage you to learn more about what other organizations are experiencing by taking a look at the full summary of the research.
Also, take a look at VMware Workspace ONE, the simple and secure enterprise platform that delivers and manages any app on any smartphone, tablet or laptop. It enables organizations to put employees in the driver’s seat to choose their own devices. IT is empowered with the management capabilities necessary to enable secure delivery of applications to those devices with consumer-grade simplicity.
