It’s more than a Password.

By Egbert Bremmer, Strategic Identity Solution Specialist

In this article, we explore how IAM for workforce has evolved from a technical prerequisite to a strategic starting point deeply intertwined with the core processes of modern organizations. In this article I will tell you more about this topic.

For many people, Identity and Access Management (IAM) still conjures up images of password hassles, application access, and the pressure to comply with standards such as the GDPR, ISO 27001, or NEN 7510. It’s often seen as a complex, costly, and necessary part of the IT environment. Yet, that image is incomplete. IAM is increasingly driving security, efficiency, and value creation within organizations.

From Compliance to strategic value

For many organizations, the IAM journey begins with compliance. The auditor comes by and asks how we manage access to sensitive information. This is where the first misconception occurs. Compliance isn’t the goal; it’s the logical byproduct of a mature identity strategy.

When you implement IAM properly, compliance follows naturally. Well thought out IAM processes and a modern IAM system provide a comprehensive audit trail, automate the attestation of who has access to what, and ensure that access rights are immediately revoked when someone changes roles. The result? You’re not just compliant, you’re in control. Risks are reduced, you become more cyber resilient, and you work more efficiently.

Beyond security

1. Productivity and security from day one (IAM + HR & ITSM): The most logical connection is with HR. When a new employee starts, IAM knows this and immediately creates the right accounts with the right permissions. First time right and productivity from day one. When someone leaves? All access is immediately revoked. Combine this with your ITSM system, and an access request is processed immediately after approval, without human intervention. The IT organization can “finally” focus on adding value to the organization’s objectives.

2. The guardian of financial integrity (IAM + Finance): This goes much further than just granting access. Consider your financial application. A crucial control is the Segregation of Duties (SoD). You never want one person to be able to create a new supplier and approve payment to that same supplier. Traditionally, this is a manual, painful check after the fact. A strategic IAM system functions proactively in this case. It understands the risks. Before an employee receives a new entitlement (a right), the system analyzes whether this creates a “toxic combination” of rights. If so, the request is blocked or escalated. IAM is an intelligent guardian of your financial integrity in this case.

3. The optimizer of value (IAM + Software Asset Management): Your organization owns valuable entitlements that don’t immediately bring IAM to mind: software licenses. A license for Salesforce, SAP, Adobe Creative Cloud, or Autodesk can cost thousands of euros per year. How often does it happen that an employee leaves, but the license remains unused and continuously in their name? By linking IAM to your asset management, the license becomes an entitlement that is managed throughout the entire employee lifecycle. A new engineer joins? The CAD license is automatically assigned. The engineer leaves the company? The license is immediately reclaimed and made available to someone else. IAM not only protects this, it immediately saves hard cash and optimizes the value of your investments.

4. The digital nervous system (IAM + SecOps & DevOps): IAM provides crucial context to security incidents and forms a feedback loop. This feedback loop is crucial. A risk signal from your security team—such as detecting employees logging in to unauthorized “Shadow IT” applications—triggers immediate action in IAM. This gives the organization the opportunity to immediately block this shadow application or, if it proves to be business-critical, embrace it in a controlled manner and centrally manage it. For DevOps, IAM is the safety net that enables rapid, secure innovation by managing the explosion of non-human identities (scripts, containers, microservices).

5. Discovering the hidden risk (IAM + Data Governance): Data is everywhere, especially in a landscape riddled with Shadow IT. Without a proper overview, vast amounts of sensitive corporate data can reside in unsanctioned cloud apps, completely invisible to security. You can’t protect what you can’t see. Some might say ignorance is bliss, but at what price? A data breach from an unknown source is a devastating cost. Discovering and prioritizing following your organization’s data classification is a key step. This helps organizations build their IAM strategy and reduces risk.

Starting point for digital strategy

IAM should no longer be considered the final step, but the starting point of digital development. It’s more effective to immediately ask, when introducing new applications, processes, and innovations: how do we manage identities and access rights? This way, security and efficiency are built in from the start, rather than added on as an afterthought.

This shift in thinking means that IAM not only mitigates risks but also lays the foundation for a proactive and integrated security ecosystem. Organizations that adopt this perspective strengthen their information security not step by step, but at an accelerated pace.

I hope you enjoyed reading this and feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Contact Egbert