I was recently reminded of something a CISO said to me a few years ago. This security executive mentioned that his organization was struggling to maintain tight security controls in an era of cloud computing and mobility. As a result, his organization had increased its focus in two areas: Identity management and data security. He stated, “with the rise of cloud and mobility, identity and data security are the new security perimeters.”
I mentioned this conversation to my colleague Mark Bowker who covers identity management at ESG. Mark responded that the CISO's conclusions are clearly characterized in some recent ESG research data. For example, 61% of respondents believe IAM is more difficult today than it was 2 years ago. Why are things more difficult? Survey respondents pointed to cloud computing and mobility as two primary drivers but also mentioned increasing cyber-threats, and the lack of a comprehensive IAM strategy.