Ertem Osmanoglu - Identity and Access Management: Business Performance Through Connected Intelligence

Roger Park

IT Advisory Services Leader, EY Financial Services OfficeAmericas

As the leader of the IT Advisory practice within EYs Financial Services Office in the Americas, I have seen firsthand the dramatic rise in the number of Identity and Access Management (IAM) initiatives across the financial services industry over the past several years. Many of these IAM projects are driven by business and technology transformation programs that go beyond the scope of traditional security and/or technology risk remediation projects. The reason for this change in emphasis is broader recognition within executive ranks of the critical role that identity and access management plays in enabling the business to respond flexibly and safely to rapidly changing requirements.

Over the 20 years that Ive been in technology consulting, the operations and technology platforms that underpin high-performing businesses have become increasingly complex and intertwined. Starting with the move from mainframe systems through client server to service-oriented architectures and now Cloud, leading companies have progressively migrated to more heterogeneous environments with highly distributed processing. Todays core business services involve processes that span multiple actors with overlapping roles, numerous applications that are themselves composites of smaller grained services, and multiple data stores that contain a wide range of sensitive information. An enterprise IAM solution allows all of these moving parts to work together to efficiently, safely, and securely deliver business value.

Looking forward, the firms that succeed will be those thatsimply statedcan move quickly while avoiding mistakes. Whatever the driver is for changereducing costs, addressing rapidly evolving regulatory requirements, or moving nimbly to seize new business opportunitiesthe capability to leverage emerging technologies (BPM, Cloud, Big Data, digital, analytics) to enable agile operating models and streamlined processes will provide a significant advantage over the competition. However, the challenge of protecting the business from risks both external and internal during that journey will be one of the key constraining factors for any company trying to move quickly on that path. In that context, the ability to effectively implement a comprehensive IAM solution becomes a critical success factor for any business that is in the process of significant change.

The unfortunate reality is that many organizations have struggled to implement enterprise IAM correctly. The reasons for failure are easy to understand but difficult to overcome. That is why I was delighted when my good friend and fellow EY partner, Ertem Osmanoglu, told me he was writing Identity and Access Management: Business Performance Through Connected Intelligence. There are many books on Identity and Access Management, but none with the holistic and pragmatic insight that Ertem and his team of coauthors bring to the discussion from their extensive experience in the field solving real world issues. Anyone with an interest in the topic will appreciate this practical and insightful guide to designing and implementing identity and access management solutions that leverage best practices to deliver real business value.