If you’re an MSP or an IT service provider, then you’re involved in a business model that’s always looking to improve its offerings and increase its bottom line. With the global IAM (Identity and Access Management) market increasing at an explosive rate, being able to offer authentication and password management isn’t just a smart move, it’s also a safe move!
How is offering IAM a safe move?
With stricter security compliance requirements being laid down by nearly every industry, country, and state, and with high-profile security breaches, like Home Depot, seeming to occur every month, businesses everywhere are finally opening their eyes to the risk their outdated password and security protocols pose.
This means that there is a definite need for these solutions, so the investment itself is safe. Also, having such a solution in-house is in itself a “safe” move. The market demand for IAM is due to the risk breaches pose. If you’re going to offer a way to mitigate that risk, why not take advantage of it yourself, and gain the same benefits you provide your clientele.
How is offering IAM a smart move?
If you can capitalize on potential customers’ need to update their security and authentication, then there is a lot of profit to be made. The key to doing so is differentiating yourself from your competition, and to accomplish this, you need to find an IAM solution.
What should you look for in an IAM solution?
There are innumerous small features which are nice to have, however, there are truly five key things you should look for first: comprehensiveness, cloud compatibility, multi-tenancy, vendor support, and the ability to integrate with your existing infrastructure.
Comprehensiveness
It’s not the number of tools you have that matters, it’s how effectively you’re able to use them. Many IAM products on the market these days focus only on a few aspects of the entire process. To find a winner, the IAM solution you decide upon should cover all the aspects your clients are facing, whether they require stronger authentication, password management, or even user auditing. As an added bonus, having fewer moving pieces (programs) decreases the chances of encountering a conflict when you’re setting up the solution, for yourself or your customers.
Cloud Compatibility
Systems that work in the cloud avoid one of the most difficult hurdles faced by service providers trying to provide IAM services: managing the internal servers. Moving to the cloud effectively puts those severs at an equidistant point from both the provider and the client. This makes the whole process that much simpler.
Multi-Tenancy
With multi-tenancy, you can easily separate the data of each client and yourself, while working within a single installation. This is absolutely critical for an MSP or IT professional providing password or security services to multiple clients. Multi-tenancy is designed for MSPs rather than end-users, eliminating the need for multiple installs and making the management process more efficient.
Vendor Support
When your client needs something quickly, you’re going to need some help unless you know everything about the solution you offer. While knowing more is always good, sometimes questions will elude you, and at that point you’ll be glad your vendor is available for some help, support, and insight.
Integration with Existing Systems
If you already have a number of systems in place that do various things, wouldn’t it be ideal if your new IAM solution integrated nicely with them? Whether it’s Kaseya on your network, or Office 365 on your clients, having an IAM solution that works with what you have is great, and if it’s designed to work with those products, then that’s even better.
If your clients (and potential clients) are looking for a solution to their security and authentication problems and you’ve gone with the wrong solution, your clients will be disappointed with the results. You will face an uphill battle of implementing new protocol and dealing with systems that just don’t make sense for you or your client. With the right solution you become the expert, an invaluable resource to your client. You become their solution, and then you’re able to easily resell the software because they will spread the word of how well it works for their needs.
High-profile security breach scandals are hitting the press with alarming frequency, and compliance standards are advancing at a pace that organizations simply can’t keep up with. Companies found in non-compliance could face fines or lose access to valuable industry resources. If your business is able to offer solutions to these problems, then clients will be handing you money to you in an attempt to make their problems go away. Your bottom line will move up just that much higher.
Now, before you go off full of hope for an increased in profit, looking for Identity and Access Management solutions for your business to offer, let me throw another factor into the mix. You’re reading this blog on the Kaseya website, then you’re likely a Kaseya customer. If you are, or you’re interested in becoming one, it is important to ensure that the solution you choose supports a Kaseya integration. Kaseya AuthAnvil is one such solution. Their suite fulfills the requirements set above, and offers single sign-on, password management, multi-factor authentication, and many other useful features. So, if you’re looking for a Kaseya-optimized IAM solution, there’s no better place to start.
For more information on offering IAM to your customers: Click Here
For more details on Kaseya AuthAnvil: Click Here
Author: Harrison Depner
