Previously, we examined how a workforce solution can benefit your users, IT staff, and overall security. In our next article of this series, we lift our gaze and take a broader look at the entire organization. Naturally, since it is all interconnected, some parts will be similar to what we have already covered, but there are also broader issues that can be resolved with this type of solution.
Read on and discover seven organizational benefits of workforce identity.
A workforce identity solution aims to centralize and align things like identities, access, authentication, and administration. A solution where changes are done in one place and then automatically changed in the entire organization.
This ensures you have a single source of truth and that there are no unnecessary authorizations, unused licenses, or similar.
This will also be very helpful for compliance and audits. Having everything in order, cleanly, and documented, and the ability to change quickly when new policies are implemented, makes compliance a breeze.
When GDPR was introduced a couple of years ago, it was heavily discussed. However, most of the discussions were not about the regulation itself but the possible fines that could result from not following it.
Today, we discuss DORA for the financial sector and NIS2 for pretty much everyone else. The rules and guidelines are different, but the discussion is again about the fines for not following the directives.
NIS2 and DORA heavily emphasize cybersecurity, risk management, and keeping track of third-party vendors. Since a workforce identity solution is very much about secure authentication, it makes following the regulations a lot easier. By going with a European vendor for your security, you automatically choose a partner that has to comply with the same regulations as you do, making regulatory compliance much easier.
When all identities and access rights are managed from a central location, it becomes much easier to invite and collaborate with partners, consultants, manufacturers, and others in a secure and compliant way.
An external partner could be handled largely like onboarding a new employee. An automated process would provide strict, zero-trust-friendly access to specific resources or the exact amount of time the contract stipulates. This is a far more secure way of working than sharing passwords or copying user identities for external partners.
We have mentioned this in our previous articles, but it is an important one that benefits the entire organization. With a centralized system for managing identities and access, delegating user management tasks to specific departments is much easier.
Rather than having IT handle user creation, this task is better suited for the HR department, which handles all other aspects of the employee journey. Giving them the ability to set up new users in an automated fashion gives them better control of the hiring process, relieves the IT team, and places the responsibility closer to the actual source.
Side effects are usually not particularly welcome. However, in the case of centralizing the management of user identities and access, one side effect is that you get a better overview of software licenses and where they are used.
Coupled with the “least privilege” mantra of zero trust, you can quickly see where licenses are used and where you overspend and can save money.
Hiring processes are expensive, and all that money goes to waste if the new employee leaves after just a few months, and you have to start all over again.
First impressions are essential in this case, as in all other aspects of life. This means that everything is set up when a new employee walks in the door, they will feel more welcome if everything works right away instead of waiting for access to everything they need.
If the new employee feels they have landed at a modern workplace, with easy authentication to everything they need, clear processes, and no sketchy workarounds, they are far more likely to stay.
A good first impression is very much the same thing that makes existing employees happy. You can read more about this in our article about happy users in a workforce identity setting.
In our previous articles, we have highlighted that saving time is a major factor to consider. But what should you do with all this saved time? Does this mean some parts of your workforce are unnecessary and can be let go?
Far from it. Instead, your talents can have more time to focus on larger projects that will benefit the organization’s future and keep you ahead of the competition.
The same goes for your IT department. If they have less time to spend on IT support tasks, they can focus on nailing those regulatory goals. Perhaps the organization's goal is to apply a hybrid or cloud-first model. Your IT staff will now have more time to focus on that rather than resetting their umpteenth user password for the day.
These are just seven reasons to consider workforce identity for your organization. There are many more that will make your users and admins happy and increase your cybersecurity. Our ebook on Workforce identity is an excellent starting point if you want to know more.
If you want to know more, you are always welcome to contact us and we will help you on your journey to a modern digital workplace.
