Infosec Journey

Identity management (IdM) is the backbone of secure access in every organization. At its core, it’s about ensuring the right people have the right access. Increasingly, the right machines need this access too. It’s crucial they have the right resources at the right time.

Most large enterprises have relied on robust, on-premises traditional IdM platforms.These solutions promise flexibility. They allow organizations to tailor workflows and automate provisioning. Organizations can also integrate with HR or ERP systems to manage access from onboarding to offboarding.

But here’s the catch: that flexibility often leads to over-engineering. In many organizations, a straightforward workflow is simple. It starts with granting access on a future hire date. Access is revoked on termination. It then balloons into thousands of lines of custom code. This creates endless approval chains and complex business logic. The result? Systems that are difficult to keep, slow to change, and costly to run.

Are Regulations Driving This Complexity?

It’s a common misconception that regulations like SOX, HIPAA, or GDPR need this level of customization. In reality, most regulations focus on high-level principles: enforce least privilege, maintain audit trails, and ensure segregation of duties. They don’t mandate the deep, bespoke logic that often clutters IdM systems. Over-customization often occurs due to internal requirements. It can also result from risk aversion or simply “the way things have always been done.” Regulatory necessity is not usually the cause.

Key Challenges with Traditional IdM

• Customization Overload: Flexibility leads to over-engineering, making upgrades and maintenance a nightmare.
• Operational Complexity: Moving a change to production can take weeks or even months due to dependency chains and manual testing.
• Resource Intensive: Large teams are needed for ongoing support, customization, and compliance reporting, driving up costs and creating bottlenecks.
• Error-Prone Deployments: Complex rules and custom workflows increase the risk of misconfigurations and outages.

The Shift: Modern Trends in Identity Governance

The industry is moving away from this complexity. Here’s what’s trending:

• AI and Automation: Organizations are embracing AI and automation to handle role mining, anomaly detection, and access reviews. This reduces manual work and human error.
• Cloud-Based Solutions: Cloud-native IAM and IGA platforms are rapidly replacing legacy systems. They offer better integration, scalability, and support for hybrid/multi-cloud environments.
• Lifecycle Management for All Identities: The scope now includes not just people. It also covers bots, IoT devices, and service accounts. This requires automated governance throughout the lifecycle.
• User Experience and Compliance: Modern solutions focus on intuitive self-service, seamless access, and built-in compliance monitoring to meet evolving privacy regulations (like GDPR 2.0 and CPRA).

The Numbers Tell the Story

• Efficiency Gap: Over a third of IGA leaders cite manual, inefficient processes as the main reason for seeking new solutions.
• Cloud Visibility: Legacy on-prem IdM users report 25% more difficulty managing cloud environments. They find it more challenging than those with modern solutions. This difficulty also extends to hybrid environments.
• Adoption Trends: By 2025, 80% of enterprises will use unified IAM platforms. This is up from less than 20% in 2021.
• Security Risks: 74% of breaches involve the human element, often exacerbated by complex, poorly managed identity systems.

Conclusion: Simpler Is Smarter

The evidence is clear: Most organizations don’t need the complexity that’s become standard in traditional IdM. Regulations rarely demand it, and the business case for simplicity is stronger than ever. Modern, cloud-based, and automated identity solutions offer the security, compliance, and agility enterprises need—without the baggage of over-customization.

If your identity management feels like a tangled web, it’s time to ask: Is complexity really serving your business? Or is it just slowing you down?

Written for The InfoSec Digest by a security practitioner who’s seen the good, the bad, and the over-engineered in enterprise identity management.