Avatier vs Micro Focus Access Manager

With Avatier vs. Micro Focus Access Manager on your shortlist of security software solutions, making the right choice is difficult. Both products have their advantages. However, it is essential to choose an application that relates to your technology and risk needs. To expedite your procurement process, use our feature comparison to make the right choice for your situation.

1) Mobile Device Support: Avatier vs. Micro Focus Access Manager

Mobile device security is a growing challenge for IT security departments. There is a “shoulder surfing” risk with using work mobile devices in public – it is easy to observe someone entering credentials. These devices are also exposed to the risk of loss and theft. On the other hand, business users find these devices essential for productivity. For these reasons, mobile device support is critical to consider for security software.

With Micro Focus Access Manager, there is partial support available for mobile devices. At the time of this writing, the product provides support for iOS devices. However, that is just one part of the mobile device ecosystem. Unfortunately, other mobile devices have limited support: “Android coming soon.” That limitation is a shortcoming to keep in mind. 

In contrast, Avatier offers significant mobile device support. For example, what if your users have traditional cellular phones? Avatier has these users covered by providing one time passcodes by SMS. For users with modern smartphones, you get full support for iOS and Android devices, including the ability to reset forgotten passwords. 

2) Avatier vs. Micro Focus Access Manager: SaaS Optimization

Every year, more business activities move to the cloud. That means your confidential data, customer files and more need to be protected from waste and security risk. Let’s compare Avatier and Micro Focus in this vital capability.

Avatier is built with the SaaS use case in mind. First, your users get a single seamless sign-on experience, including SaaS applications. That login experience saves time for your users every day. It also means your users fewer passwords to manage. That’s not all! From a central IT perspective, Avatier makes it easy to optimize your SaaS licenses by tracking usage. You might have purchased 500 software licenses and then found out you only needed half of them based on usage data. With that information, you can cut waste from your technology budget.

By contrast, Micro Focus Access Manager has a different approach to SaaS. The product supports SaaS from a single sign-on perspective. However, there appears to be no information regarding access. That means IT departments will end up with limited information regarding SaaS usage. 

SaaS usage tracking with Avatier matters because it lets IT managers make a data-based decision about SaaS spending.

3) Multi-Factor Authentication Support: Avatier vs. Micro Focus Access Manager

Passwords are no longer the only access credential you need for security. Whether you call it second-factor authentication or multi-factor authentication (MFA), supplementing passwords with other options is essential. When you look at these products, differences start to emerge.

With Micro Focus Access Manager, the product does include multi-factor authentication. However, there appears to be limited options for MFA support. There is no mention made for third party MFA providers in the product’s Data Sheet. 

By using Avatier, you will get a more robust multi-factor authentication (MFA) solution. Currently, Avatier supports the following MFA providers: DUO Security, FIDO2, Google Authenticator, Okta, Ping Identity, RADIUS, RSA SecurID, Symantec VIP, YubiKey and WebAuthn. This means if your organization already uses one of those MFA providers, implementing Avatier will be easier vs. other options that require you to change your MFA provider.

Ease of installation is an important factor when you are selecting an identity and access management application. If you are already using one of the MFA providers Avatier supports, you can look forward to a worry-free implementation.

4) Avatier vs. Micro Focus Access Manager: End-User Experience

For an IT security experience to achieve success, you need to be mindful of the end-user impact. IT professionals tend to focus on their own needs in selecting an IT security solution. However, access management software directly impacts end-users, so let’s consider how these products impact their daily work.

Micro Focus Access Manager appears to put limited emphasis on the end-user experience. Specifically, there is limited evidence for self-serve capabilities. That suggests that your end-user convenience is less of a priority. 

Avatier brings specialized capabilities to the market to help end-users. By using Apollo, a 24/7 specialized chatbot, you can provide password resets and other security services to your end-users whenever they need it. Even better, users can use simple apps like Slack, Skype and your company website to submit their requests. That’s valuable because it means there is less need for training and change management when you choose Avatier.

What Other Selection Criteria Matter With Identity and Access Management Software?

So far, we have looked at specific technical features of the two products. In addition to technical factors, there are some other criteria to keep in mind. Consider the following factors as you weigh Avatier vs. Micro Focus Access Manager.

Technical Specialization

Some companies take a generalist approach and develop software in many different categories. Avatier takes a different philosophy by choosing to specialize in identity and access management. That degree of focus means users don’t have to worry about products becoming out of date or losing technical support.

Language Support

For an IT security incident to occur, you need one weak link in your organization. For example, you might have 5% of your users located in Japan and another 5% in Spain. In that situation, providing support to those users in their language means less inactive user risk and fewer delays with password resets. Before you make a selection, check out Avatier’s language support, which extends to more than twenty languages, including English, Dutch, Italian, Spanish, Chinese and Japanese.

Your Next Step: Build A Business CaseOnce you conclude the Avatier vs. Micro Focus Access Manager debate for your company, it’s time to build a business case. To help you win support, check out our quick guide: Build Your Business Case for Single Sign-On. You will get step-by-step directions to give yourself the best possible chances of winning executive approval.