March 17, 2016 • Garrett Garitano
The Force Awakens and the Gartner Identity Governance & Administration Magic Quadrant
May the force not mislead you. The Gartner Identity Governance Magic Quadrant was released and why did I stand in line? The Identity Governance & Administration (IGA) Magic Quadrant is not “new” by any measure of nonfiction. It goes without saying. The Leaders in this quadrant represent the status quo. As far as a solution, […]
The Gartner Identity Governance Magic Quadrant was released and why did I stand in line? The Identity Governance & Administration (IGA) Magic Quadrant is not “new” by any measure of nonfiction. It goes without saying. The Leaders in this quadrant represent the status quo. As far as a solution, are you really getting what’s right for you, or are you overpaying for services that maintain an empire?
One thread of fiction continuing through technology and film is that big companies serve their customers better. This is true, because they sell large amounts of services to an enormous install base. Does this mean their customers were better served? No. It certainly doesn’t.
In Gartner’s new Identity Governance & Administration Magic Quadrant, their revised sales revenue requirements definitely favor IBM and Oracle “leaders”, because they include identity management and access governance revenue for existing customer commitments that are maintained on an on-going basis. As for Gartner’s IGA leaders, they simply do not do business user-centric, easy to administer, or lean operations. It’s not an empire model.
As for the new IGA Magic Quadrant, the storyline is straight forward. Similar to the release of Star Wars The Force Awakens, it’s a lesser remake of the original. We didn’t need to wait seven years to find out Darth Vader’s grandson hates his father. When you go with an empire, you expect to pay for unused and under utilized services. That’s a given.
On the contrary to Gartner’s criteria, hospitals, colleges, government agencies, and most enterprises need streamlined and agile solutions. They need solutions that can be supported with minimal staff while operating on a bootstrap. They need quick to configure administration with robust integration that can be extended.
Identity Governance & Administration Vendor Selection
When Gartner’s leaders are out of reach, how do you identify the right identity and access management solution?
From working with customers, several considerations come to mind. The most critical include: the time from purchase to deployment to experience 100% utilization; how administratively easy is it to configure and securely bring on new systems; and the true cost of ownership.
Full utilization, which includes installation, rollout, and the time to return value, should take a few weeks not months or longer. When IGA solutions result in prolonged service engagements, you’re left vulnerable, while activities are completed that will supposedly lower costs over time. The irony is you will never reach the end. To sustain the empire, the storyline must repeat itself. That’s part of the script.
Storm troopers along with Gartner Identity Governance analysts can tell you, the best identity management solutions focus on business users and administrator efficiency. With IT at the helm removing risks and preventing threats, organizations must empower business users with self-service solutions for managing access, making requests, and escalating approval without calling help desk or interrupting higher value operations.
The Force Awakens a Gartner Identity Governance Resistance
The new Gartner Identity Governance & Administration Magic Quadrant is similar to what’s missing from Star Wars The Force Awakens. It’s actually what’s most relevant and innovative. What happened to the original heroes? Where are the Ewoks? Gartner’s removal of companies from the Gartner Identity Governance & Administration Magic Quadrant parallels the Ewok’s absence. What happens when you don’t want the empire and you’re left by the resistance? All the while, your identities, assets, operations, and culture remain paramount to your survival.
To protect your identities and govern, your solution lies in IT automation and user-centric operations. Automated user provisioning, group management, access governance, and password solutions deliver the greatest security value. They also do not require an empire to deploy and enforce. Furthermore, when the resistance leaves you to fend for yourself, automated identity management solutions enable you to continue to thrive at significantly reduced costs.
By offering intuitive IT solutions targeting business users, you’ll meet your organization’s needs faster and make the most effective use of your technical staff. The impact means Jedi lightsaber security at the lowest operating cost.
As you would predict, that’s not an awakening, Rey Skywalker, that’s blockbuster planning, execution and customer service.
Get a Free Copy of the Top 10 Identity Management Best Practices Workbook
Begin your identity management initiative by following what corporate compliance experts recommend for the workflow automation of businesses processes, self-service administration and IT operations.
