Is IAM must in an enterprise, sharing IAM strategy from my experience..

First question for every leader in organization when the term security rings in their ear. Why is it needed? why not employees save their passwords for every application. why not have windows authentication enabled for all internal applications, which allows to use single windows (employee organization password).

IAM is not just having single login credentials, it’s beyond that. It’s a process and framework that allows to maintain with all first principles of security.

Contents:

1. Which IAM tool to choose?

2. Create users in IAM

3. Authentication changes for internal & on-premises applications

4. Federation and SSO for Cloud SAAS applications

5. User life cycle management

6. User access management

7. Connecting your Identity provider to Security event management system

Which IAM tool to choose?

Let’s take Azure and Okta to slim down our analysis, considering there are more products out there in the market.

when to choose okta,

Multi-cloud company.
If you’re running apps and data across AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud and your teams live in Google Workspace, Slack, and Salesforce then Okta acts like neutral “identity glue.” It gives everyone one secure login that works everywhere, without favoring any one vendor.

Mergers & acquisitions.
When two organizations with totally different tech stacks come together, user accounts and logins can get messy fast. Okta smooths that out by connecting the different systems so people can keep working with a single sign-in.

Not all-in on Microsoft.
For startups and global companies that are SaaS-first and don’t rely heavily on Microsoft tools, Okta is a great fit. It plugs into lots of cloud apps out of the box, so you can roll out secure access quickly.

when to choose Azure AD,

Strength.
Works seamlessly with Microsoft tools—Teams, SharePoint, Dynamics 365, and Microsoft 365—so a lot of things “just work” out of the box.

Breadth.
Handles standard sign-in methods (SAML, OAuth, OpenID Connect) for third-party apps too, but you’ll likely do a bit more setup when those apps aren’t in the Microsoft ecosystem.

Example.
If your company is heavily invested in Microsoft 365 and Azure, Azure AD is usually the obvious choice.

Create users in IAM:

Users can be created manually or synced from organization directory service like On-premises AD or OpenLDAP, Jump Cloud etc.

So that you don’t rely on IAM products and identity of employees is not tightly coupled with identity provider (like Okta, Azure AD) considering there can be better options as technology evolves.

Let’s take an example of Okta, you can have servers in each domain where Okta AD agent (windows service) runs that syncs all users from directory service to Okta.

Authentication changes for internal & on-premises applications:

Internal applications might have been built with various technologies, like .NET, java, Python etc.

Each application using different authentication methods. Instead, convert all of them to use Identity provider for authentication which in turn is configured with multi factor authentication. This keeps applications secure at all times. in addition, provision users and groups using identity provider to reduce onboarding and off boarding overhead, helps in maintaining governance of access management.

Without any custom development in application, admins and users can leverage all modern authentications, access management, security capabilities in the organization.

Federation and SSO for Cloud SAAS applications:

How frequently have you heard of setting up servers to host applications these days? Almost none. We all know that we are on cloud world and SaaS is ruling the world. Every use case is a product hosted on cloud services like AWS, Azure, GCP.

It’s inevitable for any organization to rely on SaaS applications like training and learning platforms, development tools, Chatbots, editing tools, HRM tools etc. All of them must be secure as they do contain confidential information about organizations, employees etc.

When user account is made inactive in directory service, which in turn gets deactivated in identity provider and application all at once without any changes in Identity provider and application. Only source of truth is directory service in this case.

User life cycle management:

I am quoting some of them here to having IAM in organization and sequence of steps for user life cycle.

• Sync a source of truth (HR/HRIS or AD) so identities are accurate.

• Day-0 onboarding create accounts automatically, so people are productive fast.

• Manage user attributes (department, manager, location) to drive access rules.

• Assign roles/groups to give least-privilege access by default.

• Auto-provision apps via SCIM/OIDC/SAML to cut manual work and errors.

• Issue credentials/MFA and enforce policies for strong authentication.

• Handle access requests with approvals for controlled, auditable elevation.

• Update access when people move teams (joiner-mover-leaver) to prevent creep.

• Offboard immediately: disable accounts, revoke tokens, rotate keys, archive data.

• Review/audit regularly to meet compliance (SOX, HIPAA), reduce risk, and save licenses.

User access management:

sync a source of truth AD or HRIS , so onboarding and offboarding is seamless and accurate in all systems.

User access management with IAM tools pays off in real, everyday ways. You get one place to control who can reach what, instead of chasing settings across apps. Least-privilege policies apply consistently, shrinking the blast radius if something goes wrong. New hires get the right apps on day one and leavers lose access immediately, closing easy doors for attackers.

Built-in MFA and risk-based checks stop most account takeovers before they start. Single sign-on cuts password fatigue and helps people get to work faster. Automation and self-service reduce help-desk tickets and license waste. Clear audit trails make compliance reviews less painful and more credible. Dashboards show who has access to what so you can fix over-permissioning and save money. And because IAM scales across clouds, on-prem, and partners, you keep a smooth, secure user experience as the business grows.

Connecting your Identity provider to Security event management system:

Your identity provider sees who logged in, from where, and what they touched.
A security event management system (SIEM) turns those raw signals into patterns you can act on.
Connect them and you’ll spot risky behavior fast travel or sudden privilege spikes.
Correlating login anomalies with other alerts (endpoints, firewalls, SaaS) cuts through noisy false positives.
That unified view turns “maybe an issue” into clear evidence you can investigate immediately.

The combo also speeds response: failed MFA storms can trigger auto blocks or step-up verification.
Access changes sync into audits, so compliance teams get clean, time-stamped trails without spreadsheets.
Security and IT share the same facts, which reduces finger-pointing and shortens incident timelines.
You’ll save money too, by finding unused accounts and excessive licenses before they become risk.
As you add apps and clouds, this connection scales, keeping visibility and control in one place.

Comment for any clarifications or issues. Happy to help!!