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Identity management vital for app economy

Staff Writer
By Staff Writer, ITWeb
Johannesburg, 20 Aug 2015
Identity management is key to building an agile enterprise, says Hila Meller, head of security strategy EMEA, CA Technologies.
Identity management is key to building an agile enterprise, says Hila Meller, head of security strategy EMEA, CA Technologies.

The emerging application economy is changing the face of business, and security, notably identity management, will be fundamental to its success.

Hila Meller, head of security strategy EMEA, CA Technologies, spoke to ITWeb about the fundamental shifts in security, and how they are driving the next generation of digital business.

"All those new apps that we use every day - they're all based on identities. The whole sharing economy; look at organisations like Airbnb and Uber, at the end of the day, they are identity-based businesses. There's a very strong revival in identity management, particularly where we're talking about holistic management of any user on any device or application. Whether that's an employee or contractor or customer, you should have centralised management that identity. That facilitates more innovation and creativity within the business."

IT also needs to re-establish its reputation within the organisation, she notes. Many companies are grappling with "shadow IT": users signing up for cloud services without the knowledge or oversight of the IT department - in effect, moving identities outside of the organisation.

"The business needs to know that it can rely on IT, that they can approach IT whenever they onboard a new service or system. Security in particular needs to be seen as an enabler to get this under control."

In the business/customer relationship, identity should value in both directions, Meller stresses. "People are increasingly willing to share information, but they want several things to happen in return. They want to feel secure, in control, and they want to get something back. They're willing to share their credentials and maybe additional information, but they want something back in the form of ease of use, personalised services, or even some kind of monetary value."

Gaming companies were quick to adopt this behaviour, she notes: "I give you access to my friends, you give me a free life, or something similar. It's a transaction."

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The same dynamic is playing out within enterprises. "As an IT department, you have to provide the same experience to users that they can get on the outside as consumers. That sort of shopping-cart experience, the focus on UX [user experience] with intuitive interface, and embracing social and sharing."

Enterprise IT and security operations are beginning to take on that challenge, Meller says, though many have a long way to go.

"There are places where you see good collaboration between CMOs, heads of consumer channels, IT and the security business unit, but it requires IT and security to change their frame of mind and wear the hat of a business enabler. You can't be seen as the guy in the basement who just says no to everything and puts antivirus on PCs and manages firewalls - we need a different perception of what IT and security means to an organisation: much more focused on business enablement."

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