How to handle identity and access management (IAM) is a major challenge for organizations—large and small, public and private—as they consider moving to the cloud. It’s tough enough to successfully implement an enterprise-wide, integrated IAM solution in the traditional, non-cloud IT environment. What IAM issues must be considered in the cloud?

Fortunately, businesses and government agencies don’t have to address the challenges of cloud IAM on their own. The key is to find a cloud service provider that offers IAM expertise and services as part of its overall cloud offering. Some don’t, but others do, and it’s critical to examine a provider’s IAM capabilities as part of your cloud vendor selection process. 

The ideal cloud provider should have extensive expertise and experience in all aspects of IAM—from strategy and design, to the intricacies of risk and security management, to successful implementation and ongoing maintenance.

In addition, the provider should be willing to work closely with each client to understand the client’s unique goals and expectations in terms of IAM in the cloud. This typically involves a complex decision process for the client, and making the right decisions requires a provider that can identify the needs and offer the best options.

For example, a client looking for an immediate return on investment on its move to the cloud may want to consider a multi-tenant IAM service, so that the IAM costs are shared. For example, to support U.S. government agencies as they move to the cloud, the General Services Administration has created and awarded a government-wide Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) for Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) to make it fast, easy, and secure for agencies to buy services. As part of this, multiple agencies will share the same IAM, eliminating the need for each to implement its own IAM system.

Another client may want to integrate its own user data within the cloud so that it retains control of the data. Business requirements such as this raise cloud-specific IAM issues for which expert advice and help is needed.

The bottom line is that the IAM component of a cloud service should be considered as one of the most important components. Finding a cloud provider that is also an IAM expert will ensure an effective IAM solution within the cloud while minimizing your risks and costs. Your business will also benefit from any IAM improvements the provider chooses to invest in. Taking IAM into consideration is essential to reaping all of the advantages the cloud affords.