IAM projects must focus on processes, not technology

The disconnect between IT and the business should be addressed before a business buys new kit

Organisations don't want new technology to help with their identity and access management (IAM) requirements as they feel unable to fully utilise what is currently available.

This is one message that has come out of today's Gartner Identity and Access Management Summit 2011 in London.

Chairing a panel debate at the summit, Gartner research vice president Ant Allan said: "By 2014 more than 80 per cent of successful IAM implementations will be process rather than technology driven."

He explained that unless an enterprise understands its own business needs and has specific business goals in mind, it won't see the full benefits of any IAM implementation even if it has lots of fancy technology.

This was prompted by a comment from the audience: "The relationship IAM has with the business needs to mature because we're not yet in a position to fully utilise the existing technology."

Nishant Kaushik, chief strategist, IAM at Oracle, said: "New technology can be disruptive to IAM implementations. Customers can be confused when features and operability change."

However, Tim Dunn, vice president security strategy Europe for software provider CA Technologies, urged businesses to continue to purchase technology and to take a 'low hanging fruit' approach.

"Start with a quick return, then have a three to five year roadmap following on from that. You can guarantee that your requirements will change within the first six months anyway."