IAM’s Early Days: Infrastructure’s Quiet Corner
When I started working in Identity and Access Management (IAM), it wasn’t the buzzing field it is today, we didn’t really call it IAM either. Back then, better known as the “Windows team” or if the organization was large enough, a dedicated “Directory Services” team lived quietly in the infrastructure realm, small teams who maintained the digital equivalent of a phonebook. Tools like Active Directory or Novell eDirectory were the unsung heroes that kept everything from logging into workstations to accessing file shares and for some time email management was thrown in as well.
These teams were the nerve center of IT. Every department relied on them, even if they didn’t realize it. But, let’s be honest; it wasn’t glamorous work. It was about making sure users could log in without calling the help desk. Manual processes were the norm rather than the exception.
The Centralization Era: One Sign-On to Rule Them All
As time went by and organizations grew, complexity grew with it. As it did, good teams would look to centralize and automate early, this kept the chaos at bay. With centralized directories came the convenience of seamless sign-on, which Microsoft’s Active Directory achieved quite well for internal applications and systems that were joined to it’s domain.
Part of this growth in complexity included the desire to take single sign-on to third party applications and services which inevitably led to Federated authentication and the advent of SAML. For the first time, IAM teams were creating seamless user experiences while tightening security.
This shift wasn’t just about convenience. Centralized systems reduced the number of passwords employees needed to remember (or write on sticky notes) and introduced consistent policies across the organization. It was a game-changer, but it also meant IAM teams carried more responsibility than ever. Suddenly, we weren’t just gatekeepers; we were architects of user access.
The Rise of IAM as a Strategic Discipline
In my career, and much like IAM in general compliance became a mandatory baseline, several frameworks helped with this, from HIPPA in the late 90s to SOX and PCI in early and mid 2000s. This was a turning point where those quiet infrastructure based teams were no longer in the background; we had become a critical part of risk management.
This era saw IAM teams evolve. We weren’t just maintaining directories anymore; we were designing systems to prove compliance, enable audits, and ensure that the right people had access to the right resources.
Modern IAM: Simplicity Meets Security
Today, IAM has transformed yet again. With the constant and relentless pace of change, IAM is at the forefront of CyberSecurity like never before. The days of perimeter security as the main means of defense are long gone. Cloud Services, and a return in a way to decentralized delivery of applications and services has mandated greater number of innovations; from multi-factor authentication to zero-trust models have become standard practice in a bid to balance security, risk with simplicity and user experience.
But here’s the thing: simplicity isn’t just for users. It’s just as critical for us, the engineers that are charged with making sense of it all, and deliver intuitive systems that provide peace of mind, easy to maintain, integrate and scale. Without this, any organization will reckon with mounting technical debt, and greater and greater risk of missed compliance or worse, a security incident.
What’s Next for IAM?
As we continue to evolve, IAM will continue to focus on automation, user-centric design, which will certainly include an increasing adoption of AI. But no matter what’s next, one thing is certain: IAM teams will continue to play a critical role in shaping the future of technology.
What’s your take on IAM’s journey? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
The picture taken is from a wonderful exhibit in the History Museum of Angra do Heroismo, in Terceira - Azores, Portugal. Visit here
It reminds me how Identity takes many shapes, from much earlier times, where family, social status, garments, and much more were used to allow entry or convey authority, IAM has always been here!
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