Many organizations look at limited functionality when implementing IAM solutions and they do not understand the implications of such a lackadaisical approach on their infrastructure and architecture. The benefits of Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) are acclaimed to bring down integration costs, enable greater asset reuse, and arm IT to respond more quickly to changing business and regulatory requirements.
A more robust system means a complex set of technology has been placed into it.
When IAM Architecture has to be formulated, it just does not focus on creating simple IT systems. Such architects discover and implement concepts and best practices to build highly scalable IAM applications.
What brings complexity to the system? Within an organization, it comes into the picture when IT Admin is working towards getting to secure cloud technology, achieving application synchronization, mobile device synchronization, reaching for regulatory compliances, setting up access governed IT systems… and the list goes on.
Here are IAM Architecture/SOA best practice to follow when implementing an IAM solution:
- Look at IAM architecture from a strategic point of view. IAM architecture is a part of a strategy that brings an understanding of technology and deployment best practices under a common umbrella. Newer technology has brought about a change in the way processes have been traditionally conducted.
- Business Intelligence focus with both short-term and longer-term view. For a robust futuristic and proactive IT infrastructure, create architecture that incorporates a comprehensive set of features and functionality to ensure interoperability. This includes but is not limited to the HP systems, directories, identity and access management systems, email-file-telephone-print tracking, checks on remote as well as physical facility access, databases…
- Do not compromise in scale-ability and elasticity. Architecture must be designed to attend to present needs while anticipating and providing for future (known or unknown) capabilities. A growth-oriented scalable architecture must make room for identity-related capabilities such as Identity data synchronization, reduced manual intervention or single sign-on, automated roles-based/workflow-based provisioning, identity federation, and so on.
- Build a system that focuses greatly on corporate users’ governance. Your SOA framework should pave way for a tough task managing access as once the Architecture has been implemented, it will be a nightmare to change from point-to-point connections. You can create a more open platform that lets IT teams (spread globally) reuse applications, extend new services to users and link business legacy & package applications for ease to users.
- Be proactive while working through documentation. A proper network design calls for modeling performance, which many enterprises fail to do adequately without expert support. Your IAM Architecture Consultant will need your time and the time of practically every important resource within your organization to tailor your IT system need in your SOA framework. Be available to share information and bring out minute details to create a robust system – the end result will be beautifully manageable, optimal and automated.
Damage caused due to non-strategic architecture for deploying IAM technology obstructs future tech implementation in a non-standardized fashion. Therefore IAM architecture or Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) Security must be looked at to enable interoperation with all required existing systems successfully.
