What is Customer Identity & Access Management (CIAM)?

Customer Identity & Access Management (CIAM)

Customer Identity & Access Management (CIAM) is about determining and managing customer access rights. You want your customers to easily access the information they need, without unauthorized individuals gaining access to certain business applications. You want to make logging in as simple as possible for customers, with as few passwords and other security steps as possible. At the same time, you want to make it as difficult as possible for unauthorized users. With Customer Identity and Access Management, you can improve the customer experience and enhance security.

CIAM is not the same as IAM, which stands for Identity & Access Management. With IAM, companies manage access rights for their own employees, suppliers, partners and more. Various parties in and around a company need access to certain parts of the business information. With IAM, all of this happens in a secure and auditable manner.

IAM is focused on the internal environment, while CIAM specifically addresses customer needs. Granting that access requires a different approach than for employees and partners. Customers have certain expectations and can easily switch to a competitor. Customer Identity & Access Management therefore builds on the principle of Identity & Access Management, but focuses specifically on customers.

Why Customer Identity and Access Management?

In addition to attracting new customers, you also want to retain your existing ones. That requires good customer service and engagement. Today, that is not always easy. The way organizations communicate with customers has changed enormously in recent years. Where customers used to visit the store, they now place orders online with just a few clicks. This makes it harder to make personal contact or ask for feedback. Also, online competition is fierce. It takes time and effort to attract and retain customers.

It is therefore increasingly about the Customer Experience -- the experience a customer has with your organization. Does your customer have a good experience with your company? Then the chance is naturally greater that they will remain a customer and recommend you. That is why it is important to meet certain customer expectations.

Two important expectations are convenience and security. The customer therefore expects, for example, a well-functioning website and a tracking system for their ordered packages. Within that convenience, the customer must be able to trust that the personal data they share with your company is safe. Think of contact details, a bank account number or a private address.

To meet these expectations, organizations must put the customer and the security of customer data at the center. Modern Customer Identity and Access Management is the solution for every CMO, CIO and CISO.

What are the requirements for CIAM?

Customers expect a secure and user-friendly service. Easy access to do business comes first. This means a Customer Identity and Access Management solution must guarantee at least four things:

1. User-friendliness

Customers want to be able to handle their business and purchases independently, in their own time. This requires a user-friendly system that allows customers to log in, make purchases and update their details. It should be clear where they can manage these functions. User-friendliness is a requirement, because online competition is fierce.

2. Convenience and speed

In addition to being user-friendly, the system must also be easy and fast. Customers should be able to log in, register or unsubscribe at any time. It is counterproductive if an intermediary or specific verification is required, for example when requesting a forgotten password. As far as the customer is concerned, that should be resolved as quickly as possible. A system where they can handle this themselves is therefore ideal for the customer. Login options can also contribute to customer convenience. Single Sign-On (SSO) is widely used. This means the CIAM solution offers an option that allows customers to log in just once, after which they gain access to multiple applications or portals. Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA), which requires an extra step during login to verify the user's identity, can be used when additional security is needed. When filling out a simple feedback form, customers will not bother taking an extra step during login, such as entering a code received on their phone. For more sensitive information, MFA is of course a good option to further enhance security.

3. Flexibility

Third, a customer expects flexibility. Customers want to be able to unsubscribe or leave without being tied to certain obligations. An example of this is the option to make online purchases with or without creating an account. This way, users who simply want to make one purchase can do so quickly and easily. Other users may prefer to create an account, for example to save products to a wishlist. Also, a CIAM solution must also work on all kinds of devices. Customers no longer primarily log in via computers. Laptops, smartphones and tablets are commonplace today.

4. Security

Finally, a CIAM solution must guarantee security. Customers entrust their data to your company. You must be able to guarantee that unauthorized individuals cannot access it. The system must therefore at least comply with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which protects personal data.

The convenience and security of a system can sometimes conflict. A customer wants to log in quickly and simply, but of course it must be verified that it is actually that customer. With Customer Identity and Access Management, this combination can be managed as optimally and professionally as possible.

How does CIAM work?

Customer Identity and Access Management, like Identity and Access Management, has three main tasks: user management, authentication and authorization.

1. User management

Example: a company that delivers software as a service to customers has free users and premium users. Among premium users, different categories can often be defined, where in many cases the more comprehensive the subscription, the more options and access the user gets. This type of company therefore has a great interest in properly managing customer access and the rights they have within the systems. A CIAM solution uses permission sets for this. This means customers have a certain permission set that gives them access to certain options or information. The system must be able to assign and modify these rights. And when a customer leaves, access must be removed.

2. Authentication

Authentication means a system can recognize a user. This can be done, for example, by logging in with a username and password (with Multi-Factor Authentication, an additional factor is required). Once a user is recognized, they have access.

3. Authorization

Authorization is the process by which users are assigned certain rights. The system can see what access a particular user has. For example, a free user may not be able to enable or disable certain features.

In addition to these three tasks, the system also reports. It automatically records which actions have been performed and by whom. This provides an extra layer of control and insight, thereby safeguarding security.

The benefits of Customer Identity and Access Management

Investing in CIAM has several benefits. These can be divided into general benefits of Identity and Access Management and benefits that are specifically applicable to Customer Identity and Access Management.

• IT security

First, by using IAM and CIAM, you reduce the risks for your organization and your customers. All access is recorded in the system, so unauthorized individuals cannot simply gain access. There is also less chance of human error, where the wrong people gain access to sensitive information. Also, the system automatically logs all actions, so it can always be traced where any anomalies occurred. Login methods such as MFA can further reduce this risk.

• Regulatory compliance

A second general benefit of (C)IAM is that you automatically comply with laws and regulations. You no longer need to burden the IT department with changing, deleting or creating all kinds of access rights. Because the system itself checks whether access can or cannot be granted, you have less to worry about regarding security.

• Lower costs

Because the IT department no longer spends much time on access management, those employees can focus on other matters. Customer service is also less occupied with all kinds of access-related requests. Customers can handle many more things themselves, saving your organization costs.

• Customer retention

A specific benefit of CIAM is that you can retain customers more easily. If you provide a well-functioning system that prioritizes user experience and security, customers will be happy doing business with you. The chance that they switch to a competitor is reduced.

• Fast launch of customer applications

Finally, with Customer Identity and Access Management it becomes possible to launch certain new applications much faster. Suppose you want to deploy a new application for customers. Normally, you would have to arrange all kinds of security and access matters. If you use CIAM, this process can be much faster. It is important, however, that you use a modern CIAM system that allows you to manage access to multiple applications from a single central system.

Modern CIAM with Okta Identity Cloud

For a well-functioning and user-friendly Customer Identity and Access Management system, you need software designed for that purpose. Okta Identity Cloud is an example. Okta Identity Cloud is a modern approach to CIAM and the software is specifically designed for rapid implementations. Especially in this digital age, companies want to quickly deploy new applications. However, these must be user-friendly and secure.

Okta Customer Identity Cloud (CIC) is specifically designed for these rapid implementations. It supports all relevant standards such as SAML, OpenID Connect and OAuth 2.0 for fast and efficient application integration. Also, it has APIs for Go, Java, .Net, Node.js and PHP, among others. With Okta Customer Identity Cloud, deploying an application no longer takes months of preparation. This reduces the risk that many changes have occurred by the time the application goes live. To work quickly and securely, Okta Customer Identity Cloud is based on four pillars:

1. Digital Unification

This means organizations can connect, combine, transform and manage different user profiles. This offers convenience and speed.

2. Contextual Access Management

This allows companies to centrally manage all access based on user profiles, application, device and location.

3. Lifecycle Automation

This means user profiles and associated roles can be automatically updated by other systems, such as a CRM system.

4. 360-degree insight

360-degree insight means reports provide visibility into all actions taken. Okta Customer Identity Cloud detects suspicious individuals or actions.

Okta Identity Cloud thus also ensures the preservation of the four things CIAM must guarantee: user-friendliness, convenience and speed, flexibility and security.

FuseLogic, CIAM and Okta Customer Identity Cloud

FuseLogic wants to deliver the best Customer Identity and Access Management experience for its clients. It is only natural that you want to do your work worry-free and not spend unnecessary time on CIAM. The system must work flawlessly. The traditional approach to CIAM therefore no longer always works.

That is why we work with Okta Identity Cloud. FuseLogic is a Certified Okta Identity Cloud partner and the Okta Identity Cloud partner with the most certified Okta Identity Cloud consultants in the Benelux. At FuseLogic, you get the best of both worlds: high-level certified Okta Identity Cloud expertise and best practices based on more than 18 years of Identity Management experience.

We do not start from theoretical frameworks, but from the customer. Every organization requires a different approach to access management. We therefore want to work closely with you to design your CIAM setup. This way, you end up with a fully configured system that requires minimal maintenance. This approach also creates buy-in, because your organization will recognize itself in the approach.

Want to learn more?

Would you like to learn more about our approach, Customer Identity and Access Management solution or about Okta Identity Cloud? Feel free to contact us. We are happy to help.