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SPS Grover, Vice President – Technology Sales, Oracle India delves into identity management solutions market in India in an interaction with Sandhya Malhotra
What are the major factors driving growth of identity management solutions in the Indian market?
Organisations have begun to realise the importance of identity management (IDM) in doing business more efficiently. IDM is no longer just a technology issue; it has become a business issue. With the sharp growth that Indian companies, especially in industries like ITES, retail & distribution, telecom, manufacturing and financial services are witnessing, they realised they had to open doors to the world while ensuring that the world doesn't walk through them.
It became necessary for them to securely manage appropriate access to business resources for employees, customers, partners and suppliers. An information security framework or IDM allows them to reduce threats and improve compliance.
The factors that are driving the growth of identity management solutions in India include:
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Regulatory compliance norms : Today, irrespective of where a company is based, if it does business on a global scale – which a lot of companies based in India now do – they need to understand the best practices and measures for compliance adopted by companies spread across various geographies. Whether they are component suppliers to the automobile giants, outsourced partners for retail chains or emerging manufacturers setting up projects overseas, knowledge of global compliance norms is becoming an integral part of their competitive DNA. Since a lot of multinational giants have invested in meeting compliance requirements, they would obviously want their business partners – suppliers, collaborators, et al – also to meet with the same kinds of compliance rules, whether those partners are based in the same location or elsewhere across the globe.
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Managing identities: With business growth and expansion/ M&A's, companies have to induct/ absorb more employees, customers, partners, and suppliers into their business process system. This means more identities, roles and transactions, giving rise to security threats that can result from creating an extended network.
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Access control and compliance management: Nearly every organisation around the world is subject to multiple regulations that mandate different aspects of privacy or accountability. With the maturity of the Online world, curbing identity theft and fraud in such an environment has become a big challenge. A growing number of firms are falling victims to information leakage and data theft in the Online world.
What is the size of the IDM market?
According to industry analysts, the IDM market is expected to increase by more than 4 times to reach approximately $2.5Bn. The public and finance sectors are expected to lead the adoption of IDM worldwide.
What are the major security threats faced by enterprises?
Enterprises searching for answers to their security problems should increasingly take a closer look at their internal operations. Large numbers of security breaches happen from either an employee within the company or by outsiders entering the network to corrupt it. The challenge is to ensure that the right people have appropriate access to the right resources at the right time and to be able to prove it. Also, organizations today face the challenge of protecting confidential personal and business information from unauthorized users.
In such circumstances, how does an information security framework help?
An information security framework allows organisations to:
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Reduce threats: A secure infrastructure reduces the risk and associated cost from malicious sources
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Improve compliance: Oracle's secure solutions offer features, policies, and procedures to address internal and external compliance requirements
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Build in security from the start: Security is built in from the outset, making for consistent, secure deployments that mitigate risk
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Win and maintain customer confidence/loyalty: when information security is a top priority, organisations enjoy higher levels of trust, and better business with their customers
To what extent is compliance driving adoption of IDM?
A holistic approach to security can save you money. Companies today are spending 10 times more on compliance projects because they adopt an ad-hoc approach rather than as part of a strategic, proactive compliance program. This approach is costly.
In addition to global regulatory requirements like Basel II, privacy legislation is forcing companies to look at ways to certify data that is held to be compliant to privacy laws.
In the United States, one financial services company managed to reduce their annual costs involved in supporting the identity administration needs of their 2,000 employees by half a million U.S. dollars.
Organizations need to protect confidential personal and business information from unauthorized users and ensure that adherence to rules and regulations can always be substantiated. This is where compliance has got a role to play in the identity management sphere.
Which verticals have been the early adopters of IDM solutions?
Identity management solutions have started to gain popularity among a certain section of Indian enterprises. Early evaluators and adopters of identity management solutions in India comprise companies in the telecom, IT enabled services and BPO, retail and distribution, financial services and manufacturing sectors.
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