Courion Survey Confirms Need for Managing User Access in the Cloud
April 25, 2012
Courion Corporation, the leader in identity and access management (IAM) for access risk, today announced the results of a survey that confirmed cloud computing’s rapidly growing popularity and also uncovered concerns about protecting vital IT data and applications in the cloud.
Courion’s survey of more than 400 companies worldwide found that 64 percent are using cloud-based applications to achieve cost and efficiency advantages. That number shows a growing acceptance of cloud computing as more open enterprises deliver critical IT resources to a broad range of users through a variety of premise-based and mobile devices.
The survey revealed a big opportunity for IAM vendors offering alternatives to traditional implementation methods. More than 50 percent of respondents handle IAM manually and 70 percent identified benefits of IAM in the cloud would include: improved speed of business operations; usability; cost; and access risk management; thus indicating that companies that provide alternatives to overcome the long implementation cycles and high costs associated with traditional IAM deployments are positioned to make inroads into a growing market…
Additionally, with more than 80 percent of respondents allowing access via mobile devices, there is significant opportunity to improve IAM operations as enterprises become more open and potentially exposed to greater access risk. These new survey results expand on the findings in Courion’s Jan. 31, 2012 survey. It identified broad need among IT organizations for advanced IAM functionality to manage user access risk before expanding access to vital data and applications.
“Organizations are clearly seeking to streamline and lower the cost of managing their IAM solutions” said Dave Fowler, Courion’s chief operating officer. “To address the changing market and need for better security, lower operational costs and a better understanding of access risk, Courion has been focused on delivering IAM in the cloud through CourionLive as well as leading efforts to establish standards like the Simple Cloud Identity Management (SCIM) specification.”