The 5 Best Identity Management Software for Small Businesses

Your company's enterprise network becomes more vulnerable to hackers every time a new device is connected to it or an employee uses a weak or compromised password. Identity and access management (IAM) software gives you a suite of tools to increase network security. The Ascent is here to help with your due diligence to make the best choice for your small business based on features, customer support options, and price.

You don't leave the doors open 24/7 at your business, but many companies do exactly that with their computer networks. Employee-generated passwords such as 123456, reused passwords, and personal devices connected to your enterprise network are an open invitation to hackers to pillage your digital assets.

The best identity management software ensures only authorized personnel log into your network and applications, enforces robust password management policies, and monitors user activity. The question isn't whether you can afford this protection -- it's if you can afford not to have it.

What The Ascent looks for in great identity management software

The best IAM software includes a standard set of must-have features, one-on-one customer support, and transparent pricing. You must do your research, however, as the devil is in the details in these three areas.

Features

Any IAM software you use should include these features:

• Single sign-on (SSO): Users log in once to a single interface to access multiple third-party software applications or websites.
• Multi-factor authentication (MFA): Users provide secondary information such as answers to security questions, OTPs, or biometric information to validate login credentials.
• Password management: IT admins define and enforce automated policies for password strength, banned passwords, and user-generated passwords.

Other useful features include:

• Contextual authentication: AI calculates the risk of each login to apply MFA case-by-case.
• Mobile apps and browser extensions: Users access their SSO portals with apps and/or browser extensions to enhance the user experience.
• Company and personal password vaults: Allows users to have personal password vaults combined with company vaults to reduce the frequency of reused passwords.

Support

Most IAM software has self-service resources such as a knowledge base, product documentation, and community forums.

The most critical feature, however, is one-on-one technical support. If you have a significant problem with your IAM software, all your employees and customers could be locked out of your network. You won't have time to comb through endless web pages looking for a solution; instead, you need direct live chat or telephone support to get back online ASAP.

Pricing

Accurate pricing is key. Even if your initial price per user looks attractive, that can change quickly based on minimum annual contract costs, necessary add-on features, and different plans with widely varying feature sets.

Customer support can be another significant cost. Windows Azure Active Directory customer support will likely be at least $1,000/month for business-critical environments, while Google Cloud Identity includes 24/7 telephone and live chat support in its price per user.

How your business can benefit from using identity management software

Beyond its baseline cost, IAM software can require significant upfront work from your IT department to implement, and users must jump through extra hoops to securely log into your network. These initial costs and inconvenience will be worth it, however, as you achieve multiple, far-reaching benefits.

Better security

After your products and services, your most valuable assets are digital: business records, financial information, and customer data. Compromised passwords result in 81% of hacking breaches, but MFA blocks 99.9% of these attacks.

Overarching benefits include streamlined incident response protocols, endpoint detection and response (EDR), and the production of a granular network diagram. If you have a dedicated network security operations center (SOC), IAM user, login, and activity reports contribute directly to your identity management processes.

Lower costs

The cost of data breaches varies by country and industry, but in 2019, the average cost globally was $3.9 million per breach, which works out to $150 per compromised record. Avoiding even a single data breach can cover your IAM costs for several years.

SSO saves money by reducing the time employees require each day to log into multiple applications. Sure, this isn't that much on any given day, but recent statistics show it works out to 12.5 hours saved per employee per year. If you have 500 employees with an average salary of $50,000, you'll save over $155,000 annually.

This amount further increases when factoring in another time-saving feature: password self-management features that don't require IT department intervention. Each password reset performed by your IT department, for example, costs $7 to $10.

Improved IT department productivity

Greater IT department efficiency is another benefit. Okta says its automated IAM tools reduce routine IT department help requests by 50%. This doesn't mean your IT techs have more time to sit around debating the relative merits of Star Wars versus Star Trek. (FYI: Star Trek is the best.) Instead, they can put more effort into higher-level activities that maintain and protect your IT infrastructure.