NERM Non-Employee Risk Management

How do you control security when temporary teams need to access your systems?
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Managing Non-Employee Identity Non-employees are your new normal.

Ever tried tracking hundreds of contractors through your systems? That's today's reality. Your organization isn't just your employees anymore - it's a maze of vendors, partners, and temporary teams who all need different levels of access to get their work done. And here's the kicker: none of them show up in your HR systems.

Think about it:

• The dev team you hired last week

• Your supply-chain partners

• Your new marketing agency

• A fleet of freelancers

Every single one needs access to something in your system. But for how long? And to what exactly? Traditional security wasn't built for this revolving door of external users. When 59% of data breaches start with third parties, you can't afford to guess.

Your non-employees are managed by different teams, tracked in different systems, and following different rules. Without a single source of truth, you're playing security whack-a-mole with every new contract.

Your Challenge Non-employees slip through standard security monitoring. Why? You're watching employee activity while contractors, vendors, and partners move through your systems unnoticed.

Consider this: A contractor's access should have ended a month ago. But who's checking? Without real-time monitoring of non-employee actions, you might not catch unauthorized access until it's too late.

  • Lack of HR integration
    Non-employees typically aren’t in the organization’s HR or IT system, making it harder to get accurate information, track roles and watch for contract end dates. The result is incomplete information and delays in revoking access.
  • Dynamic and temporary roles
    Non-employees’ access needs keep changing. It’s time-consuming to keep up with their latest tasks, so they end up with more access than they need.
  • Managing external devices
    Non-employees often use their own devices, software and APIs. This may introduce malware infection or data breaches if those devices are compromised.
  • Inconsistent oversight and processes
    For a CISO, onboarding and off-boarding non-employees can be a real headache. It’s hard to automate when responsibility is split between departments, and the work is urgent. Delays in addressing issues always create risks.
  • Third-party risk
    Non-employees have varying levels of training and security policy adherence, introducing risks into your organization’s environment and industry standards. If non-employees mishandle sensitive data or cause a security incident, your organization is still responsible.
  • Access creep 
    Over time, non-employees may accumulate access to systems that are no longer relevant to their role, especially if their responsibilities change without corresponding updates to their permissions.

What makes non-employee access so risky?

Without a specialized approach to managing non-employee access, you're leaving your organization exposed. But with the right strategy, these risks become opportunities:

  • Know exactly who's accessing what
    Track every non-employee, their role, and their access level in real-time. No more guessing games.
  • Automate the boring stuff
    Set up workflows that handle onboarding, changes, and off-boarding - because security shouldn't depend on someone remembering to send an email.
  • Stop access creep in its tracks
    Automatically revoke access when projects end or contracts expire. Yesterday's vendor shouldn't have today's access.
  • Make auditors smile
    Generate complete access reports in minutes, not months. Show who had access to what, when, and why - all in one place.
  • Keep your business moving
    Give non-employees the access they need, when they need it, without compromising security. Because speed shouldn't mean risk.
Cta Idmworks Difference

The IDMWORKS Difference Secure your external access landscape with IDMWORKS' proven NERM solutions.

From global enterprises juggling thousands of contractors to healthcare networks managing rotating staff, we know how to turn non-employee risk into non-employee confidence.

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Tailored Strategies

Our NERM solutions are customized to your organization's unique external access requirements. We begin with a comprehensive assessment of your non-employee identity landscape, mapping current processes, identifying security gaps, and creating a strategic roadmap for improvement.

Hands-on Implementation

IDMWORKS provides end-to-end support throughout your NERM transformation. Our specialized team works alongside yours to implement solutions that enhance security while streamlining non-employee access management.• Lifecycle automation: Streamlined onboarding, updates, and offboarding for all non-employee identities

  • Continuous monitoring:
    Real-time visibility into external access patterns and potential security risks
  • Flexible integration:
    Seamless connection with existing IAM infrastructure and business processes
  • Compliance management:
    Automated documentation and reporting for regulatory requirements

Proven Methodology   IDMWORKS guides, implements,
integrates and manages NERM solutions tailored to your needs in a fast-paced,
global environment.

Guide

We benchmark legacy systems, develop a strategy and financial business case, evaluate best-fit IAM solutions and vendors, and develop policies that build resilience and drive growth.

Launch

We select, implement, configure, align, customize and train staff on your IAM solution so you get the best value, protection and ROI from your cybersecurity technology investments.

Connect

Our technical expertise and cutting-edge, proprietary tools automate, monitor and control IAM. Automation maximizes operational efficiency and prevents users from bypassing security policies.

Manage

Our proven, industry-renowned managed identity services will stabilize, manage, integrate and scale your IAM. We ensure compliance, and facilitate your migration to AI, SaaS and the cloud.

IDMWORKS' Vendors We partner with top-tier workforce identity vendors.

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Experience streamlined, efficient and secure onboarding and staff scalability with an IDMWORKS program. Reach out to us to learn how implementing IAM builds responsive, agile enterprises.

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Shelley Mantei

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