Why Should You Consider Using a Managed Identity Provider? Here's Why.

The Post-Pandemic Reality: Why MSPs Are Now Essential

The pandemic caught a lot of businesses unprepared. Many businesses were unable to offer staff a similar ‘remote’ working experience to their usual ‘on-premise’ experience when staff were forced to work from home. If an organization’s Identity and Access Management (IAM) system relies heavily on manual processes and local access to servers and software, it can become a real challenge when your usual office-based workforce is suddenly mostly remote. With the various lockdowns and limited contact protocols, many customers were cancelling or postponing work, which led to large numbers of staff being made redundant to ensure the future of the business. Additionally, self-quarantine protocols put further pressure on already-reduced teams.

How do you plan for coverage with a reduced workforce when medical advice recommends self-quarantine at the first sign of symptoms? Is your business prepared for the next pandemic, hurricane, earthquake, or other disaster that might prevent your IAM team from accessing the office? The right Managed Service Provider could provide essential support in these situations.

The Competitive Job Market: Retention Challenges for IAM Teams

If your organization relies on IAM contractors or an in-house team, how do you plan for these resources leaving? The IAM market is red hot, making it harder for businesses to recruit and retain staff. What is the cost to your business of constantly recruiting staff? Are you paying recruitment fees? How much did you spend last year on hiring and onboarding?

For businesses relying on external contractors on a day-rate or retainer, the costs can quickly add up. This is another area where the right Managed Service Provider can alleviate your burden by offering consistent, reliable support.

The Value of Managed Identity: It's Not Just About Cost Cutting

Some people associate managed services with reduced staff headcount and purely as a cost reduction measure.  At IDMWORKS, we view our Managed Services as a value-added offering. Managed Identity allows your staff to be freed up to focus on the business objectives and higher-value work, away from the day-to-day operational tasks.

An interesting exercise might be to ask your internal team 1) how many home grown scripts and fixes they have written and 2) how long does it take to update and maintain them. It’s likely that the time they spend writing scripts and fixes would be better spent adding new features and enhancements, they just don’t have time because the day-to-day issues keep piling up.  When a single team is charged with support, monitoring, enhancements, and upgrades, the loudest issues get priority and forward progress can stall out.  IDMWORKS’ Managed Identity Service enables specialization, ensuring that the right people are handling the right tasks to boost efficiency and productivity.

Key Considerations When Choosing a Managed Services Provider

Could your business benefit from a Managed Services Provider? Here are some questions to consider:

• What happens if your key internal IAM resource hands in their notice today? How long would it take to hire, onboard, and train a replacement?
• Are you aware of the hidden costs of onboarding new staff, such as training time and productivity loss.
• Does your business have sufficient internal coverage for weekends and out-of-hours work, or are you relying on goodwill from your team? What happens when that goodwill runs out?

Contractors and Knowledge Transfer: Are You Prepared for Their Exit?

If your business relies heavily on external contractors, have you considered the risks of insufficient knowledge transfer and documentation? What is your contingency plan if a contractor doesn’t renew their contract? Having a Managed Identity Provider with a dedicated team ensures your business has the necessary support and knowledge transfer processes in place.

What to Look for in a Managed Services Provider

Your Managed Services Provider (MSP) should work seamlessly with your business. Here’s what to look for:

• Flexibility: The MSP should be able to adapt to your changing business requirements.
• Continuous Development: The MSP should push you to use all relevant features of your IAM product and proactively introduce new functionalities that benefit your business.
• Responsiveness: The MSP should offer clear answers to your questions and provide sufficient coverage so your internal team doesn’t need to be available after hours.
• Aligned Service Level Agreements (SLAs): The MSP’s SLAs should align with your internal SLAs to ensure seamless support.
• Offshore Resources: If the MSP uses offshore resources, inquire about whether they are employees or subcontractors and ask about their hiring, training, and retention processes. Look for a pool of highly trained, certified, and experienced resources who are available when your business needs them.

A well-rounded Managed Identity Provider should do more than just meet your immediate needs. They should also help you grow your IAM capabilities and offer continuous support as your business evolves.

You shouldn’t have to change the way your business operates to fit your provider’s service model—your Managed Service Provider should make things easier for your business. If the provider relies on offshore resources, it’s critical to know if they are employees or subcontractors and whether they have the skills and certifications necessary to meet your business’s requirements. The focus should always be on finding the right expertise when and where you need it.

Conclusion: Picking the Right Managed Services Provider

At IDMWORKS, we are ready to meet the specific needs of your business. Our Managed Identity Services are flexible and tailored to align with your business requirements. We have certified staff for all the products we support, and we’re confident that we have a Managed Identity offering that will suit your needs. Contact IDMWORKS today to learn more about how our managed services can fortify your IAM strategy and free up your team to focus on what really matters: growing your business.

Author Paul Daley, IDMWORKS, Managed Services Practice Director