A survey conducted by Ubisecure found out that Customer Identity and Access Management has a major role in reducing cost, increasing customer experience and helping companies comply with GDPR

A survey concentrating on several key aspects of online privacy conducted by Ubisecure in August 2017 found strong evidence of the positive impacts a centralised Customer Identity and Access Management (Customer IAM, CIAM) can have on digital services. The respondents represented developers, digital identity experts, technical architects, business decision makers and C-level people from various verticals with different market sizes from the government to leading international enterprises and system integrators.

The survey concentrated on three key issues; strong customer authentication, the impact of deploying a CIAM solution, and GDPR. The responding companies had either deployed a CIAM solution, or were about to deploy one. The respondents were familiar with the aspects of CIAM.

Respondents were unified in their opinion;

  • 98% completely or somewhat agreeing, that the importance of strong customer authentication will continue to grow.

The survey also showed that CIAM solutions have a clear impact on the cost efficiency of online services and customer experience;

  • 82% stating that a CIAM solution enabled cost savings in customer service through self-service workflows.
  • 85% agreed that CIAM solutions can improve customer experience using technologies such as Single Sign-On, federation, bring your own identity etc. provided by the CIAM solution.

The companies participating in the survey had both consumer and business online services ranging from government to financial services to large retail operations. A number of system integrators and their privacy and security consulting business units participated in the survey as well. The enterprise respondents included both as-a-Service and on-premise deployment companies with their own customer portals. The respondents were familiar with the requirements of the upcoming General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and how it impacts their digital services and processes.

“We see an increasing number of clients implementing CIAM to reap the benefits of both cost savings and to help them comply to new regulation requirements such as GDPR,” said Kira Ahveninen-Kuha, Lead Data Protection lawyer from Ubisecure partner Nixu Cybersecurity. “While there are also other approaches to compliance than CIAM, many organisations are looking to build something that in the first hand serves the business and provides compliance value on top of that“

  • 55% out of the respondents felt that the GDPR will boost customers’ trust towards online services and a large portion (42%) felt neutral about the question. This indicates that the respondents are waiting to see what happens after the GDPR comes in to effect.

Because the respondents were well on their way towards GDPR compliance or had started the process, they were very familiar what the role of a CIAM solution can have.

  • 50% stated that it is impossible to be GDPR compliant without a centralised identity and access management solution.

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