How the seven functions of IAM power identity-first security

Today’s corporate security architecture is built on the cornerstone of identity and access management (IAM). And seven underlying functions, all beginning with the letter “A”, respectively, form the foundations of IAM: authentication, access control, authorization, administration and governance, attributes, audit and reporting, and lastly, availability. 

Appropriately, these are dubbed the 7 A’s of identity and access management; each plays an important role.

With the traditional firewall perimeter no longer as effective on its own, it’s up to IAM to ensure that only trusted users (human and machine) can access the right level of an organization’s complex array of cloud services, applications, and data at the right time and for the right reasons. The 7 A’s are what make all this possible.  

Let’s examine each of the 7 A’s of IAM in more detail and explain how they collectively power identity-first security, improve efficiency, increase resilience, and empower innovation—particularly in multi-cloud environments. 

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What are the 7 A’s of IAM? 

The 7 A’s of IAM are authentication, access control, authorization, administration and governance, attributes, audit and reporting, and availability. Each “A” is interconnected with the others, and the order in which they are performed is important for getting IAM right. 

The concept ties in with the themes of Gartner’s IAM initiatives for 2024, emphasizing the basic functionalities of IAM — like authentication and access management — and more advanced capabilities, such as an identity fabric and IAM resilience, in the face of increasing cyber threats.

As per GartnerⓇ research, “Identity has become the ultimate control surface, combining context, continuousness, and consistency to provide a complete understanding of the identity of the user and the device. This approach enables secure and reliable access by establishing explicit trust in a zero trust world.”  

With the rise of multi-cloud environments, the challenge of managing identities across multiple platforms has escalated. Each cloud service introduces its own set of security protocols, making it increasingly difficult to maintain consistent identity security across all platforms. 

According to Gartner, “Organizations need to evolve their IAM from a set of distinct tools and processes that manage users and entitlements toward a highly flexible, integrated identity fabric that is secure, interoperable, and distributed.”

In this context, the 7 As of IAM provides a comprehensive framework for organizations to build robust and resilient IAM strategies. 

Breaking down the 7 A’s of IAM

The “A”s of identity and access management is not a new concept. There were the original fab four in the beginning, but as IAM has evolved, additional functions deserve to be added. So the list of A’s keeps growing. 

By focusing on authentication, access control, authorization, administration and governance, attributes, audit and reporting, and availability, businesses can ensure that their IAM systems enhance security and stay flexible and scalable while meeting the demands of today’s hybrid and multi-cloud environments. 

Each of these elements works individually and collectively to create the IAM structure. 

Authentication: Are you who you say you are? 

Authentication is about ensuring individuals and systems are who they claim to be before granting them access to resources. It’s the first layer of defense against unauthorized access and plays a critical role in protecting sensitive information. 

A very simple example of authentication is entering a username and password to log into your email account; the system then checks if the credentials match its records before granting access.

Today, traditional authentication methods like passwords are increasingly being supplemented or replaced by more secure alternatives like multi-factor authentication (MFA) or passwordless authentication, passkeys, and biometric verification. These methods require users to provide multiple forms of identification to reduce the likelihood of impersonation or unauthorized access.

As digital environments become more complex, the need for adaptive and context-aware authentication methods has skyrocketed. These advanced systems analyze factors such as the user’s location, behavior, and device to assess the legitimacy of an access request in real-time. 

This dynamic approach enhances security while improving the user experience by minimizing unnecessary disruptions. With the rise of cloud computing and remote work, ensuring that authentication mechanisms are both robust and flexible has never been more important.

Access control: Who can get in the front door?

Access control determines who can access certain resources within an organization. By implementing access controls, organizations can limit exposure to sensitive data and systems, reducing the risk of data breaches. 

A simple example of access control is using a keycard to enter a secure office area; the system only allows entry to individuals whose keycards have the appropriate permissions to access that specific location.

Role-based access control (RBAC) is one of the most commonly used methods. It assigns permissions based on a user’s role within the organization. This method ensures that users have access only to the information and tools necessary for their specific job functions, which supports the principle of least privilege.

In modern IAM systems, access control must extend across a diverse and often distributed IT environment, including on-premises systems, cloud platforms, and mobile devices. The complexities of modern environments require solutions that can manage access across various IDPs and applications, ensuring consistent enforcement of access policies. 

As regulatory requirements like Europe’s GDPR, health care’s HIPAA, and the credit card industry’s PCI DSS evolve, organizations must continuously review and update their access control mechanisms to maintain compliance. This step is dynamic and ongoing rather than a one-time setup.

Authorization: What can users do once they are in? 

Authorization specifies what actions an authenticated user is permitted to perform. Authorization relies on predefined policies and roles, ensuring that users can only perform tasks they are authorized for based on their role or the attributes they possess. 

A simple example of authorization is when a user logs into a cloud storage system and can view a document but cannot edit or delete it because their role only grants them “read-only” permissions. Their manager, on the other hand, may have full access to that document.

Authorization policies are typically based on roles, attributes, or specific conditions, providing granular control over what users can do within a system. Authorization helps prevent unauthorized activities, such as an unauthorized user modifying data, which could lead to security breaches or data corruption.

As IT environments only grow in complexity, authorization mechanisms must be capable of handling diverse and evolving access requirements. This includes managing permissions across multiple platforms, applications, and IDPs. In orchestrated IAM environments, authorization policies are applied consistently across the entire identity fabric, aligning users’ permissions with their roles and responsibilities, regardless of where or how they access the system. 

Continuous monitoring of authorization activities allows organizations to detect and respond to potential security issues in real time, boosting their overall security posture.

Administration and governance: What are the rules? 

Administration and governance (also referred to as simply Governance) involves managing and controlling the lifecycle of digital identities and access policies. This includes creating, updating, and deactivating user accounts, as well as defining and enforcing the rules that govern access to resources. 

A simple example of administration and governance is when an IT administrator creates a new employee’s account in the company’s Active Directory or Entra ID, assigns them appropriate access rights based on their role, but deactivates the account when the employee leaves the company.

Effective governance ensures that access rights are assigned appropriately and are regularly reviewed to prevent “privilege creep,” a fancy way of describing when users accumulate excessive access rights over time. 

Governance can also cover compliance with regulatory standards, which require organizations to maintain strict control over who has access to what resources.

The complexity of modern IT environments, with their mix of on-premises, cloud, and hybrid systems, makes governance a challenging task. Tools that provide centralized management and automation are essential for maintaining control over identities and access rights across these diverse environments. 

Automation can help streamline processes like user provisioning and de-provisioning, reducing the risk of human error and improving efficiency. Governance tools often include auditing and reporting features that allow organizations to track access activities and demonstrate compliance with regulations, further enhancing the security and reliability of IAM systems.

Modern IAM solutions also extend governance across multiple IDPs, enabling seamless management even in complex multi-cloud or hybrid environments. 

Attributes: How do a user’s details personalize the UX?

Attributes are specific pieces of information associated with a user or resource, such as a name, role, or security clearance. 

These attributes are crucial for: 

• Making informed access and authorization decisions
• Enforcing access policies 
• Ensuring that users have the appropriate level of access based on their roles and responsibilities

For example, a user’s role within an organization may determine their access to specific files, applications, or systems.

Managing attributes across multiple identity providers and platforms can be daunting in a distributed and orchestrated IAM environment. 

However, with newer tools such as identity orchestration, organizations can rest assured that attributes are consistently and accurately applied across all systems, regardless of where the data resides. This consistency helps maintain access decisions’ integrity and ensures that policies are enforced uniformly across the organization. 

As attributes change over time (e.g., when an employee changes roles), IAM systems must also be able to dynamically update and apply these changes to maintain accurate access controls.

In an orchestrated IAM setup, attributes are pulled from various trusted sources and used consistently across all identity and access management stages. 

Audit and reporting: Are we accountable and in compliance? 

Audit and reporting functions are critical for maintaining transparency and accountability within IAM systems. Auditing involves the systematic review of access and authorization activities to ensure compliance with policies and regulations. 

Auditing helps organizations identify and address potential security issues, such as unauthorized access attempts or privilege misuse. Regular audits are essential for maintaining the integrity of IAM systems and for providing proof of compliance with industry standards and regulatory requirements.

Working hand in hand with the audit, comprehensive reporting capabilities are necessary to provide a clear and detailed view of IAM activities. These reports can be used to demonstrate compliance, support incident investigations, and inform security decisions. 

In a modern IAM environment, where identity activities span multiple platforms and identity providers, centralized logging and reporting become even more important. Audit and reporting tools allow organizations to consolidate data from various sources, often providing a unified single-pane-of-glass view of identity activities across the entire enterprise. 

This level of visibility is essential for detecting anomalies, responding to security incidents, and maintaining continuous compliance with regulatory requirements.

Availability: Can we access what we need to access 100% of the time? 

Availability is the final “A” and refers to the ability of identity and access management services to remain continuously operational and accessible, even during disruption. Availability is especially important in today’s always-on business environments, where downtime can lead to significant financial, operational, and reputational damage. 

Solutions like Identity Continuity are crucial in ensuring that IAM services remain available even during IDP outages by seamlessly switching to backup providers, maintaining continuous access to critical applications and data without interruption.

It’s important to note that identity continuity doesn’t replace disaster recovery and backup solutions but instead complements them. Not unlike how a car’s seat belt provides immediate safety and protection during an unexpected event, identity continuity ensures seamless access to mission-critical applications — even when primary IDP services fail. This way, while disaster recovery mechanisms work to restore full system functionality, identity continuity maintains uninterrupted access to essential resources.

Beyond merely preventing downtime, availability also encompasses the ability to scale and adapt to changing demands. As organizations grow and their IT environments become more complex, IAM systems must be able to handle increased loads and integrate new applications and services without compromising performance. 

Growth requires a flexible and scalable infrastructure that can accommodate the business’s evolving needs. By ensuring high availability, organizations can maintain trust in their IAM systems, supporting both operational continuity and user satisfaction.

Identity Orchestration’s report card gets all A’s

Identity has become the ultimate control surface, crucial for securing access in a zero trust environment. The shift towards “identity-first security” underscores the need for continuous, adaptive trust and the importance of a resilient identity infrastructure that can operate seamlessly across multiple clouds.

The 7 A’s of IAM provide a comprehensive framework for securing digital identities and managing access in complex, multi-cloud environments. By integrating these elements into a cohesive IAM strategy, organizations can boost security, maintain compliance, and ensure the availability of critical services even in the face of serious challenges.

The key to connecting the 7 A’s is Identity Orchestration. Like a conductor, its role is to see that all pieces work in harmony — in this case, to improve security, user experience, and administrative efficiency.

Want to learn even more about Identity Orchestration and how it can help build robust IAM in your organization? Download Strata’s Identity Orchestration For Dummies!