Most businesses today — especially SaaS businesses — keep their assets, and sensitive data in the Cloud. However, cyber attacks are on the rise these past few years, forcing CTOs to adopt a Centralized User Management approach. Indeed, centralizing user management can help them optimize security; while also allowing their team the agility they need to execute their tasks.
What is Centralized User Management?
Centralized User Management is a framework that allows CTOs to control and manage users’ access and activity within the application or service ecosystem. As such, it’s also an integral part of the Centralized Identity and Access Management (IAM) system.
Although User Management is not new, it has only recently gained ground in the vast – and complicated – world of cloud-based applications and services. And, it makes sense, because a Centralized User Management system helps you, as a CTO, to manage users from a single interface. From there, you can have visibility into all users and their information, and promptly make changes, whenever necessary.
But, let’s explain, in more detail, why you need such a system, today; and, what are the benefits you can gain from using one.
Why do you need Centralized User Management?
Truth be told, when it comes to SaaS-based application security, you and your team have to go through a pressing toil of multitasking, to keep everything — and everyone — in check. This encompasses juggling with numerous users, all at once, trying to verify their accounts and identities. As if this wasn’t enough, you also need to verify all the resources and services each user should have access to. The result? You’re getting caught up in a web of ever-increasing users, identities, and service requests.
But, not with a Centralized User Management system in place. Utilizing the capabilities of such a system, you can provide access to the right users. At the same time, you can automatically give them access to the resources and services they’re allowed to use, correspondingly; that is, based on their roles and, thus, tasks.
But why don’t we touch on some of the most important benefits of the framework, to get a better idea?
Benefits of Centralized User Management
Now that we know what Centralized User Management is — and why you need to adopt this framework — it’s easier to understand its benefits.
1. Offers visibility, and control
Centralized User Management offers visibility and control over all users, applications, and resources across the company. In this regard, it helps ensure that the company’s assets and sensitive data stay within the company. With the help of such a framework you, as the CTO, will not only be able to monitor user accounts easily; but, also, thwart any suspicious activity, promptly.
2. Prevents data breaches
A Centralized User Management system helps you prevent Cyber attacks and data breaches, by improving the security of your cloud assets, through efficient management of user requests. To elaborate, when the system receives certain risk signals, it asks users to provide further proof of authentication. If a potentially ‘suspected’ user doesn’t, then, the system recognizes these incidents as attempted data breach and denies access.
3. Reduces costs
With a Centralized User Management system, you have a single, coherent interface, where you can manage user activity and potential security issues, on the spot. This, alone, can make a huge difference towards eliminating any additional costs that derive from these two factors. Moreover, you plan your budget much more easily than before, by identifying areas of potential costs; and, at the same time, discovering areas for further savings.
4. Boosts team productivity
We’ve established, so far, that Centralized User Management helps safeguard the company’s applications and resources. But, we haven’t mentioned, yet, another — equally important — benefit it has to offer you, as a CTO: Helping boost team productivity.
By allowing your team members to share the same tools and technology, and work under the same specs — with the same compliance policies — it streamlines collaboration among employees. Employees who can collaborate better are productive employees.
5. Improves user-experience
Through Centralized User Management, you can manage resources and user access based on need; thereby, keeping cloud applications more secure and robust. As a result, the end-users enjoy frictionless navigation throughout the application; which, at the end of the day, enhances user-experience.
An invaluable tool, for keeping cyber attacks at bay
With the increase of online businesses and SaaS-based applications, most companies’ sensitive data, today, is cloud-based. Although this has many benefits, it’s not without challenges, either. And, the main challenge, of course, has to do with the increase of online data breaches.
In order to control user access and keep confidential information strictly within the company’s ecosystem, CTOs are turning to Centralized User Management. Even though this unified approach to user management sounds like a simple process — like recording user details and access — in reality, it helps CTOs do much more than that. It allows for effective control over all users who have access into the company’s resources; and, which resources they’re authorized to use, based on their roles.
Centralized User Management is an invaluable tool, when it comes to addressing security issues and keeping cyber attacks at bay.