Defining and Achieving IAM Outcomes for 2025

In the first two posts, we explored maximizing IAM potential and securing organizational support for identity-first security. Now, we shift our focus to achieving meaningful outcomes. According to Gartner, organizations should prioritize outcomes over specific tools or projects. Whether your goal is to enhance user authentication, reduce access risks, or enable zero-trust architectures, clarity on desired outcomes and metrics is key to success.

This post outlines strategies to define IAM outcomes, align them with data, and implement an “Identity Fabric” approach, supported by actionable third-party insights.

Looking for IAM Outcomes

Success in IAM begins with understanding your current state and where you want to go. Ask yourself:

1. What is the current state of my IAM program?
2. What are the “must-do” or “known bad” issues I need to address?
3. What outcomes must I achieve to ensure success in 2025?

If you’re unsure, an external assessment may help establish a baseline and identify areas for improvement.

Aligning Outcomes with Data Requirements

The most critical step in achieving IAM outcomes is aligning your goals with the right data. For instance, if you aim to enhance threat detection, you’ll need granular insights into user behavior, access patterns, and anomalies. Mapping data to outcomes ensures IAM efforts focus on what truly matters.

Strategies for Achieving IAM Outcomes

1. Build a Data Inventory

Take a comprehensive look at your identity data. Catalog existing data and explore potential external sources for added value. Include stateful data (e.g., user profiles, permissions) and event data (e.g., login attempts, session durations). Rank these data sources based on importance and feasibility to uncover high-value opportunities.

A data inventory can reveal underutilized insights, such as identifying stale accounts or redundant permissions, which help streamline access reviews.

2. Break Down Data Barriers

Siloed data can obstruct IAM effectiveness. Integrating and analyzing data across the ecosystem is crucial for achieving outcomes.

Start by:

• Assessing data quality, relevance, and completeness.
• Identifying gaps that hinder progress toward your goals.
• Collaborating with development teams to implement data collection and integration pipelines.

Your mission is to break down silos, which will allow you to accelerate decision-making and ensure alignment with your organization’s desired outcomes.

3. Treat Tools as a Means to an End

Tools should enable your outcomes, not dictate them. Start by evaluating your current toolset to see if it aligns with your IAM goals.

So, start asking:

• Do existing tools meet your automation, scalability, and user experience needs?
• Do they support cloud-first or hybrid environments?

If gaps exist, prioritize functionality, interoperability, and adaptability in new tool selection. Take a look back at our first post in the series, “Maximizing IAM: A Strategic Approach for 2025,” for more about identifying unused capabilities. 

Weaving Together Successful Outcomes

Gartner believes that the journey to maximizing identity outcomes culminates in adopting an “Identity Fabric” approach. We wholeheartedly agree with this insight.

Identity Fabric is not a single tool or solution but an overarching architecture and practice. It emphasizes the integration of diverse tools, data sources, and processes into a cohesive framework. This approach recognizes that no single tool can address every identity challenge. Instead, the focus should be on weaving together a seamless ecosystem that aligns with your strategic goals. By taking this approach, organizations can ensure their identity management efforts are resilient, adaptable, and capable of delivering the desired outcomes.

Strategies for Creating an Identity Fabric

1. Centralize Metadata Management

Build a robust metadata layer that connects identity data sources across silos, enabling data discovery, lineage tracking, and contextual understanding. This can be done with open-source solutions or using vendors. 

The Open Metadata Project is an example of an open-source solution for metadata management and integration.

2. Adopt a Unified Data Model

Develop a consistent data schema or ontology to standardize how data is represented and understood across the organization for your identity program. Include the capability to expand the data model if needed, but also allow for custom attributes or tags to ensure important data elements are not dropped.

The Microsoft Common Data Model provides a shared data language for business and analytical applications to use, making it possible for data and its meaning to be shared across a variety of applications and business processes.

3. Leverage Automation and AI

Use machine learning and automation to handle tasks like data cataloging, integration, anomaly detection, and policy enforcement, reducing manual effort and improving accuracy.

McKinsey’s focus on Cybersecurity in the Age of Generative AI in 2023 was just a start for learning more about how AI technologies improve IAM processes and outcomes.

4. Ensure Scalability and Flexibility

Design your architecture to handle diverse data types (structured, unstructured) and volumes while supporting hybrid and multi-cloud environments. This may require a combination of connected tools in order to realize.

AWS’s Well-Architected Framework and its section on IAM provides guidance on building flexible and scalable IAM frameworks.

5. Prioritize Data Integration

Use APIs, ETL/ELT pipelines, and real-time data streams to integrate disparate data sources into your fabric. Focus on interoperability and reducing latency. Ensure that your team understands how pipelines work and how to use one.

The Google Cloud Data Integration guides offer best practices that you can apply more broadly for integrating data across hybrid environments.

6. Embed Data Governance

Implement policies, standards, and tools for ensuring data quality, security, compliance, and ethical use as core components of your identity fabric. This will help safeguard your data while also improving long-term hygiene. A solid governance program is increasingly important as the quantity and quality of threats increase. 

7. Enable Self-Service Access

Provide business users with intuitive tools and interfaces for discovering and querying data without relying heavily on your identity team. Empower them to answer their own questions regarding access availability, policies, and how to monitor their own employees.

Conclusion

Achieving IAM outcomes requires clear goals, aligned data strategies, and a cohesive identity fabric. By following these strategies, your organization can build a resilient IAM framework that delivers measurable results in 2025 and beyond.

This blog series has covered maximizing IAM potential, raising awareness, and achieving outcomes. Now, it’s time to apply these insights to transform your IAM program into a cornerstone of your organization’s success.