Benefit of identity and access management solutions

Whether a password management solution, privileged access management (PAM) tool, or single sign-on (SSO) application, identity and access management (IAM) solutions are designed to help companies and their employees securely protect and share information to provide an exceptional user experience while increasing cybersecurity. 

Whether working remotely or in the office, all of us have multiple, complex passwords to remember. Using the same password for every account puts sensitive information at risk of being compromised as cybercriminals can gain access to multiple accounts with just one password. But, trying to keep track of many unique, safe passwords is inconvenient and can harm productivity. This dichotomy has led to growth in password manager solutions. 

Single sign-on solutions have also increased in popularity. It can be confusing to understand the differences between password management and single sign-on, especially since they solve similar access and security problems. However, there are key differences that should be noted and may impact how you decide to implement these solutions at your organization.

Password management to secure credentials

Password managers  provide secure, cloud-based vaults to store passwords, addresses, payment cards, and more. With a password manager, your credentials are all stored in one place behind one master password to unlock the vault. Password managers  automatically enter your login credentials so you don't have to remember your passwords for various websites and apps. When you don't have to remember each credential, it's easier to create  complex, secure passwords.

Password management  and  SSO  complement one another.

SSO  enables the  end-user  to access many applications with a single set of credentials. Protocols, such as  SAML  or  LDAP, securely store credentials and verify users. Therefore,  SSO  reduces the number of passwords, improves employee productivity through reduced logins and password resets, and bolsters organizational security. 

A password manager solution can fill the gaps left by  SSO  in terms of not addressing certain password and  data breach  issues. If an application or website is not compatible with SAML or LDAP, password management provides a method securely store the credential. Password management also provides a method to securely share a credential to an account that needs to be accesses by multiple team members. This fills potential security gaps left by unsecured credentials.