When is it Time to Replace Your Homegrown Identity Management?

How does your enterprise know it’s time to replace its homegrown identity management with a purchased solution? 

In some parts of the business world, organizations use actual spreadsheets to manage their users’ passwords and permissions. 

This low-tech attempt to handle one of the most critical cybersecurity challenges facing enterprises today seems obviously unsecure. That’s because it is, not to mention ripe for potential abuse by insider threats. However, this represents the most extreme end of the homegrown identity management spectrum. Plenty of other enterprises spend time and IT resources to build their own solution to the challenges of authentication and access governance. 

But when might those solutions no longer prove adequate? When is it time for a replacement? To learn more, we read “Build Versus Buy: Guide to Identity Management,” a whitepaper published by Auth0 as part of its Identity White Paper Bundle. Here’s what we learned. 

When Is It Time to Replace Your Homegrown Identity Management? 

When It Just Can’t Keep Up

When building your homegrown identity management, it can be tempting and cost-efficient to try solving the problems in front of you. Users need access, make sure bad actors can’t enter and then solve as you go. The problem with this approach is there are a lot of other factors you most likely won’t consider when building your IAM from scratch. 

For example, what if you need a standards-based IAM solution? Alternatively, what if you need to meet a certain industry or government regulation that you weren’t aware of or didn’t consider? Can your platform handle other demands like multifactor authentication and Single Sign-On? 

If you face these questions, either individually or as a stream of inquiries, perhaps it’s time to rethink whether it’s time to buy. 

It’s Interfering With Your Customers

Surprisingly, this applies both to B2B and B2C organizations. For enterprises concerned with customer identity and access management (CIAM), the connection is easy to follow. Customers demand smooth user experiences with little to no interference between their shopping and their purchasing. If your homegrown solution can’t provide this, that should immediately prompt you to start looking for a replacement. The same applies if you can’t quickly sign up new customers and if you can’t directly accumulate valuable data from consumers. 

However, B2B enterprises must also think of their clients, as they need to provide platforms that can accommodate multiple forms of identity management from multiple companies as they demand their own Single Sign-On options. At the same time, you’ll need to be able to delegate customer IT requests to your IT desk, which a homegrown solution might struggle to do. 

When Your IT Department Needs a Break

Homegrown identity management puts a huge demand on your IT security team, both in its initial build and its maintenance. That’s a lot of time, energy, and money going into your homegrown solution when those resources could also be invested in other core IT duties. Take a look at your budget and speak to your security team about what they do on an average day. Perhaps buying a solution can ultimately benefit you long term. 

You can read more in “Build Versus Buy: Guide to Identity Management,” a whitepaper published by Auth0 as part of its Identity White Paper Bundle. Also, check out the Solutions Review Suggestion Engine and Buyer’s Guide.