The 2 Words That Will Revolutionize Your IAM Strategy—And It’s Not AI

Can you guess what the two most important words will be for every IAM program over the next few years? 

Go ahead… I’ll wait…

…

…

Did you say Artificial Intelligence? Identity Security? Zero Trust? 

While you might be in line to win buzzword bingo, those aren’t the two words I’m talking about. Those words are

Identity Orchestration

I know, not the words you were thinking, and now you're wondering why you should care about those two words. Don’t worry, I’m going to get there..but first, let’s set the stage of where we are today in the industry.

The Platform Wars are well underway. Every identity vendor has claimed to be the next big platform to solve all your identity problems either through strategic roadmap features or acquisitions. The problem is that it will take them a while to get there. Most companies have gone the route of acquisition, and they are now in product roadmap hell. It will be years before we truly start to see integrated platforms that deliver real-world value. Add onto that the AI craze, and you’ve got product and engineering teams trying to solve 2-ton problems with 3lb capacity.

So that means as a customer, the nirvana state you are being promised is still years away. But that doesn’t mean your problems take a break. Nope, not even close. In fact its most likely the opposite, they will increase. So, you’ll still need to solve platform-level problems without the platform available. So you’ll continue with best - of breed and spend thousands of hours and millions of dollars integrating multiple systems because you know all these companies partner together….right?

Right?

In the words of Lee Corso…not so fast my friend.

One of the unintended consequences of the move to a platform is that partners do not become competitors… kind of. Your IDP  does a little IGA. Your IGA tool does a little IDP and everything else in between. So, while they might be total enemies, they aren’t as friendly as they used to be. So where does that leave you, dear customer?  Remember when your two best friends would fight, and you were stuck trying to play peacemaker? Yeah, it’s kind of like that. 

So, how do you solve your today's platform problems?

Identity Orchestration

( I mean..you knew that’s where this was going right? )

But let’s dive into the why and the how these two precious words will help you solve riddles and hunt hobbits. 

First a quick primer: What is Identity Orchestration?

Let’s take the definition from our friends at Strata:

Said slightly differently. Identity Orchestration lets you do all the cool stuff you’ve always wanted your IAM platforms to do. Need to bring modern authentication to your legacy on-premise platform and enable MFA but don’t have the money or resources to rewrite the current authentication? - Identity Orchestration

How about unifying access policy across two different cloud providers? - Identity Orchestration. 

What about adding enforcement to all those SOD policies trapped in your IGA system? .. I don’t really have to say it, do I?

It’s really it is exactly what it sounds like. Orchestrating the features and functions of your current IAM stack into unified identity journeys. So what things are you trying to accomplish in your organization? What are those use cases that just don’t quite seem to work in your current platform,and just seem to be missing that last piece? That piece might just be…..well you get it.

Now is this the answer to all of your problems? Of course not, but it is and will continue to a part of your overall solution. Because this approach addresses one of the biggest pain points in IAM today: the lack of cohesion across systems. You don’t need to wait for your chosen vendor’s long-term roadmap or force your teams into endless, expensive integrations to make progress. Instead, Identity Orchestration lets you connect the dots, using your existing tools and investments to build a cohesive, adaptable identity infrastructure that solves today’s problems.

The value of Identity Orchestration lies in its flexibility. It allows you to adapt quickly, integrate systems that weren’t necessarily designed to work together and respond faster to your business's evolving identity needs. This is your ace in the hole in a world where agility is critical.

It also future-proofs your IAM strategy. As the industry continues to shift—whether towards AI, Zero Trust, or the next big thing—Identity Orchestration offers a layer of abstraction that gives you room to maneuver. No longer tied down by individual vendor ecosystems or roadmap timelines, you gain the freedom to innovate, experiment, and, most importantly, deliver value now.

So what next?

Well, first, download the e-book from Strata. It’s a great resource that breaks down Identity Orchestration and includes recipes for how Identity Orchestration can work in your IAM strategy.

AND THEEEEN.

As you look ahead to the next few years, consider where Identity Orchestration fits into your IAM strategy. What legacy issues are holding you back? Where do you see friction between different systems or cloud providers? Start identifying those pain points and exploring orchestration solutions that can help bridge those gaps.

The bottom line? Identity Orchestration stands out as a practical, actionable way to get ahead of the curve in a sea of buzzwords and promises. It might not be the flashiest trend, but it’s likely to be the most impactful.

So, are you ready to orchestrate your identity strategy?

( Gotta love that ending…right!?)

In Partnership with our Friends