The 66th Edition of the Identity Jedi Newsletter

WHAT’S HAPPENING THIS WEEK

Year In Review

Acquisitions

Wow, What a year it was for identity. I think it’s safe to say this was the year of acquisition.

SailPoint, Radiant Logic, Okta, Cisco, and more all got into the action this year. As we settled into the thought of converged platforms and defining identity security, we saw vendors looking to align themselves with the theme of a one-stop shop. I think it’s the right thought, but time will tell if these vendors take the right approach. I don’t think “One Stack To Rule Them All” will work in this age. Instead, a modular approach to delivering value is the way to go. I think it works for both vendor and customer.

As a customer, you can access a platform offering every feature you need. Access Management, Privileged Management, Identity Governance, Cloud Infrastructure Entitlement Management, ITDR, etc. All integrated ( hopefully), giving you one platform to train your users on and one platform to grow your identity program.

As a vendor, you have multiple ways to provide value to your customers. You don’t have to sell every feature the first time; instead, you can build a long-term relationship with your customers and roll them into new areas of the platform as they are ready for it.

I’m fascinated to see how this turns out. We should see more integrated platform features next year as these companies have time to process these acquisitions.

Identity Security and ITDR

The buzzword winner of the year is a tie between these two terms. Identity security became the moniker that every company went after. It was everywhere, from blog articles to slogans, and everyone had a slightly different take on it. And this wasn’t just the traditional identity companies. Nope. The “traditional security” vendors hopped in on the trend as well.

Hot on the heels of identity security was the buzzword ITDR. Identity Threat Detection and Response. Look I feel victim to this too, but it’s the natural progression of the next phase of identity systems. ( Hence why I started a company around it ) But beyond the buzzword, I think it brings up important questions:

How do we make identity an active part of protecting organizations?

What does it mean to “secure and identity”?

How do we operationalize security efforts?

Does identity need to sit with security teams?

Which movie was better, Barbie or Oppenheimer?

Future looks bright

I think we’ll look back on this year as the time identity security truly came into its own. The combination of identity and security is an exciting one, and I can’t wait to see all the innovative solutions that come out of it. It’s just the beginning, and there’s a lot more to explore.

(Disclaimer: Oppenheimer is better).

AI

Can’t review this year and not talk about artificial intelligence. AI is making huge strides in the security industry. It’s everywhere ( aside Google Bard is actually kind of amazing). We saw a little movement from this in the identity space ( Okta announced some AI features with their CIAM platform, and ConductorOne announced their Co-pilot. features), but I expect to see much more in 2024

Speaking of which…let’s get to predictions

Predictions for 2024

AI-Powered Features in Identity Platforms
Specifically features around onboarding applications and provisioning.

More acquisitions
I don’t think we’ve seen the last of acquisitions in this space. In fact, I think we’ll see the combination of some of the smaller companies.

New Breakout Company in IGA
A new company will emerge next year to battle the incumbents. IGA is ripe for disruption and I think the first shot is fired in 2024

New Year Resolution Process

I’ve had a process for my “New Year Resolutions” for a while now. It’s something that I’ve built and added to over the past decade and this year finally decided to write it down and make it a bit more formal. I’m still not comfortable saying that I’ve been successful. Mostly because I have some lofty goals I’ve still yet to accomplish, and I’m wired to always keep pushing toward the next thing. But I have done some good things in my short time on this 3rd rock from the sun, and so I figured I’d share my process in hopes that it helps someone else. Now there is a lot of personal preference in here, but I’ll highlight the key parts of the process. Ok, here goes:

1) I start my process on December 30th. I’m a loner and a thinker so I always make sure that I’ve set aside time to be isolated. Unplug from the world, and allow myself time to really think and process. And I’m ALWAYS by the water. Preferably the ocean. Lakes are ok but it’s just not the ocean. YMMV.

🔑 Find time away so you can focus and really think about what it is you want. Away from distractions and outside noise. Find a place where you can really connect with yourself. Outdoors works for most people, but you know yourself.

2) I ask myself what do I want to do in the upcoming year. I don’t write anything down yet, I just let the ideas flow. I try my best not to judge anything that comes to mind too quickly. I also use this time to reflect on the past year. What am I happy about? Sad about? Regretful for? I use this day to process all of this. Give each thought its time and each emotion its time. I make sure to add in one of my favorite activities because this can be a pretty heavy day emotionally. This is my warmup. Getting my mind and emotions ready for planning.
 
🔑 You need to get your mind in a place to be productive. So think of this as cleansing or preparing the soil to plant new seeds. Let all of the previous year ( emotions, thoughts, etc) out and come to a close. You need to prepare to lay down new thoughts, and new plans, and you can't do that if you still have stuff you are holding on to. Depending on how you process, you may need to give yourself more time than just a couple of days. I'm not a therapist or play one on TV or Social Media.

3) New Year’s Eve. I narrow my ideas down to 3 or 4. I jot them down and then enjoy the day. I'm not a big NYE party person anymore, so I use this time to just really let the past day sink in and make sure I'm in the right mindset for the new year. I'll spend the day by the water, listening to the waves come in, and just be at peace.

🔑 Write down a short list of what you want to do, and make this day as peaceful as possible. Do your favorite activity, and hang around your favorite people. Whatever brings that warmth and fuzzy feeling to you, do that today.

4) New Year’s Day. I grab my iPad and Pencil open up a note page and write the new year. So, in this case, 2023. Then write this sentence " What do I want in 2023?" And then write what comes to mind. Whatever I've been thinking and feeling, I let that out. Then I ask myself what Big Rocks I want to move this year, and I limit it to three. These are the things I want to set my mind towards and build my year around. For each one I write I ask myself Why do I want to do this? What am I willing to sacrifice to accomplish this? How will I know I accomplished it? I'll use this to build out an action plan for each thing listed, but I won't do that today ( and if people are interested, I'll share what that plan looks like). Today I just get the list. This may take a while to come up with, but that's good, because it means I've been intentional and thoughtful about what I want to accomplish, and I know it means something to me.

🔑 Create goals/resolutions that you actually care about. Spend time to ask yourself why you want to do these things, and what success looks like for you. Limit this list; you can't do everything, and if you try to do too much, you'll get overwhelmed. BE HONEST WITH YOURSELF.

Now, I've added something new this year. I build a marketing campaign around my goals. I set a theme for the year, a keyword, and a narrative behind the theme. I created reminders/affirmations that I'll have on my phone, at the office, and around the house, and even wallpaper for my phone. I was inspired to do this based on what I learned working at Nike.

( Quick story: At Nike every project has a theme to it, they pick a sports figure, tagline, icon, everything. And when I say every project, I mean EVERY project. I thought it was silly at first, but it works. It connects everybody on the project to one thing, a just gives it a different kind of feeling.)

So I figured why not do that for myself. It also forced me to think of what's important. What's the driving message behind what I want to do this year? I've done something like this the past couple of years with vision boards, but nothing quite laid out like this.

I'll finish up this exercise with action plans for my goals. I give myself a week to come up with those, as they tend to be extensive.

So there ya have it, my process. Like I said, this is the first year I've really tied it all together, but I've used these things to help focus my year and lay out the things I want to accomplish. From buying a house to promotions, business ventures... anything I've accomplished I've done by going through this process.

Hope it helps…and if you decide to use it. Let me know, send me your goals and themes for the new year.
Happy New Year ✌🏿✌🏿