OneIAM – A Flexible Solution for Modern Identity and Access Management

As businesses expand and evolve, their IT infrastructures often become increasingly fragmented. This fragmentation typically arises from mergers, acquisitions, onboarding new subsidiaries, or the use of various identity systems across departments, with the majority of them being Cloud/SaaS solutions.

Managing multiple Identity and Access Management (IAM) systems can lead to inefficiencies, increased security risks, and a cumbersome user experience. RCDevs offers a solution to this complexity with OneIAM, a federated approach to IAM integration that simplifies identity management across disparate systems.

Cost and Time Savings with OneIAM

One of the major advantages of OneIAM is its ability to save both time and money by eliminating the need for full-scale migrations to a single IAM system. Migrating identity systems can be incredibly costly and time-consuming. The cost of a full IAM migration can range from $500,000 to several million dollars, depending on the complexity and size of the organization. Additionally, such projects can take anywhere from 12 to 24 months to complete, often encountering delays and unexpected costs along the way. With OneIAM, organizations can avoid these lengthy and expensive migrations by federating their existing IAM systems into a single, manageable platform. This allows businesses to leverage their current investments in IAM infrastructure while gaining the benefits of centralized management and security, significantly reducing the total cost of ownership and speeding up the integration process.

OneIAM as a Backup During Cloud Outages

In addition to its ability to consolidate identity systems, OneIAM also provides a critical advantage as a backup during cloud outages. Many businesses rely heavily on cloud-based IAM systems like Okta, EntraID, and Google for authentication and access management. However, these cloud services are not immune to outages, which can disrupt operations and prevent users from accessing critical applications. With OneIAM, organizations have a built-in safeguard. By federating both cloud and on-premises IAM systems, OneIAM allows seamless authentication continuity even during cloud service interruptions. This ensures that access to essential services remains uninterrupted, minimizing downtime and productivity losses during outages.

Recent cloud outages, such as the Microsoft Azure outage in July 2024, affected services like Microsoft 365 and Outlook globally. This disruption was attributed to a DDoS attack and highlighted vulnerabilities in cloud infrastructure that businesses rely on. For companies using cloud-based IAM solutions like Azure or Okta, outages can create significant operational disruptions. With OneIAM as a federated backup system, organizations can maintain seamless access to critical services during such outages, reducing downtime and ensuring business continuity​ (Windows Central).

What is OneIAM?

OneIAM is an identity aggregation system designed to unify multiple IAM and Identity Provider (IdP) solutions into a single, cohesive platform. Instead of requiring businesses to migrate all systems to a unified IAM solution—a process that can be both time-consuming and expensive—OneIAM acts as a top-level layer that federates existing IAM systems. This approach allows organizations to retain their current identity systems, such as Active Directory, EntraID, Okta, and others, while centrally managing identities, access policies, and authentication processes through a single interface.

How OneIAM Works

At its core, OneIAM functions as a federation layer that sits on top of various IAM systems, connecting different identity solutions whether they are on-premises or cloud-based. It creates a unified meta-directory that consolidates user identities and access controls. Here’s how it works:

1. Integration of Multiple IAM Systems: OneIAM integrates with various IAM systems like Active Directory, EntraID, Google, Ping Identity, and others. This creates a single, aggregated view of identities across the organization, enabling centralized management while allowing organizations to continue using their existing IAM solutions.
2. Federation of Identity Providers: OneIAM federates multiple Identity Providers (IdPs) using standards such as SAML, OAuth, and OpenID Connect. This enables seamless integration with a wide range of applications, both on-premises and cloud-based, without the need to overhaul existing identity infrastructures.
3. Unified Management Interface: With OneIAM, all connected IAM systems are managed from a single, intuitive interface. This simplifies the enforcement of access policies, user account management, and the implementation of security protocols like multi-factor authentication (MFA) or Zero Trust.
4. Self-Sufficient for Federated Applications: Federated applications managed by OneIAM no longer rely directly on the underlying IAM systems for authentication. This eliminates the need for complex Identity Provider cascading or redundant password management, ensuring a more streamlined authentication process for users.

Key Features of OneIAM

1. Unified Identity Aggregation: OneIAM consolidates EntraID, Okta, and local Active Directories into a single identity layer. This avoids the need for a costly migration while managing 23,000 users seamlessly.
2. Cross-IAM Application Access: OneIAM enables organizations to implement cross-IAM access policies, allowing users from different identity management systems to access applications and services smoothly. This is especially useful for businesses with multiple subsidiaries or departments using different identity providers.
3. Support for Multiple Integrations: OneIAM supports a wide range of integrations for both cloud-based and on-premises applications. Systems like email, VPNs, and OpenID Connect (OIDC) can be connected through OneIAM, ensuring compatibility across your entire infrastructure.
4. Consistent Identity Management Across Systems: OneIAM helps standardize user management by allowing organizations to create top-level User Principal Name (UPN) conventions and consistent access policies. This ensures organized identity management across all systems, regardless of the IAM platform in use.
5. Simplified Authentication Process: By centrally managing identity access, OneIAM simplifies authentication while improving security. It eliminates the need for redundant password management and complex identity systems, ensuring federated applications function with strong, centralized security controls.
6. SaaS Outage Backup: OneIAM acts as a backup solution for critical applications during SaaS outages. This feature ensures continued access and helps maintain business continuity by managing identity and access controls, even when cloud services are disrupted.
7. Money and Time Savings: By integrating and centralizing IAM systems, OneIAM reduces the complexity of managing multiple identity platforms. This streamlining results in significant cost and time savings for organizations, freeing up resources for other business priorities.

Use Case: Global Tech Corp

Background: Global Tech Corp (GTC) is a multinational technology company with operations in over 20 countries. The company uses a mix of identity and access management (IAM) systems:

• EntraID for its North American operations (10,000 users).
• Okta for its European divisions (8,000 users).
• Local Active Directories for various subsidiaries in Asia and South America (5,000 users).

This patchwork of IAM systems leads to fragmented user management and inconsistent access controls.

Challenge: Migrating all IAM systems to a single platform involves significant costs and challenges, including:

• Data Migration: Moving user identities and permissions for 23,000 users.
• Integration Costs: Rebuilding and integrating applications with the new IAM system.
• Training and Change Management: Training 23,000 employees and administrators on the new system.
• Downtime Risks: Potential disruptions during the migration process.

Estimated migration costs could range from $5 million to $15 million.

How OneIAM Helps:

OneIAM simplifies identity management by consolidating EntraID, Okta, and local Active Directories into a unified identity layer. This approach removes the need for a costly migration while effectively managing 23,000 users. By integrating these systems into a single platform, OneIAM enables more straightforward management and avoids potential disruptions from migrations.

OneIAM allows users from different identity management systems to access applications and services without complex synchronization processes. This provides cross-IAM access, making it easier for the organization’s 23,000 users to access resources without additional technical challenges.

Additionally, OneIAM integrates with various cloud-based and on-premises applications, allowing it to connect with existing systems without major redevelopment. It standardizes elements like User Principal Name (UPN) conventions and access policies, helping maintain consistent identity management across different regions and teams.

Centralized authentication through OneIAM reduces password management complexity and improves security for all employees. The platform also provides backup solutions during SaaS outages, ensuring continued access to critical applications and supporting business continuity. By reducing integration and training costs, minimizing downtime, and streamlining user identity management, OneIAM helps Global Tech Corp manage operations more efficiently.

OneIAM helps Global Tech Corp avoid the high costs and risks of migrating to a single IAM system by providing a unified, manageable identity layer. This approach saves on migration costs and enhances efficiency for 23,000 users.

For organizations struggling with fragmented IAM systems, OneIAM offers a robust solution. It consolidates identity management into a unified platform while allowing businesses to maintain their existing identity systems. By simplifying user management, enforcing strong security controls, and supporting seamless integration with various applications, OneIAM provides the flexibility and control needed in today’s complex IT environments. Whether your organization uses multiple IAM solutions across different departments or has acquired new businesses with distinct systems, OneIAM makes identity management more efficient, secure, and scalable.