Identity and Access Management (IAM) is the foundation of modern security architecture — governing who can access what, under what conditions, and ensuring that access is granted based on verified identity, least-privilege principles, and continuous authentication rather than network location.
Identity is the new perimeter. With workforces distributed and applications cloud-hosted, IAM quality determines whether your security program is fundamentally sound or fundamentally compromised. RLM advises on IAM platform selection and the identity architecture that supports zero-trust principles.
A structured advisory process — from security posture assessment and market evaluation to vendor selection, contract negotiation, and post-deployment validation — tailored to your risk profile and compliance obligations.
We assess your current identity infrastructure — directory services, federation configurations, SSO coverage, role assignment quality, and the orphaned accounts and excessive privileges that represent your highest-risk identity posture gaps.
We evaluate IAM platforms — Okta, Microsoft Entra ID, Ping Identity, ForgeRock, and SailPoint for IGA — against your application portfolio, authentication requirements, and the lifecycle management capabilities your identity program requires.
We design the access governance model — role definitions, access certification workflows, provisioning/deprovisioning automation, and the separation-of-duties controls — that keeps access current and auditable.
Modern IAM must support zero-trust authentication — continuous verification, device posture integration, and risk-based conditional access. We design the identity architecture that enables zero-trust policy enforcement.
These are the dimensions that consistently separate effective security programs from expensive ones — and the questions RLM will help you answer before any vendor commitment.
IAM value depends on covering all applications. Evaluate SSO coverage — the percentage of your application portfolio enrolled in SSO — and the remediation path for applications that resist standard federation.
Manual provisioning and deprovisioning creates security risk. Evaluate HR system integration depth and the automated lifecycle management that ensures access follows the employee lifecycle — including timely deprovisioning at termination.
Administrative accounts require stronger controls than standard user access. Evaluate whether the IAM platform integrates with PAM or provides native privileged access controls for administrative identities.
Password-only authentication is insufficient for most enterprise applications. Evaluate the MFA methods supported — FIDO2 hardware keys, authenticator apps, biometrics — and the policy enforcement mechanism for sensitive applications.
Identity systems are primary audit targets. Evaluate the reporting capability for access reviews, provisioning history, and authentication events required for SOC 2, ISO 27001, and regulatory compliance.
Access management (authentication, SSO) and identity governance (access review, access certification, role mining) are distinct capabilities. Evaluate whether a single platform or separate IAM and IGA tools better serves your governance requirements.
"RLM helped us build a security program that satisfied our board and our auditors — without locking us into a single vendor's roadmap. Their independence is the whole point."
"We had three overlapping security tools doing the same job. RLM helped us rationalize the stack, cut spend by 30%, and actually improve our detection coverage in the process."
Start with a no-cost conversation with an RLM security advisor — vendor neutral, no agenda, just clarity on where your gaps are and the right path to close them.
Speak to a Security Advisor