Identity as a Service
Identity as a Service, or IDaaS, is the delivery of identity and access capabilities as a cloud service operated by a provider.
- Acronym
- IDaaS
- Synonym
- cloud IAMidentity as a service
Definition
Identity as a Service, or IDaaS, describes identity and access capabilities delivered through a cloud or SaaS model: authentication, single sign-on, federation, multi-factor authentication, sometimes provisioning, governance, or privileged access, depending on the scope of the offering. IDaaS is not simply IAM hosted in the cloud: it changes who is responsible for operations, upgrades, and availability, how the service integrates with on-premises systems, where identity data resides, how dependent the organisation is on the provider, and what reversibility looks like. Regulatory constraints and hybrid environments often lead organisations to combine IDaaS for some capabilities with self-operated components for others.
Why it matters
Choosing IDaaS or self-operated components determines who runs the identity service and how reversible that choice remains.
The Ariovis perspective
SaaS and on-premises are not ideologies. The right model depends on context, constraints, available skills, the application ecosystem, operating capacity, and requirements around sovereignty or reversibility. In every case, the cloud does not remove the organisation's own responsibility for its identities and its accesses.
Related services
Common pitfalls
- Assuming that a cloud identity service transfers accountability for identities and access to the provider leaves governance gaps.
Resources
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