SailPoint unveils ANZ organisations lack a comprehensive identity security framework

New Australia and New Zealand study indicates how organisations can solve the zero-trust imperative with cross-functional responsibility and robust identity governance strategies

AUSTIN, TX – March 20, 2023 – SailPoint Technologies, Inc., a leader in enterprise identity security, today unveiled the findings of a new research report analysing the State of Identity in Australia and New Zealand. According to the report, which surveyed over 560 businesses, most organisations now have the basic identity and access management technology yet continue to struggle with identity management, which could be due to the complexity in orchestrating dynamic workplaces, hybrid and remote workforces, and the rise of non-human identities.

For many organisations in Australia and New Zealand, the imperative to create a mature zero trust environment to protect their information against digital threats has become a top priority. This study reveals the maturity of thinking about identity and access management (IAM) among Australian and New Zealand organisations, and explores future directions.

Specifically, this study unveiled:

Identity moves from solution to critical organisational governance at the board and C-level. Organisations are now prioritising identity security from the top-down, with 57% of Healthcare and Social Assistance organisations reporting a C-level executive as the decision maker for identity management technology. In Educational Services, more than 45% of decision makers were C-level executives, and nearly 54% in Public Sector organisations.

Despite more organisations (33.7%) leveraging Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) delivered identity solutions, 22.3% are still using on-premise tools. The last three years have represented a significant shift to SaaS based models as businesses aim to improve scalability, agility and time-to-value related to on-prem and single platform solutions. Organisations using on-premise solutions suggest they will transition to SaaS enterprise solutions within the next two to five years to take advantage of better management and governance capabilities of modern identity solutions, realising better economic outcomes as a result.

Most organisations in the ANZ region are confident about their ability to manage human and non-human identities with 17.7% expressing they were very confident and 42.1% were confident. This is not indicative, however, of an effective governance framework being in place to mitigate risks such as privilege creep or excessive permissions. Organisations must take proactive measures to create an effective governance framework by understanding end-to-end permissions to protect their data and ensure operational stability. With the growth of non-human identities in hybrid and multi-cloud environments, organisations can no longer afford to overlook these identities and must ensure their IAM strategies evolve to offer speed, reliability and security.

Whilst nearly 78% of organisation claim Identity Management is essential or important, budget roadblocks and justifying investment remains a challenge for more than 85% of organisations in Australia (nearly 60% in New Zealand). Ironically, investment in next generation identity solutions in fact relieve bottlenecks in manual resources which ranked a close second biggest business challenge (nearly 85% in Australia and at nearly 40% in New Zealand). Modern identity solutions address more than streamlining identity management and system access by enabling safer remote working, increasing the speed of detection and response for threats, and improving employee productivity and economic benefits.

Zero trust begins with identity, recognised by the nearly 78% of organisations that rate identity management as important or essential to their zero trust strategy. However only 25% have a zero trust strategy in place. The biggest oversight for many organisations’ zero trust strategies is that they ignore the need for identity security for human and non-human identities. Nam Lam, Australia & New Zealand Country Manager at SailPoint, said: “Identity Security is business essential today and a comprehensive identity management strategy is vital to streamline identity processes and decisions such as access requests and access certifications in order to combat evolving sophisticated threats. This study has placed a spotlight on the importance of identity governance and the maturity of organisations in Australia and New Zealand as they struggle to communicate the value and benefits for solutions that resolve their greatest identity management and orchestration challenges.”

“Whilst increased understanding across business functions and board-level awareness is accelerating the creation of robust, long-term identity strategies and the adoption of innovative software that automates governance and integrates across the entire organisation, budget roadblocks and justifying costs are still the greatest challenges. More education needs to take place at the board and C-level that it is no longer a matter of simply fine-tuning security policies and procedures or reviewing perimeter security implementations. Today’s challenge is far greater as every single identity with access to organisational resources now represents a perimeter and therefore need to have only the right amount of access to the right resources at the right time to do their job.”

Please refer to SailPoint State of Identity in Australia and New Zealand for the full report.

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Research methodology

This IBRS study is based on the results of a comprehensive survey conducted with a total of 565 Australian and New Zealand professionals from a broad range of industry sectors. The study was based on both a quantitative survey (completed by 565 respondents) and interviews with 30 senior stakeholders responsible for their organisations’ identity and access programs.

From the cohort of respondents, particular care was taken to only capture information from people with a direct knowledge of identity and access issues. Several questions were asked to confirm each respondent’s understanding of identity and access technologies and applications. The study explores these professionals’ insights and expectations for the future.

About SailPoint

SailPoint is a leading provider of identity security for the modern enterprise. Enterprise security starts and ends with identities and their access, yet the ability to manage and secure identities today has moved well beyond human capacity. Using a foundation of artificial intelligence and machine learning, the SailPoint Identity Security Platform delivers the right level of access to the right identities and resources at the right time—matching the scale, velocity, and environmental needs of today’s cloud-oriented enterprise. Our intelligent, autonomous, and integrated solutions put identity security at the core of digital business operations, enabling even the most complex organizations across the globe to build a security foundation capable of defending against today’s most pressing threats.