ServiceNow for IGA?
With the complexity, as well as the importance, of identity and access management (IAM) on the rise, it’s important that businesses employ the proper tools. In my previous blog, How is IAM Divided Today?, I break down the distinction between IGA, IAM and PAM. Today, I’ll be sharing just why ServiceNow is not suited for IGA and why not.
ServiceNow
ServiceNow has a mission: to “reduce the complexity in [the workforce] with modern digital workflows.” What does this mean in the context of IGA, though?
You may wonder what workforce tasks ServiceNow supports? According to their website, their solutions are delivered by the follow products:
- IT Workflows
- IT Service Management
- Change and Release Management
- Virtual Agent chatbot
- Predictive Intelligence Machine Learning
- Workforce Optimization
- Process Optimization
- IT Operations Management
- IT Business Management
- IT Asset Management
- DevOps
- Security Operations
- Security Incidence Response
- Vulnerability Response
- Governance, Risk, and Compliance
- Business Continuity Management
- Risk Management
- Operational Risk Management
- Policy and Compliance Management
- Audit Management
- Telecommunications Service Operations Management
- Operational Technology Management
- IT Service Management
- Employee Workflows
- HR Service Delivery
- Workplace Service Delivery
- Legal Service Delivery
- Procurement Service Management
- Safe Workplace Suite
- Safe Workplace Dashboard
- Contact Tracing
- Workplace Safety Management
- Vaccination Status
- Employee Travel Safety
- Employee Readiness Surveys
- Employee Health Screening
- Health and Safety Testing
- Workplace PPE Inventory Management
- Customer Workflows
- Customer Service Management
- Field Service Management
- Connected Operations
- Financial Services Operations
- Telecommunications Service Management
- Order Management for Telecommunications
- Healthcare and Life Sciences Service Management
Notice how ServiceNow does not outright claim to fill the IAM space, much less the IGA niche?
So why do ServiceNow customers, over and over, try to make ServiceNow fill the gaps of IGA instead of investing in proper tooling?
There is an adage: “if your only tool is a hammer, then every problem looks like a nail.” We all know there are proper tools for the construction trade. Would this not also apply to the ever-growing IAM space? Securing access had its complexities before the pandemic – and even more so with the acceleration of the work-from-home (WFH) adjustments.
Okta Plug-in for ServiceNow
“But Rahul,” you may say, “doesn’t Okta does have a ‘plugin’ for ServiceNow which introduces Web UI and workflows?” Of course, but what Okta makes available to configured into ServiceNow is specific to user identity management. Where ServiceNow becomes the proverbial hammer is around access request management. Unfortunately, the Okta integration does not support this capability out of the box.
Yes, ServiceNow developers could add it – but we’ve observed that when businesses or departments embark on this endeavor, they soon realize they are reinventing the same wheel that SailPoint, Saviynt, RSA, Oracle and IBM have at the ready to sell.
ivision has the expertise to customize these access management capabilities using DevOps toolchains – like Puppet or Ansible – or write custom workflows in ServiceNow. These IGA tools mentioned also include features and functions that make up IGA, such as access reviews, roles management and streamlined identity management that can totally automate any identity from creation to termination.
IGA solutions offer compelling tooling over the ServiceNow “hammer,” along with the integration capabilities to leverage ServiceNow for all the capabilities that are already in place for their customers.
The ivision team is well-equipped with the training and experience to help your business implement best practices and tools for IGA. Learn more about our security capabilities here.
