Employee Access Management is the use of identity and access management (IAM) to provide employees with secure access to organisational systems and resources. It is also known as Workforce Access Management. These employee access management systems ensure that the right people have (only) the necessary access to the tools and resources needed to complete their jobs. Access levels are usually based on job roles or management levels within the company.

Importance of Employee Access Management

Secure and effective employee access management is critical to safeguarding internal and sensitive organisational information. It helps to mitigate information security risks, protect data and ensure regulatory compliance.

With the significant increase in hybrid and remote working since the pandemic, employee access management systems can enable employees to work from anywhere while still accessing applications securely. When remote employees access systems without an appropriate access management system, it risks leaving vulnerabilities within the system for hackers to find and take advantage of. This leads to data breaches, which has severe financial consequences and causes damage to the organisation’s reputation.

The introduction of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and other regulations meant that companies needed to re-assess data access internally. When all employees have access to sensitive information, including where it is not necessary to their role, it increases the risk of (accidental or purposeful) misuse of data. Implementing employee access management systems that allow access to sensitive information on an individual basis, or based on attributes like job roles, helps to reduce this risk. This is known as the Principle of Least Privilege.

Jenny Radcliffe, aka The People Hacker, joined the Let’s Talk About Digital Identity podcast to discuss social engineering and the importance of protecting your organisation. In the episode, Educate your staff or get hacked. Stories from a Social Engineer, Jenny discusses how hackers find and exploit vulnerabilities within organisations’ systems, and how identity products can improve the barriers to this happening. However, Jenny also touches on the importance on User Experience (UX) within these systems. Proper UX will ensure that while the software improves security, it should also not be too complicated, or make tasks more difficult.

Understanding Employee Access Management Requirements

When investing in access management systems, the software must support all the requirements of the organisation. An evaluation of your access needs can help to build a clear picture of your solution requirements. Factors to consider include:

  • Access requirements: user management, remote working, single sign-on.
  • Increased security: authentication needs, including multi-factor authentication (MFA), authorisation.
  • Improved productivity: reduced friction for remote workers, self-service credentials.

These are just a few factors that may affect your solution requirements. Learn more about these system options on our Workforce Identity & Access Management page.

Identity and Access Management (IAM) systems provide a centralised platform to manage access, authenticate users, and support connection to identity standards applications. Additional authentication, such as MFA, adds an extra layer of security by requesting that employees provide additional verification factors beyond passwords. Privileged access management (PAM) tools enable organisations to monitor and control privileged accounts, minimising the risk of insider threats.

Balancing Security and Usability

A key factor when looking to implement employee access management is getting the ideal balance between security and user experience. Strict access controls help to withstand external risks and comply with regulations, but if your employee access management solution is overly complex it can hinder productivity. Finding a user friendly and seamless solution that offers timely support for issues is fundamental for finding the balance between security and usability.

IAM software that is developed to also provide services for external users – aka Customer IAM (CIAM) – ensure such features are particularly user friendly and can cater for all remote working access scenarios as well.

This is where Ubisecure can help, with our Employee Access Management solutions tailored to suit your company’s access requirements. While placing importance on robust security, we also understand the need for user friendly solutions, simplifying complex identity and access requirements for workforce, B2C and B2B interactions. Contact us to find out more about Employee Access Management.