In today's fast-paced digital environment, organizations face a growing need to protect sensitive systems and data while maintaining operational efficiency and driving productivity.
One Identity Safeguard, a comprehensive Privileged Access Management (PAM) solution, not only addresses security concerns, but also offers significant business advantages that go beyond basic compliance and risk mitigation. By automating repetitive tasks, streamlining workflows and providing actionable insights, Safeguard enhances operational efficiency, boosts productivity and empowers better decision-making.
In this article, we will explore how One Identity Safeguard helps businesses achieve these goals.
1. Improved operational efficiency
Operational efficiency is crucial to the success of any organization, and One Identity Safeguard is designed to streamline and automate key aspects of managing privileged access. Traditionally, managing privileged accounts, passwords and access requests has been a time-consuming process requiring significant manual effort. Safeguard eliminates much of the administrative burden by automating these tasks.
Automating repetitive tasks
With Safeguard, businesses can automate many of the routine tasks associated with PAM. These include password rotations, key management and access request approvals. By removing the manual intervention for these processes, organizations can reduce human error and the potential for security lapses. Moreover, automated workflows ensure that administrative tasks are completed consistently and without delay, leading to a smoother operation overall.
Reducing IT burden
In the absence of a PAM solution, security best practices dictate that privileged users maintain separate admin accounts for each system to maintain security and accountability. Safeguard addresses this by consolidating privileged users, assets and accounts into a unified access management system which allows users to share a single admin account of a small number of admin accounts while maintaining the requisite levels of security and accountability. This simplification reduces the need for IT staff to create, monitor and maintain multiple admin accounts across various systems. By freeing up IT teams from these tedious tasks, Safeguard allows them to focus on higher-value projects that can drive business growth, such as system upgrades, innovation initiatives and strategic planning.
Enhanced scalability
As organizations grow and scale organically and through acquisition, managing privileged access across a larger number of systems and users can become increasingly complex. Safeguard provides a scalable solution that can easily adapt to the changing needs of the business. Whether it's adding new systems, users or teams, Safeguard allows businesses to manage privileged access without significantly increasing the administrative workload.
2. Enhanced productivity
In addition to improving operational efficiency, One Identity Safeguard plays a pivotal role in boosting employee productivity. By streamlining access and automating workflows, businesses can reduce the time spent on routine tasks and enable employees to focus on more valuable activities.
Faster access to systems
With Safeguard, the process of requesting and approving access to critical systems is automated. Employees no longer need to wait for approval or manually request access; instead, the system automatically processes requests and grants access based on predefined policies. And for access requests where an approval workflow is preferred or required, Safeguard makes the approval process simple through integrations with Microsoft Teams and Slack. This significantly reduces the time spent on access management, allowing employees to get the tools and resources they need more quickly. Whether it's a third-party contractor working remotely or an IT admin needing immediate access to a server, Safeguard accelerates the access process, leading to faster decision-making and task execution.
Reduced friction in user experience
User experience plays a crucial role in productivity. Safeguard simplifies the login process by reducing the number of credentials users need to manage on a day-to-day basis. With credential injection, Safeguard securely manages passwords and even multi-factor authentication (MFA) tokens, allowing users to log in with a single click rather than manually entering credentials for each session. This frictionless experience minimizes downtime and ensures that employees can focus on their tasks instead of struggling with access issues.
3. Better decision-making
Effective decision-making is critical for business success, and One Identity Safeguard provides organizations with the tools to make better, data-driven decisions. By offering real-time insights and comprehensive reporting capabilities, Safeguard enables organizations to evaluate their security posture and make informed strategic choices.
Real-time analytics
One of the standout features of Safeguard is its ability to generate real-time analytics on privileged access usage. With detailed reports and dashboards, businesses can gain immediate insights into who has access to what, when resources are accessed and how that access is being used. These analytics help identify potential vulnerabilities or areas where access policies may need to be adjusted.
For example, if an employee is accessing sensitive systems outside of their typical work hours or using elevated privileges inappropriately, these anomalies can be quickly detected. By having access to this real-time data, organizations can make proactive decisions to mitigate risks and ensure that sensitive information is protected.
Informed strategic decisions
The insights provided by Safeguard go beyond security and compliance: they also inform broader business decisions. By understanding how privileged access is being used across the organization, decision-makers can make more strategic choices regarding resource allocation, technology investments and even staffing.
For example, if certain systems are accessed infrequently, it may indicate that they are underutilized, allowing leaders to make decisions about resource optimization. Conversely, if a particular system is being accessed more frequently than expected, it may signal the need for increased resources or additional security measures.
Compliance and regulatory adherence
Maintaining compliance with industry regulations is a key concern for businesses, especially in sectors such as finance, healthcare and government. Safeguard makes it easier to comply with these regulations by providing detailed audit trails and automated reporting. It logs all privileged access activity, making it simple to generate reports for audits. This reduces the time and effort needed to prepare for audits while also ensuring that businesses remain in compliance with industry standards and avoid the risks associated with non-compliance.
4. Cost savings and risk reduction
While improving efficiency, productivity and decision-making are significant benefits, One Identity Safeguard also helps businesses save money and reduce risks. By automating PAM, businesses can avoid the costs associated with manual processes and reduce the likelihood of security breaches, which can be costly both financially and reputationally.
Cost of data breaches
Data breaches can have far-reaching financial implications, including legal fees, fines and loss of customer trust. By managing privileged access more effectively, Safeguard reduces the likelihood of data breaches caused by mismanagement of privileged credentials. Preventing these breaches can save businesses substantial amounts in potential fines and legal costs, not to mention the reputational damage that can occur because of a breach.
Long-term investment
While implementing a PAM solution like Safeguard requires an initial investment, the long-term savings are significant. By automating manual processes, reducing security risks and improving operational efficiency, businesses can realize a substantial return on investment. The resources saved by automating access management can be reallocated to more strategic business initiatives, driving further growth.
Conclusion
One Identity Safeguard is more than just a tool for securing privileged access—it is a powerful business solution that enhances operational efficiency, boosts productivity and empowers better decision-making. By automating routine tasks, streamlining access and providing real-time analytics, Safeguard enables organizations to optimize their operations while reducing costs and risks. In an increasingly complex digital landscape, implementing a PAM solution like Safeguard is not just about security—it's about enabling business growth and ensuring a smooth, efficient and productive future.
