CIAM Software (Customer Identity & Access Management) in comparison

CIAM Software Definition: What is Customer Identity and Access Management Software?

The term "CIAM" is an acronym for "Customer Identity and Access Management". The long-form definition already sums up the central objective of CIAM software very aptly: It helps companies organise customer identities or corresponding customer data and access processes. This administrative support refers to typical access-restricted website areas with exclusive content, web applications etc. and online accounts, as we predominantly know them from e-commerce sites, banks, insurance companies, authorities and news portals.

At the base level, CIAM tools offer online shoppers or users of other web services the opportunity to register quickly and securely for the respective offer. Individuals can manage their data and their account independently - depending on the orientation of the business relationship.

For companies, it is particularly important that account creation and usage can be significantly simplified with the help of such a solution. This increases the chances that many people will complete the necessary registration steps and ultimately use their account more often. If quick social media registration or fingerprint login is enabled, CIAM software is usually involved.

Good CIAM software also offers tools for consent management, security features and behavioural analytics. Modern CIAM technology thus goes far beyond the management of access, identities and accounts. It is often a comprehensive, integrated system that can support data protection compliance, effective fraud fighting and the customer experience (beyond the mere registration and account management).

Very interesting is the fact that specific CIAM tools can capture data on the behaviour of individual customers. Advanced solutions can support companies in generating personalised digital experiences using this information and the use of artificial intelligence (AI), analytics and CRM features.

The main goal when using CIAM software is to significantly increase the likelihood of registrations and the intensity of subsequent account use. In addition, or as part of this, the solution should ideally contribute to a unique, maximally user-friendly and as individual as possible user or customer experience.

Why should companies use a CIAM tool?

The provision of access-restricted website areas or personal online accounts is a central business factor in many corporate contexts.

In traditional e-commerce, nothing works without customer accounts. But insurance companies, banks or news sites also usually offer closed digital spaces today. Here, customers can view, use or adapt their booked services and - especially in the case of news - have access to exclusive content. The possibilities are enormously diverse.

In order for these - as mentioned - mostly extremely important online offers to be really accepted, it is necessary to create optimal registration conditions. Especially the guarantee of smooth and fast steps in account creation is absolutely crucial for success. The easier companies make it for their - increasingly time-poor - (potential) customers, the higher the probability of successful conversions.

Furthermore, it should be borne in mind that registrations and finally created accounts are always connected with the storage or use of personal data. The recording and long-term management of such information must absolutely be under optimal protection. If there are unauthorised data processing or even data losses, this can be very expensive and also highly damaging to the reputation of the company concerned.

Appropriate conversion-strong and secure conditions can be significantly supported with the help of CIAM software.

How does CIAM software work?

CIAM software can be purchased either as a cloud service from a provider or as a self-managed, locally hosted solution.

There are also corresponding programs (or especially in the former version) as plugins for content management systems (CMS) or e-commerce systems.

The connection or integration with the respective website and its technical basis usually takes place via a pre-assembled interface or by means of individual API.

How the CIAM system then works in practice depends of course primarily on the integrated features. The following tools are typical.

• Easy self-registration: The fast, simple self-registration of customer accounts is an essential component of CIAM software. CIAM tools provide specific workflow functions to minutely optimise the necessary processes.

• Authentication methods: Another important feature of CIAM tools is user authentication. Specifically, an identity check can be carried out using these features. Many CIAM systems offer multiple authentication methods, including (but not limited to) social login, two-factor authentication (2FA), multi-factor authentication (MFA), biometric authentication and passwordless authentication.

• Single Sign-On (SSO): The Single Sign-On functionality uses the SAML or OpenID Connect standards. It offers users seamless access to different applications of a company, for which one only needs to log in once.

• Multi-channel/Omnichannel experience: Multi- or Omnichannel measures are essential for most companies today if they want to offer an outstanding customer experience. The respective target groups almost always use multiple channels for online information retrieval, purchases etc. They should then be addressed exactly where they prefer to stay on the net. If the identity and login requirements of individual customers are synchronised across all channels used, a better cross-channel experience can be offered.

• Data protection and consent management: The management of customer consent and data protection preferences is crucial for compliance with applicable data protection laws. With CIAM solutions, companies can more easily capture, organise and finally fulfil corresponding processes or must-haves.

• Integrations/APIs: In order to make optimal use of the information stored in a CIAM software, it must be connected with other specific programs. This especially concerns CRM platforms, marketing automation solutions and analytics tools. Many CIAM providers achieve this through (pre-assembled) API integrations.

• Reporting: Reporting features are important for understanding registration information, security insights and general customer data. Corresponding facts can be used for further analyses, which finally provide insights for an increasingly optimised user and customer experience.

• Scalability: Most solutions today can manage identities in the tens of millions. A CIAM software should be sufficiently scalable in times of high usage or strong growth. Ideally, it grows automatically with the expanded requirements.

• Authentication standards: Authentication standards or requirements vary from company to company. CIAM solutions can support many such technical requirements, including OpenID, SAML, OAuth, WebAuthn/FIDO2 etc.

• Security: CIAM providers should ensure the encryption of data both in storage state and during transmission. Furthermore, differentiated control should be enabled over who has access to customer data and who does not. Many CIAM solutions have corresponding certifications, such as ISO 27001, SOC 2, HIPAA etc.

What are the Advantages and Disadvantages of CIAM Tools?

Some clear advantages of CIAM tools have already been highlighted. The following are the central benefits clearly summarised.

• Improved customer experience: A positive customer experience is crucial for companies to win the trust of their target audience, strengthen brand loyalty and motivate customers to repurchase. Comfortable, secure registration and login processes can make a significant contribution to boosting the customer or user experience. On the one hand, the corresponding smooth processes have a positive effect per se. On the other hand, they provide data and insights which can be used to work towards an optimised experience at other points. With CIAM software, those responsible are able to support such advantageous conditions precisely and with relatively little effort.

• Personalisation: Companies can reduce the website bounce rate and purchase dropouts by offering their customers an excellent online experience. This also includes providing the right people with the right information or offers at the right time. CIAM software can effectively support corresponding personalisation processes. This software allows the isolated customer identity data from all systems used to be combined in one central location and enriched with external information. This way, those responsible get to know their customers well, which can ultimately result in highly personalised marketing and sales measures.

• Security: Companies use CIAM software to support their security policies. It allows them to verify that users are really who they claim to be. It also protects customer data throughout its entire life cycle. When users log in to an account, it is important to authenticate their identity. CIAM software usually offers multiple forms of authentication - from simple SMS authentication for low-risk contact data adjustments to biometric authentication for high-risk contract conclusions. Some CIAM providers provide the opportunity to switch to adaptive or risk-based multi-factor authentication. Here, the risk is determined on the basis of a number of factors - particularly the IP address, location and device behaviour. The enormous increase in security is undoubtedly one of the biggest advantages of CIAM systems.

• Data protection: In addition to security, compliance with data protection laws is a top priority for many companies. Everything often starts with the user's consent to data collection. With CIAM software, companies can give their (potential) customers the option of managing their consent, the data protection rules for their account and other preferences online. These specifications can then be implemented and recorded for auditing purposes in all a company's applications and systems.

Are there disadvantages with these weighty advantages? Well - the use of CIAM software should not be disadvantageous in any case. As long as it precisely serves the requirements of the respective company. Here problems often arise when those responsible confuse the application areas of CIAM software and IAM tools.

• CIAM vs. IAM (Identity and Access Management): CIAM is often equated with IAM - but the two types of solutions are aimed at different application areas. IAM software is used to manage employee identities, while CIAM is used to organise customer identities. Furthermore, IAM-related identities are organised by a company's IT staff, while CIAM-related identities are to be created and managed by end users themselves. Those interested should definitely distinguish clearly between these two types of software in their research.

Finding the best CIAM software: How do you choose the right solution?

The CIAM market is already very large - and more and more providers are vying for the favour of companies for whom optimised registration or login processes are particularly important. To navigate purposefully under these conditions towards the perfect CIAM solution, interested parties should include the following points in their considerations.

What authentication methods are needed? Modern CIAM software offers a flexible and scalable way to customise every business case with best practice registration and login processes. As part of this, a wide range of authentication methods are normally supported.

These include traditional usernames and passwords, social sign-ons, single sign-ons (SSO) and two-factor as well as multi-factor authentications.

With these features, companies can create smooth and secure "entrance doors" for customers across different channels and devices.

Features for data management offer great advantages Modern CIAM solutions support businesses in managing customer data on a centralised, secure and compliant platform.

Such a profile management database simplifies the capturing, aggregating, querying and segmenting large amounts of structured and unstructured data. These come from registration processes and various other sources.

By evaluating the corresponding information, various insights can be gained. These can be used to further optimise registration and login conditions. However, they can also be used to accurately align other factors that can improve the user or customer experience.

Security is a key factor when purchasing a CIAM system Attacks and other breaches of the registration or login procedure in online shops, online banking applications and co. occur on a daily basis. As more and more businesses recognise the relevance of access-restricted areas for their businesses, the risk of corresponding hacks will also continually rise.

A good CIAM software can be used to effectively counteract this. From high-tech encryption to password hacking detection to simple, but effective, captcha entries, registration and login are made as secure as possible.

Compatibility with all relevant systems Today almost all business-relevant software is available in the cloud. Such provisioning has many advantages. Nevertheless, many companies still rely on legacy systems that are installed on-premise. Problems can quickly arise when trying to integrate such on-premise solutions with a CIAM software.

In light of this, but also generally speaking, interested parties should ensure that the CIAM options they are considering are compatible with the established software architecture. It is important to look for a flexible CIAM solution that can be easily integrated with cloud and on-premise applications and can be adapted to meet individual requirements.

Scalability is important for a long-term practical use.

Of course, when choosing CIAM software, those responsible should primarily ensure that it perfectly meets their current needs. In the process, however, they should also look at whether the provider or providers being focused on can also solve the likely further challenges.

If a new system needs to be purchased and implemented already in two or five years' time, this is highly inefficient. This again involves high effort for procurement, installation, introduction and establishment.

Therefore, it makes perfect sense to choose CIAM software straight away that grows with the organisation and reliably helps to offer customers a great experience in the future as well.

What does CIAM software cost?

The answer to the question of cost is of course not to be generalised. How much a CIAM software costs depends primarily on the delivery model, the number of users and the functions offered.

Companies will have to budget no more than ten to 20 euros a month for a cloud solution that brings just basic features for registration or login optimisation and basic data management options. On the other hand, a comprehensive on-premise suite with AI analytics and many interfaces can quickly demand several hundred euros a month.

Fortunately, many providers offer several tariffs for different requirements or even completely modular models. Furthermore, there are completely free programs with limited functions or restricted free trial versions. CIAM open-source systems can even bring quite a lot of features and still be free. Those who resort to such an open-source CIAM must then, however, also independently take care of its maintenance.