Cloud IAM: Unlocking business value and mitigating risks

In today's digital era, identity management is under pressure.

A survey of IT decision-makers from organizations with an average workforce of 13,000 found that 52% of companies have moved most of their IT environments to the cloud, covering everything from infrastructure and applications to data analytics and beyond. 

But this statistic hides a problem in plain sight: many of these companies are still managing user and machine identities using outdated, on-premise systems.

They’ve moved the infrastructure, but not the access controls. That gap creates friction, risk, and unnecessary cost: the very things most businesses are trying to reduce.

Understanding the shift from traditional to cloud IAM

Traditional IAM systems were built for a different era: one where users worked at office desks, applications ran inside company data centers, and IT could afford to operate at a slower pace. These tools focus on usernames, passwords, and rigid directory structures. They’re manual, slow, and lack the agility needed to keep up with today’s fast-moving businesses.

In contrast, cloud IAM is built for the way companies operate today. Your workforce is mobile. Your applications live in the cloud. Your users include not just employees, but also contractors, bots, APIs, and AI tools. You need access controls that can adapt in real time, without dragging down productivity or innovation.

Cloud IAM improves security while helping the business move faster, with confidence. However, several client discussions, industry interactions, and training sessions have made it clear to us: cloud adoption doesn’t mean cloud IAM maturity.

‍Why cloud adoption doesn’t mean cloud IAM maturity

On the surface, it seems logical: if your business has moved to the cloud, surely your identity systems have too. But in practice, that’s rarely how it plays out.

Many organizations run workloads in the cloud but still rely on legacy IAM systems designed for on-premise environments. These systems are often stretched to handle the scale, speed, and complexity of the cloud — leading to risky patchwork solutions, manual processes, and lack of real-time visibility.

For example, a company may host apps in AWS or Azure, but still manage user access via on-prem Active Directory.

They might federate identities to the cloud but lack continuous monitoring or Just-in-Time access. They may struggle with orphaned service accounts, non-human identities, and token sprawl: issues unique to cloud ecosystems.

Forrester’s 2023 Global Digital Process Automation Survey noted that IAM is consistently ranked as one of the slowest-moving domains in digital transformation, largely due to complex organizational structures, fear of disruption, and cisconception that federating access is sufficient

Many businesses still overlook the growing number of non-human identities. like automated scripts, APIs, and AI agents, that quietly accumulate excessive access. If left unmanaged, these accounts become easy targets for attackers.

So while your workloads may live in the cloud, your IAM might still be stuck in the past, slowing your teams down and exposing your systems to threats you can’t always see. In other words, many companies are 'in the cloud' but still 'managing identities like it's 2012.’

True cloud IAM maturity means shifting to identity systems that are adaptive, unified, and business-aware. Where your infrastructure lives is as important as whether your security, compliance, and efficiency strategies are keeping up.

Read: Securing non-human identities: Part 1: Understanding the types of NHIs and placement

Business benefits of cloud IAM

Moving to a modern IAM system isn’t just a technology play. It directly impacts your bottom line.

When identity management is automated and intelligent, your teams spend less time resetting passwords or chasing down access approvals. Employees and contractors can be onboarded in minutes, not days. Audits that used to take weeks can be completed in hours. Compliance requirements are easier to meet. And when you scale your operations, your IAM system scales with you, without requiring a major overhaul.

But the biggest return comes from avoiding the costs of failure. A single breach caused by stolen credentials or an orphaned access token can cost millions in downtime, regulatory fines, and lost reputation. Cloud IAM helps you spot those issues before they become crises.

In short, better IAM doesn’t just keep the business safe. It makes the business work better. 

Risks of maintaining traditional IAM systems

There’s a comfort in sticking with what you know. But with traditional IAM systems, that comfort comes at a growing cost.

Outdated IAM tools are expensive to maintain, especially as your cloud footprint grows. They often require specialized skills to operate, slow down user provisioning, and make audits a headache. Worse, they lack the real-time visibility you need to catch privilege misuse or misconfigured identities, leaving the door open to costly breaches.

As your business grows and adapts to new demands, legacy IAM becomes a roadblock. It slows down new hires, delays system integrations, and limits your ability to respond to change. And in the face of evolving regulatory requirements, it becomes harder and more expensive to stay compliant.

By holding on to yesterday’s tools, you end up paying more to do less, while increasing your exposure to modern threats.

How Unosecur strengthens IAM across environments

No two companies have the same IAM journey. Some are deep in the cloud. Others are still balancing on-prem systems with newer cloud tools. Unosecur meets you where you are.

With its Unified Identity Fabric, Unosecur gives you a single view of all your identities, whether they live in Active Directory, AWS, Azure, or anywhere in between. You no longer have to jump between tools or guess where the access gaps are.

Its AI-powered insights help you stay ahead of trouble. Instead of relying on quarterly access reviews or gut instinct, you can see in real time who has access to what, how those privileges are used, and where the risks are hiding.

Need to onboard a contractor for a two-week sprint? Just-In-Time access ensures they get only the permissions they need, for only as long as needed, reducing standing privileges and the attack surface. And when compliance teams come knocking, Unosecur’s built-in audit trails make it easy to prove you’re doing access management right.

Whether you’re modernizing your IAM from the ground up or just trying to tighten the bolts, Unosecur helps you do it with confidence.

Read: IAM done right: Processes to follow and misconfigurations to avoid 

Taking the next step: A smarter approach to IAM modernization

You don’t need to replace everything overnight. The smartest companies treat IAM modernization like a journey. They start with their riskiest areas -- old service accounts, over-permissioned roles, outdated policies -- and fix those first. Then they build forward with automation, monitoring, and smarter access controls.

It’s not about chasing every new tool or trend. It’s about building an identity foundation that helps your business move faster, operate safer, and scale smarter.

So if your company has already invested in the cloud, now is the time to ask: are your identity systems helping you grow, or holding you back?

Get a free risk assessment now to see where your IAM gaps lie, before attackers do.

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