Question 1

What is Identity and Access Management (IAM) Software?

Accepted Answer

Companies use identity and access management (IAM) software to both enforce their security controls regarding who has access to corporate assets and to promote worker productivity with ease of access to the tools they need to do their jobs. IAM software achieves this by allowing only authorized and authenticated users, such as employees, contractors, and devices, to access corporate resources at their appropriate permission level based on predetermined policy-based controls.  
 Using IAM software, company administrators can quickly provision, deprovision, or change user identities and access rights to corporate assets at scale. Each user is granted the right level of access permissions based on their user or group membership type. This makes it easier for security teams to manage who has access to what accounts at scale, and for end users to quickly gain access to the tools they need to do their jobs instead of waiting for their individual accounts to be provisioned one by one. For example, a newly promoted departmental leader at a company may need permissions to fully access the proprietary data stored within an application. This can easily be granted to them due to their management group membership, while a junior-level employee would not need that kind of granular access, so they would only be permissioned to view non sensitive data stored within the application. IAM software also tracks user activity, enabling administrators to confirm that users are accessing corporate assets in compliance with company policies. 
 Using IAM software and utilizing policy-based controls to enforce least privilege strategies, companies can protect against unauthorized access from both external actors like hackers and non permissioned internal users (insider threats) who have insufficient access level permissions. IAM software is used as an important component of a company’s zero-trust, least-privilege security model, where all users’ identities are verified prior to granting access to corporate resources. This is different from prior security models that enforced perimeter security where once a user is inside the corporate network, they are granted free access and movement across the network, and not required to be authenticated again to use other applications. 
 What Does IAM Stand For? 
 IAM, sometimes also listed as IdAM, stands for identity and access management. IAM software is sometimes also referred to as workforce identity or employee identity management. Other acronyms related to IAM include CIAM for customer identity and access management (CIAM) software which is used for customer-related identity management. Similarly, for government-related identity products, the acronym ICAM stands for Identity, credential, and access management. Another acronym, IDaaS, stands for identity as a service.

Question 2

What are the Common Features of Identity and Access Management (IAM) Software?

Accepted Answer

The following are some core features within IAM software: 
 Authentication: IAM providers offer multi-factor authentication (MFA) methods for users to prove their identity prior to being granted access to corporate resources. MFA requires more than a single authentication factor, such as only a username and password. Authentication factors can include one-time passcodes (OTPs), software tokens, mobile-push, hardware tokens, and more. More advanced authentication methods include biometric authentication and passwordless authentication.  
 More recently, IAM providers are utilizing risk-based authentication (RBA) methods, also known as contextual authentication, intelligent MFA, or adaptive MFA, which analyzes real-time information about users, such as their IP addresses, devices, and behaviors to continually verify their identity.  
 Identity lifecycle management or user provisioning and deprovisioning: IAM software providers offer administrators the ability to manage the lifecycle of an identity—from quickly provisioning to deprovisioning, along with user changes including attributes, roles, permissions, and other entitlements. Some IAM providers also offer a universal directory. 
 Directory: IAM providers will either integrate with existing directory providers or offer a universal directory service. 
 Single sign-on (SSO): IAM software provides SSO functionality to enable end users to access their business applications all in one place and requiring them to authenticate once. 
 User activity monitoring: IAM software enables administrators to track user activity, including anomalous activity. This kind of auditing is to ensure compliance with secure access control policies. IAM solutions often provide standard reports for this.

Question 3

What are the Benefits of Identity and Access Management (IAM) Software?

Accepted Answer

Security: The main benefit of implementing identity and access manager software is for improved security. IAM software manages access governance, allowing only verified, authorized, and permissioned users to access company assets. This helps mitigate risks from external hackers or insider threats. 
 Productivity or enabling the workforce: In addition to improved security, companies that deploy IAM software to streamline the login experience, may lead to productivity gains with users. Having a simple to use security product with SSO requiring only one login and that also organizes the user’s corporate applications and accounts all in one place can save the user time and frustration.  
 Regulatory compliance: Many global governmental or industry regulations require companies to have security controls to be in place. Identity management is a major component of a well-rounded information security program.

How Many Identity and Access Management (IAM) Software Products Does G2 Track?

Category Stats (Sep 2026)

How Does G2 Rank Identity and Access Management (IAM) Software Products?

G2 Grid® for Identity and Access Management (IAM) Software

Zertid

Who Is the Company Behind Zertid?

Best Identity and Access Management (IAM) Software - Page 21