Introduction to Access Control (v3)

As the name implies, Identity and Access Management (IAM) is split into two functions: managing identity information and performing access control. Arguably, if there was no access control requirement there would be no need for identity management. It is therefore the focus for IAM professionals. At its core, access control is ensuring users are authenticated to access protected resources. This is accomplished by managing user entitlements and satisfying the requirements of relying applications so that users can only access the systems and information they are entitled to access. This article looks at the history of access management, the expected current functionality, and the trends to be expected.