Report addresses gap between social media and enterprise risk management
Today Constellation Research announced the publication of a new research report: “The Consumerization of Identity” by Constellation Vice President and Principal Analyst, Steve Wilson. This report examines how the ‘irresistible force’ of social logon is colliding with the ‘immovable object’ of enterprise risk management, and explains what needs to be done before social identities can reach business grade.
This report reveals:
- Two dimensions of social logon: richness of identity data and depth of the social graph. Major social logons today may be strong in one dimension but not both
- Identity is a two way street: “Bring Your Own Identity” may be appealing but enterprises need not accommodate external identities if they pose a security risk
- Social logon and enterprise risk management are often at odds. Personal information is the lifeblood of social media companies. They offer social logon because it feeds them with new forms of valuable data. It’s early days: social logons are still very user centric, which is fine but they need to pay more attention to the risk management needs of enterprises.
- Businesses need to carefully understand the role of identification in transaction risk management. The future of social logon in the enterprise lies in richer, more relevant personal information or “attributes” being made available by social Identity Providers. Forward looking organizations will keep an eye on providers that can reveal more about users than simply their handles.
“There is nothing more personal than identity but identity online may not be what people think it is. Businesses use identification as part of their risk management regime; the identities provided by Facebook, Google, Twitter and so on are super convenient but they only scratch the surface of what enterprises really need to know. So I’m interested unpacking or “sequencing” social identity into useful pieces of information in different transaction contexts. The big social media brands are experimenting with how to monetize all that privileged knowledge they have about their members; one of the most tempting opportunities is to act as Identity Providers but stepping up from social logon to business grade identities is harder than it looks. My work is starting to uncover the hidden dimensions of social identity. My aim is to help businesses better understand their identification needs and identity providers to create sharper, richer identity services.” – Steve Wilson, report author, Vice President, and Principal Analyst, Constellation Research.
This report fits into Constellation’s business-focused research themes of the Next-Generation Customer Experience, Technology Optimization and Innovation, and the Future of Work.
ABOUT Steve Wilson
Steve Wilson is Vice President and Principal Analyst covering digital identity and data privacy. Steve’s current research focuses on the intersection of identity management and information privacy, the blending of workplace and social relationships, and new ways of sharing or federating identity information.
COORDINATES
Profile: https://www.constellationr.com/users/swilson
Twitter: @steve_lockstep
Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/in/lockstep
Geo: Sydney, Australia
THE REPORT
More information on The Consumerization of Identity here: https://www.constellationr.com/research/consumerization-identity