February 6, 2012 - A new IDC MarketScape report from IDC Financial Insights looks at identity and access management (IAM) and establishes vendor market positions based primarily on customer value delivered and future vision. IDC Financial Insights defines IAM as a comprehensive set of solutions used to identify users of a system and control their access to resources of that system by associating user rights and restrictions with an established identity.

"Identity and access management is a perpetual topic of importance to Chief Risk Officers and CISOs. Security failures and missteps involving identity systems, coupled with general technology trends and the huge investments banks make in these systems suggest that we are at the beginning of what could be a major shift in the way identity management is delivered and operationalized," said Michael Versace, director of Worldwide Risk Management Strategies for IDC Financial Insights.

This report looks at IAM as the backbone for all financial operations and interactions. As mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, consolidations, and compliance dominate the financial services landscape, IDC Financial Insights expect this market to grow and generate a broad set of opportunities both for established and emerging providers of IAM solutions. In 2010, the financial industry as a whole spent $2.2 billion on identity and access management products from all marketplace vendors, which represents 31.1% of the total spent on all information security products in 2010. This represents an 8.2% increase over the $2.1 billion spent in 2009.

IDC MarketScape criteria selection, weightings, and vendor scores represent well-researched IDC judgment about the market and specific vendors. IDC analysts tailor the range of standard characteristics by which vendors are measured through structured discussions, surveys, and interviews with market leaders, participants and end users. Market weightings are based on user interviews, buyer surveys and the input of a review board of IDC experts in each market. IDC analysts base individual vendor scores, and ultimately vendor positions within the IDC MarketScape, on detailed surveys and interviews with the vendors, publicly available information and end-user experiences in an effort to provide an accurate and consistent assessment of each vendor's characteristics, behavior and capability.