In today’s fast-paced business environment, integrating new applications and software into an organization’s existing ecosystem is crucial for maintaining a competitive edge.

Application onboarding, the process of familiarizing users with a new application, ensures seamless integration with existing systems. It facilitates efficient and effective use within the organization’s security policies.

By leveraging Identity and Access Management (IAM) services, organizations optimize their application onboarding processes. Additionally, identity services investments maximize the value of software investments.

Organizations might use thousands of different applications based on the various needs of the organization and plans for future growth. Of course, application selection should be based on how well it aligns with the organization’s goals and existing infrastructure. However, consideration should also be given for how it will fit into the various roles, security policies and relevant regulations and standards.

Here are the key steps involved in application onboarding and how IAM services can streamline the process:

Installation and Configuration: Tailoring the Application to Your Organization

Installing the application on relevant devices and configuring it according to the organization’s requirements forms a vital step in the onboarding process. IAM solutions play a critical role in this stage by allowing administrators to define user roles and permissions, as well as customize the application’s settings, ensuring that users have the appropriate level of access and functionality.

Furthermore, Identity Governance and Access (IGA) plays a vital role in application onboarding. IGA ensures that users have the appropriate level of access, maintains security, and facilitates compliance with relevant regulations and standards. By implementing robust identity governance processes and controls, organizations can streamline their onboarding processes. Strong IGA also minimizes potential risks associated with user access to applications and resources.

Integration: Seamlessly Connecting New Applications to Existing Systems

IAM solutions can also help organizations ensure that their new applications communicate and interact seamlessly with existing systems and infrastructure. By setting up APIs, data pipelines, or other integration mechanisms, organizations can create a cohesive ecosystem that supports efficient and effective use of the new application.

Data Migration: Safeguarding Data Integrity

If necessary, organizations must migrate existing data from other systems or formats into the new application. IAM solutions can assist with data cleansing, mapping, and validation to ensure data integrity and consistency throughout the onboarding process.

Training and Support: Empowering Users with Knowledge and Resources

Providing users with training materials, documentation, and resources helps them understand the application’s features and functionality. This forms an essential component of successful onboarding. IAM solutions can also offer ongoing support to address questions, troubleshoot issues, and assist with any challenges that arise during the onboarding process.

By providing a consistent user experience and interface across applications, IAM solutions make learning and adapting to the new application easier for users. This simplifies training and support efforts, accelerates user adoption, and reduces the impact of change on productivity.

Testing and Validation: Ensuring a High-Quality User Experience

IAM platforms can also facilitate User Acceptance Testing (UAT), performance testing, and security testing. Doing so ensures that the new application is functioning correctly, meets the organization’s needs, and enables your enterprise.

By simplifying the management of user access, streamlining the testing process, and enhancing security during the testing phase of a new application rollout, IAM tracks user activities, access history, and application performance. This information can be used to identify potential issues, bottlenecks, or inefficiencies in the application, enabling continuous improvement and optimization.

By leveraging IAM during UAT, organizations can ensure a more efficient, secure, and comprehensive testing process, increasing the likelihood of a successful application rollout.

Workflows: Increased Productivity with Simpler App Onboarding

Automating and streamlining various processes related to user access, authentication, and authorization enables one of the strongest KPIs of IAM. These practices, key components of the ideal IAM program, significantly enhance application workflows. By improving the efficiency and security of these processes, IAM solutions contribute to a smoother user experience and better overall application performance.

Consider developments like Single Sign-On (SSO), automated user provisioning and deprovisioning, centralized access management and enhanced security and compliance. By leveraging these technologies organizations optimize their application workflows, reduce manual tasks, and ensure a smoother, more efficient user experience.

Change Management: Smoothing the Transition to New Applications

A robust change in management strategy is necessary to facilitate a smooth transition from old systems to new applications. IAM solutions significantly contribute to these change management efforts. They provide a comprehensive approach to managing user access, roles, and permissions, and ensure a secure and compliant environment.

IAM solutions help in change management by enabling organizations to maintain a consistent approach to access control across all applications, old and new. This consistency reduces the risk of unauthorized access and ensures a smoother transition as users adapt to the new application. This in turn minimizes disruptions and potential security risks.

IAM solutions automate user provisioning, making it easier to create, modify, and remove user accounts and associated access rights for the new application. This streamlines the onboarding process, speeds up user adoption, and helps maintain accurate access rights throughout the change process.

IAM solutions support Role-Based Access Control (RBAC), which allows organizations to define access rights based on user roles within the organization. This simplifies the process of granting and managing access rights during the transition, ensuring that users only have access to the necessary resources and functionality in the new application.

Monitoring and Evaluation: Continuously Improving the Onboarding Experience

Organizations must continuously monitor the application’s performance, user adoption, and overall success. IAM solutions help collect feedback from users and capitalize on this information to make necessary improvements, updates, or adjustments to the application or onboarding process. This iterative approach enables organizations to address any challenges, refine their change management strategy, and drive ongoing improvements.

Ongoing Maintenance and Updates: Keeping Your Application Current

Keeping applications up to date by installing updates, patches, and new features as they become available is essential for maintaining their value. IAM solutions assist with new application integrations and help organizations regularly review and adjust the onboarding process to ensure it remains effective and efficient.

Application onboarding is a critical process that can significantly impact an organization’s ability to derive value from its software. By implementing robust identity access management processes and controls, organizations can streamline their onboarding processes and minimize potential risks associated with user access to applications and resources.

Talk to an identity advisor now and learn how to Simeio can provide you with the best Application Onboarding experience possible.