Orchestrators: The Identity Keystone

T

he concept of identity, understood as an unequivocal and indisputable factor, which adheres to the person like a simple and solid layer, is becoming increasingly obsolete. As the digital world evolves, we are more aware that identity is in fact made up of a multitude of factors related to a person or an entity. Thousands of services require our precise identification to access them. Dealing with these processes is a real challenge for organizations and companies. The way in which identification and access protocols are created, they must fit specific contexts and deliver a positive user experience. Introducing new identification methods as enterprise systems evolve, is often time-consuming and costly, not to mention the potential security breaches that can arise.

This is where service orchestration comes into play and according to all indicators, the next big trend on the Internet. A technology that can be implemented on-premises or in the cloud. The future lies in companies with a single provider, powerful identity orchestration capabilities to automate procedures and the ability to facilitate the migration of apps to hybrid and multi-cloud environments. According to the Gartner consulting firm, by 2023, 75% of companies will be using these orchestration technologies to maximize accuracy, cost-effectiveness, speed and, certainly, without compromising security.

Orchestrators integrate and optimize workflows and are, by their own nature, an effective technology in the fight against fraud and money laundering, while reinforcing KYB and KYC (Know Your Business/ Costumer) practices.

Traditional identification methods do not meet today’s security requirements and are not a helpful barrier to frequent data breaches. Any protocol must be focused on ensuring that services are exclusively enabled for the person who requested them, and orchestrators are key to this challenge. They are the gateway for applications to identification systems, without having to adapt their configuration.

The orchestrator will decide what identification mechanism is required when a client or worker wishes to access an application or service. At the time of the request, the orchestrator will analyze the identification attributes and risks, and finally grant access, making it impossible for the applicant to be an entity other than the one it claims to be. It will be crucial for the complex task of identifying the company’s beneficial owners. This technology avoids having to manually reprogram each different identification system when a company updates its applications. In addition, the orchestrator allows new authentication methods to be introduced quickly and on demand.

Flexible and dynamic identity orchestration is, without a doubt, a useful tool for companies to design and monitor multiple identification technologies throughout their customer and supplier relationships. Implementing an orchestrator will minimize friction points in all registration and access processes, matching multiple options at once to verify identities such as phone numbers, email addresses or physical addresses, as well as integrating multiple verification solutions; for example, the presentation of an identity document along with biometric evidence such as a selfie. It will automatically check IP addresses and flag suspicious fraud activity (detect an uncommonly high transaction or one coming from an unknown or suspicious location). It will also leverage information from third parties, such as banks, to assure more reliable identifications. Financial services and other highly regulated sectors will benefit from the implementation of these technologies, which can carry out a wide variety of actions simultaneously, while assuming practically zero risk.

The main benefit of an optimal orchestration is the speed in the execution and implementation of its systems. This way a company knows if it has the right platform, when the time taken to launch a new feature or implement a change is considerably reduced.

The orchestrator will be the company’s centerpiece for all identity solutions or use cases; a technology capable of dealing with the complex relationships between customers and digital ecosystems, making their journey easier and safer.