Higher education is under fire from many directions. Financial pressures, declining federal funding, enrollment uncertainties, political polarization, and changing research priorities are reshaping the very foundation of our institutions. As Harvard’s Dr. Andrea Baccarelli recently observed, “the financial environment for higher education has shifted significantly… we must be prepared for a long and uncertain road ahead.”

For CIOs and IT leaders, these pressures translate into a clear mandate: do more with less, protect the institution’s reputation, and ensure technology supports the mission of teaching, research, and healthcare. Every technology investment must be tied to efficiency and measurable value.

Yet in this environment, many institutions still struggle to fully understand one of the most fundamental enablers of mission success: Identity and Access Management (IAM) and its companion discipline, Identity Governance and Administration (IGA).

The Cost of Misunderstanding Identity Management

Recent RFPs across the sector reveal the gap. Institutions ask for an “identity warehouse” but then describe requirements for lifecycle management, provisioning, deprovisioning, role enforcement, and compliance reporting—the very heart of an IGA platform. Others treat IAM as little more than authentication and passwords, ignoring governance altogether.

This isn’t just a terminology problem. Misunderstanding IAM/IGA has consequences that extend far beyond IT:

• Security risk – Incomplete deprovisioning and duplicate accounts open the door to data breaches and compliance failures.
• Operational inefficiency – Manual workarounds and multiple identities waste valuable staff time and frustrate faculty, students, and clinicians.
• Financial instability – Poorly scoped identity projects often overrun budgets or deliver little measurable value, draining already scarce resources.
• Mission impact – Students delayed in accessing systems, researchers locked out of collaboration, or clinicians struggling with fragmented credentials all undermine the core mission of the university.

When institutions don’t fully understand IAM/IGA, they don’t just put IT projects at risk—they jeopardize the financial stability and mission support of the entire institution.

IAM vs. IGA: A Needed Distinction

To avoid these pitfalls, CIOs and IT leaders must insist on clarity:

• IAM ensures the right people can log in and access the right systems (authentication, authorization, SSO, MFA, federation).
• IGA governs the lifecycle of identities—onboarding, provisioning, access reviews, policy enforcement, and deprovisioning.

Together, they form the foundation of institutional trust. But each requires different capabilities and different expertise. Treating them as interchangeable invites project failure.

Best Practices for CIOs

To meet this moment, higher education leaders must treat IAM/IGA not as a back-office IT project but as a strategic initiative tied directly to efficiency, cost savings, and mission success. Key practices include:

1. Start with the Mission

Every IAM/IGA initiative should be framed around supporting teaching, research, healthcare, or knowledge preservation. Ask: how will this project reduce barriers for faculty? How will it enable students to access systems on day one? How will it keep clinicians and researchers secure and compliant?

2. Fix Data at the Source

Identity problems are often rooted in HR, SIS, or credentialing data. Don’t ask IAM systems to clean bad data. Instead, work with business owners to improve accuracy upstream.

3. Prioritize Lifecycle Governance Before Access Convenience

It’s tempting to chase single sign-on and MFA as visible wins. But without IGA in place to manage the identity lifecycle, access sprawl and risk will overwhelm the institution.

4. Plan for External Identities

Alumni, contractors, volunteers, visiting scholars, and patients are all part of higher education’s ecosystem. They need governance every bit as much as faculty and students.

5. Engage Certified Identity Professionals

IAM/IGA is not a generic IT function. It requires specialized skills, certifications, and real-world experience. General consultants without identity expertise can unintentionally increase risk, especially in complex environments like research universities with medical centers.

Where Fischer Identity Fits

This is where Fischer Identity brings unique value. For over 20 years, Fischer has focused exclusively on solving identity challenges—long before “cloud IAM” became an industry buzzword. We are not generalists. We are identity specialists with:

• Proven higher education expertise – Managing complex multi-role populations across universities and academic medical centers.
• A unified IAM/IGA platform – Handling lifecycle governance, provisioning, deprovisioning, RBAC/ABAC/PBAC enforcement, and authentication integrations—all without custom code.
• Strategic Advisory Services – Guiding CIOs and leadership teams to clearly define IAM vs. IGA, align projects to institutional mission, and avoid the costly misunderstandings that plague the sector.
• Industry leadership – Our team holds trademarks, certifications, and seats on worldwide professional identity boards, ensuring we bring best practices and global standards to every engagement.

The Leadership Imperative

CIOs and IT leaders are under pressure to optimize costs, protect security, and support the mission. Identity is not optional—it is the foundation of institutional efficiency and trust.

In this moment of financial uncertainty and operational strain, getting IAM/IGA right is one of the most impactful ways leaders can contribute to the sustainability and success of their institutions.

At Fischer Identity, we’ve built our reputation on helping higher education institutions meet this moment. We know the complexity. We know the mission. And we know how to deliver IAM/IGA success without costly customizations or failed promises.

Your mission deserves identity done right. Let’s talk about how Fischer Identity can help your institution clarify, govern, and secure identity in support of its mission.