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FROM TECH TALK TO BUSINESS IMPACT: How to Start an IAM Program — A Strategic Guide for Business and IT Leaders

Starting an IAM program doesn’t have to be overwhelming. This strategic guide breaks down how business and IT leaders can align on goals, identify key drivers, and build a roadmap that delivers real value. From technical foundations to executive buy-in, learn how to launch an identity program that supports long-term growth and security.
Mark Cox

Mark Cox

AVP, Strategic IAM Advisory Services

View author on LinkedIn

Launching an Identity and Access Management (IAM) program is not just an IT initiative—it’s a business transformation. Whether you’re in higher education, healthcare, finance, or government, a successful IAM program requires cross-functional alignment, stakeholder engagement, and a shared vision of success.

At Fischer Identity, we’ve guided countless organizations through this journey. Here’s our recommended strategic approach to starting an IAM program that delivers measurable business value.

Step 1: Discover the Real Pain Points

IAM programs shouldn’t start with technology—they should start with listening.

Engage stakeholders across departments—HR, IT, compliance, legal, finance, and academic or clinical leadership—and ask:

  • Where are we struggling with onboarding or offboarding?
  • Are we confident that the right people have the right access at the right time?
  • How do we handle contractors, vendors, or dual-role users (e.g., student-employees)?
  • Are we meeting our compliance obligations (HIPAA, FERPA, GDPR, NIST)?
  • How much manual effort does IAM require today?

Capture these pain points and group them into themes such as security risks, operational inefficiencies, data quality gaps, or user experience challenges.

Step 2: Form a Cross-Functional IAM Committee

Establish an IAM steering committee that includes representatives from business units and IT. This group should:

  • Review the documented pain points
  • Score them based on risk, business impact, and urgency
  • Identify opportunities for automation, self-service, and compliance improvement
  • Establish a Top 10 Priority Use Case list to define the goals of your IAM program

This collaborative process ensures alignment, builds buy-in, and frames IAM as a strategic business initiative—not just a backend IT tool.

Step 3: Validate the IAM Goals Across the Organization

Before selecting a solution, socialize the goals across your organization:

  • Present the Top 10 IAM objectives to leadership, end users, and system owners
  • Gather feedback and refine use cases
  • Confirm that key business stakeholders are invested in solving these problems

This ensures that IAM is seen as a business-wide effort—not another IT project imposed from above.

Step 4: Define Essential IAM Capabilities for Your Environment

When evaluating IAM vendors, make sure they can deliver all core identity lifecycle and access governance capabilities, including:

  • Remote identity validation & identity proofing
  • Self-service, secure account claim workflows
  • Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) enablement & management
  • Automated provisioning & deprovisioning
  • Role-based and policy-based access control (RBAC/PBAC)
  • External identity management (contractors, vendors, volunteers)
  • Integration with HR, SIS, CRM, and other systems of record
  • Regulatory compliance support (HIPAA, FERPA, PCI-DSS, etc.)
  • Identity matching to avoid duplicates or ghost accounts
  • Real-time synchronization and event-driven updates

IAM isn’t just about passwords—it’s about trust, security, efficiency, and accountability.

Step 5: Evaluate Vendors Through Use-Case Demonstrations

When you’re ready to explore solutions, don’t settle for a demo that looks good on paper. Instead:

  • Provide your Top 10 Use Cases to vendors in advance.
  • Ask them to walk through exactly how their solution handles those scenarios.
  • Request higher education or healthcare-specific references, if relevant to your organization.

Ask probing questions like:

  • Do you support this functionality natively or is it a bolt-on?
  • How much custom code is required?
  • How do you ensure clean integrations with Workday, Banner, Active Directory, etc.?
  • What’s your average deployment timeline? Fixed fee or time-and-materials?

Vendors should be evaluated not just on features—but on fit, agility, and ability to understand your business.

Step 6: Choose a Partner—Not Just a Product

IAM success is about more than technology. It’s about working with a vendor who:

  • Listens to your needs
  • Understands your industry
  • Supports rapid configuration without custom code
  • Delivers enterprise-level support and advocacy
  • Evolves with your roadmap and regulatory demands

At Fischer Identity, we offer a no-code, fully configurable IAM platform that supports hybrid environments, external identities, real-time provisioning, and compliance out-of-the-box. Our fixed-fee model ensures predictable costs, and our proven methodology delivers results in 6–9 months—not years.

From Planning to Impact

Starting an IAM program is an opportunity to solve long-standing issues, improve security, and modernize how your organization manages identity.

By leading with business value, engaging the right stakeholders, and selecting a partner who can deliver across the entire IAM lifecycle, your organization can build a scalable, secure, and future-ready identity program.

Need help getting started? Contact Fischer Identity—we’ll help you align your IAM goals with strategic outcomes and set you up for long-term success.

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  • Provides full life cycle management and a complete compliance framework.
  • Utilizes configuration-based setups with pre-built workflows and integrations.
  • Reduces help desk calls by utilizing an intuitive and user-friendly interface.
  • Handles complex IAM requirements without custom coding.
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