Access Management in the cloud, backed up by Gartner.

Written by Laura | 02 December 2021

Microsoft has been named a Leader in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for Access Management, 2020. Partnering with best-in-breed tech innovators like Microsoft means that when they’re recognised for doing all the cool things we know and love them for, we feel it’s only right that we celebrate, too. Probably not in quite the same way…but by gosh are we there in spirit.

This is the fourth time Microsoft have taken home the accolade. And for folk like us who keep our ears to the ground and our noses in the air, it came as no surprise.

Getting the Gartner seal of approval says a lot. As the world’s leading research and advisory company, Gartner provide valuable insights to enable teams to make the right decisions and stay ahead of the curve. So it really is a big deal.

Identity and access management solutions in the cloud
And for this regal recognition as a Leader in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for Access Management, we have to thank the almighty Azure Active Directory – or Azure AD, as it’s affectionately known in the biz. It’s a complete identity and access management solution with integrated security. And it’s big…connecting a whopping 425 million people to their apps, devices and data, every month.

When configured and deployed correctly, great things can happen:

Protect and enable your workforce.
A quick and easy sign-in experience.
Reduce time and effort spent managing passwords.
Safeguard identities to ensure only verified users and trusted devices can gain access.
Unified and simplified identity management.
Keep apps and data more secure by improving visibility and control.

But it’s not just Azure AD that has helped Microsoft earn their stripes. Technologies like CASB, endpoint management and threat detection are all up there, keeping their adrenals pumped, their eyebrows furrowed and their chests puffed…ready to leap in to action as soon as they’re needed.

You’ve got it. But have you got IT right?
According to CrowdStrike’s Cyber Front Lines Report, 30% of businesses with antivirus solutions had them either incorrectly configured with weak prevention settings – or they hadn’t been fully deployed.

So it goes to say that of course, you can have all the security bells and whistles in the Microsoft armoury. But, if they’re not properly configured or deployed (say, things were set up quickly in the midst of a global pandemic, for example), business processes won’t be quite as easy – and they definitely won’t be as secure. But in our world, everything is fixable…with the help of your IT team, anyway.

The National Cyber Security Centre recommends the following:

Develop appropriate identity and access management policies and processes.
Consider using multi-factor authentication for all user accounts.
Use MFA and other mitigations for privileged accounts.
Implement security monitoring to detect potential malicious behaviour.

Want to know more about improving your cloud security? If you’d like to find out more about how we can help support your IT team to deliver secure cloud-based access and information protection solutions, book a quick call with us.

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