ID Connect expects that 2021 is the year when companies seriously focus on user management and service integrations.

In 2021, it becomes even more apparent that our working conditions – and conditions in general – have changed significantly. In the aftermath of a year where we have been challenged to work from home, hire new employees through online meetings – with subsequent onboarding without perhaps having physically met the new employee, we expect that the new ways of working are here to stay.

The new working methods and approaches are not a problem in themselves, but they underscore the importance of having an agile platform that ensures employees have access to the tools necessary to create value for the business and customers from the day a new employee starts. This applies whether the company is private or public.

User management and service integrations may be perceived as an internal task or just a new IT project. But in reality, it is about something fundamental; namely, the security of the company. The security that is crucial when new services are adopted and the security required to comply with the increasing compliance requirements.

• The trends that will shape the solutions used in 2021 are, of course, influenced by both the pandemic and the experiences gained during lockdowns.
• There are also significant technological trends such as the modernization of the public IT architecture.
• The interaction between national standards and global standards has a massive impact on the possibilities in 2021.

Here, we highlight seven important trends in user management and security:

1. Digital onboarding of new employees

HR systems are in focus like never before. There is a competition for talent, and significant resources are spent on attracting the right employees. If the “chain breaks” as soon as an employee is hired and starts in their new job, everything can be wasted.

It is costly for all types of companies to attract the right employees. Therefore, a professional onboarding process, where the new employee has at least a PC, a phone, and access to relevant systems and services, is crucial for a successful start in the new job. IT onboarding of new employees will become part of the HR department’s focus and a natural lever for even closer collaboration between HR, IT, and Finance.

Download the PDF and read more about the benefits of digital onboarding. (Danish)

2. Validation of employees’ identity

With the transition from NemID to MitID and a new Nemlogin platform in Denmark, there are new requirements for validating our employees’ identity. The good thing about these new solutions is that they are based on global standards but with Danish modifications. This time, the Danish solutions are expanded with more options, which is beneficial for security and, ultimately, consumers.

There will be many new technological possibilities to validate employees. The driver’s license app is a good example that the technology is mature, and more services will be able to digitally validate employees with passports, driver’s licenses, or other digital methods.

3. Cloud-First strategy is established in the market – again, and despite doubts

Not even negative publicity can hold back good solutions, and the compelling arguments for using Cloud cannot be refuted by fear. Security typically improves significantly when using modern Cloud Services, and in 2021, it will become clear that the problem is not the Cloud.

The focus shifts to information security, and the conversation is focused on how processes and technology can reduce the risk of data loss while maintaining flexibility and agility to support growth and better solutions. The interaction between in-house solutions and Cloud Services remains crucial, and despite doubters, Cloud-First will be prioritized again to increase competitiveness or improve services for the benefit of customers and citizens.

4. Passwords are partially phased out – MitID takes over the rest

Most solutions support Multifactor Authentication as an additional validation when logging into a service with a username and password. Private services like FaceBook, Google, and others push these types of solutions to avoid the loss of security and credibility when users on their platform are compromised due to a hacked password.

2021 will be the year when users no longer accept passwords. They will disappear from everyday professional solutions, just as we see on phones with facial recognition. Ease of use, user satisfaction, and security will prevail, and services requiring additional validation can easily be confirmed with MitID. Higher validation requires a physical device, and we will again see the use of cards or devices to validate access to, for example, health data.

5. Identity Governance is based on organization and leadership hierarchy

Even smaller organizations will see that responsibility for who has access to systems and information lies with the managers responsible for each employee. With this in mind, it becomes clear that it is not only about hiring an employee and granting fast and accurate access to necessary systems. It is also about being able to deploy awareness programs, training programs, etc., to the right employees based on updated data.

Similarly, for Identity Governance processes, it is important that the organization and leadership hierarchy are correctly included in the decision-making process. It should be the individual leader who approves that an employee has access to the necessary systems to perform their job.

6. User interface becomes crucial for security

To achieve an acceptable level of security, it is essential that the organization offers its employees tools that are intuitive and easy to use in practice. This will support data being maintained instead of accumulating due to resistance or a lack of training in system use.

In the end, the user determines whether updates and usage are prioritized, and the easier it is for users, the better the data foundation that becomes the basis for the organization’s ability to control the controlled use of systems and access to information. The premise for success is that users compare the organization’s IT systems with the services they use privately – and it must not be more challenging at work. The large solutions in the market that are too expensive to bring up to a contemporary level are already being phased out – the last chance is to give them away before they are shut down. It will not be pleasant to be left as a customer.

7. Ecosystems and interfaces equal competitiveness

Never before has it been more important to buy “open” solutions and assess the new technological possibilities for every purchase in terms of interfaces and integration options.

Few systems quickly become many different integrations through (micro)services, and the world is not based on system-to-system integration but on service-to-service integration. In practice, ensuring that the right interfaces are available in the solutions you use and that your architecture is service-based will allow you to overcome most challenges.

It will become cheap and fast to integrate your existing partners with each other, and the benefit is centralized access to both data and services – with your data at the center. API and identity will become your new firewall in a properly implemented Cloud-First strategy, and openness will provide increased competitiveness at a lower cost. ID Connect is based on the fundamental premise of ensuring that the IT systems that already exist are made available to the organization and in a language that is also understood by the business.