The 42nd Edition of the Identity Jedi Newsletter ( Jackie Robinson Edition)

Customer Needs vs Customer Wants

I’ve always wondered about this anomaly in business for a customer to want something they don’t need. I mean I guess I really shouldn’t be surprised as this is a human trait as well. How much stuff do we have in our houses that we really wanted at the time, but don’t really need?

Capitalism compels us to feed into this fallacy. If I build what you need, and you as a customer don’t buy it, then I go out of business. However, if I build what you want, I stay in business. Ok..fine.

However, when we are talking about security, this makes absolutely no fucking sense. The stakes are too high to give in to this fallacy. Yet clearly the last two decades have taught us that we don’t care about the stakes right? Let’s just keep letting breaches happen, and delivering subpar security and identity products because “ That’s what the customer wants”

Who’s really to blame?

Is it the customer for not understanding what they need isn’t what they want?

Is it the vendor for not doing a better job at marketing the customer needs?

Is it the SI’s for not being the trusted advisors to explain the difference between the needs and the wants?

How about Ourselves for being complicit in all of this and just watching the wheel go round and round?

It’s time to take a stand and make sure that the customers are getting what they need, even if it deviates from what they want. Let’s make sure we put the data and security of our customers first, and use this as an opportunity for us to drive real change. We must not just accept the status quo but fight for what is right.

It might not be easy, but it’s the only way to ensure that our customers are getting what they need and that we can all strive for a better future together. So let’s take this moment to step up and lead the charge for change. Let's make sure our customers have what they need - now and in the future

DecentraliZed Identity

The whole S vs Z thing kills me..lol.

Great summary article by Gal Helemksi of PlainID talking about the aspects of decentralized identity. I’ve got tons of followup questions after reading this around on what PlainID’s take on that market is. With the adoption of the decentralized pattern, authorization becomes immensely important, and really critical to being able to achieve many of the use cases that are mentioned. Might be time to reach out and get PlainID on the pod…

Oh Healthcare…

I will always have a special place in my heart for IAM practitioners that work at Healthcare institutions. In my experience the leaders of IAM programs in Healthcare have three issues to face: 1) The growth of identities and managing the risk, just like everyone else 2) The lack of expertise of identity in the healthcare space. 3) The very heavily compliance-driven nature in which they work.

I won’t even talk about Epic….

(shudder)

A good article on the importance of IAM in healthcare and they challenges they face.

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