Customer experience and integration between B2B and B2C should guide companies in the coming year
Geethika Cooray
Technologies related to identity and access have gained increasing prominence as companies seek to improve customer experiences, whether consumers or corporate. In her market remarks, Geethika Cooray, vice president and general manager, Identity and Access Management (IAM) at WSO2, a global leader in digital transformation technology, listed the top four trends in this segment in 2023.
1 – Training developers to create reliable digital experiences
A top priority for development teams in 2023 will be to combine robust security for their customers with seamless, personalized experiences, as well as greater control of personal information. We expect companies to look to customer identity and access management (CIAM) solutions with approaches low code that provide elements that facilitate the integration between applications and systems. This helps app developers make the most of their current skills, shorten the learning curve and accelerate development.
2 – Consumer experience in the corporate environment
Corporate customers are consumers too, so they expect their work environment to provide the same facilities and secure digital experiences they find in their personal lives. Therefore, companies must apply identity and access management best practices for all users. Examples include passwordless multifactor authentication options such as tokens or biometrics; single sign-on for multiple applications; customized access level by role or for third parties; and support for the mobile devices used by those who work remotely or in the office.
3 – Growing demand for CIAM B2B
As companies increase their presence online, they are exploring new ways to reach more customers through innovative partnerships. Therefore, adapting B2C to B2B CIAM solutions, with customer identity personalization and access management software, is a path that is being increasingly adopted, but it creates unnecessary complexity. The automation of CIAM technologies avoids this hurdle by supporting multiple levels of sub-organizations along with the ability to delegate CIAM administration to these entities. Only then will companies be able to leverage customers and business partners to scale business models and broaden their market reach, while adapting the customer experience to optimize engagement with different user communities.
4 – SaaS specialists will increasingly look to turnkey CIAM platforms to manage users
Software as a service (SaaS) is the predominant application delivery mechanism today, largely due to the benefits of the cloud, including scalability, flexibility, and agility. Many SaaS companies, whether B2B or B2C, have moved on to create their own CIAM solutions. However, in 2023, we can expect many SaaS companies, whether B2B or B2C, to turn to off-the-shelf commercial CIAM platforms and “outsource” CIAM to companies that specialize in it. With these solutions, developers can focus on their core products while CIAM platforms are updated with the latest government-defined privacy and consensus management features, such as those mandated by the General Data Protection Law in Brazil.
