What is Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM)?

When so much of your business takes place online, you’ll want to ensure your customers’ experience is as seamless as possible. Any friction in the process will result in incomplete transactions and lost business. Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM) lets you build seamless customer journeys with minimal friction across multiple channels from any device or location while keeping your customers’ data safe and secure.

Throughout this article, we’ll explain what CIAM is, showcase its functionality, and highlight why it’s increasingly seen as an essential piece of kit in your online business arsenal.

Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM) is a specialized branch of Identity and Access Management (IAM) that focuses on managing and securing the digital identities of customers and other users outside of an organization. CIAM solutions cater to the unique needs of businesses that provide services or products to a broad customer base, such as eCommerce websites, online services, and mobile applications.

While both CIAM and IAM deal with identity and access management, CIAM is customer-centric in its approach and specializes in managing the digital identities of external customers. On the other hand, IAM is a broader concept encompassing identity and access management for all types of users within an organization, including employees and partners. The choice between CIAM and IAM depends on your organization’s specific needs and the user groups it needs to manage and secure.

CIAM empowers organizations to securely collect and oversee customer identity and profile information while maintaining strict control over customer access to various applications and services. As such, CIAM solutions brings together a diverse range of functionality, including:

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