IGA on ServiceNow: 6 Reasons to Reduce Risk and Buy, Not Build

Organizations all over the world are transforming their business with ServiceNow. In Q3 2020, ServiceNow reported 31% growth in year-over-year subscription revenue, along with expanded partnerships with a range of big-name clients. These transformations are not just focused on the core ServiceNow ITSM solution, either– solutions such as HR, Compliance and Security are increasingly part of the picture.

Long forgotten are the days where ServiceNow was just another ticketing system. It is now the platform that makes work flow. Aligning the business under a unified platform breaks down silos, provides a single pane of glass across the enterprise, and offers a single standard to automate, maintain and train.

As companies search for a platform that provides these benefits, they often decide that Identity Governance, too, should be driven through ServiceNow. Many assume that this decision requires you to build these capabilities on the platform – but that may not be the most effective approach. Many do not know you can speed up the time to this vision by leveraging an off-the-shelf IGA solution built natively on the Now Platform.

6 Reasons to Buy, Not Build

A decision to build an IGA solution versus buying one is equivalent to buying a software development team. And this “all-in” commitment is more than just the cost of a development team building a solution. There is also the ongoing costs of maintaining and improving that solution, handling ServiceNow platform upgrades and testing, and addressing the technical debt you incur in building any solution.

Death, taxes, and change are sure things in life. In the business world, the reality is that nothing is surer than change: Org structures change, business applications change, the way you interact with customers changes, and so on. This affects development shops that cannot help but build their solution to support their business at this moment in time. This process typically ends with years of effort and many dollars spent on a new solution to an old problem.

Clear Skye’s off-the-shelf IGA solution has been designed to support all organizations and any IGA process. This saves you time and money when the inevitable change happens. Instead of going back to the development drawing board, you simply change your configuration to match the updated business needs.

There are five other benefits to buying an off-the-shelf solution.

Ongoing Identity Management Expertise
Problem: Identity Management skillsets are difficult to find, and it may not make business or financial sense to keep these experts on staff once a solution has been implemented. Additionally, the regulations and best practices related to governance evolve constantly, which requires people to stay up to date or put the company at risk.

Solution: With Clear Skye, you leverage our experienced experts for the life of your program, not just during initial development.

Lower Support Costs – and Faster Resolution
Problem: Companies that want to build their own solutions frequently underestimate the cost of long-term support. It is difficult to staff a team of the right size and skillset that scales to peak demand but does not cost too much during non-peak times.

Solution: With Clear Skye, you can leverage a team intended to support hundreds of customers without having to pay the fully burdened cost of that team. Also, since our team supports many customers, it is far more likely that your support issues have already been solved, which means a faster resolution time.

Knowing What’s for ServiceNow and What’s for Security
Problem: In most organizations, the IT security (identity) and the ServiceNow platform teams are in different reporting structures. One challenge of delivering IGA on ServiceNow is ensuring that the right people drive their appropriate part of the solution.

Solution: Clear Skye has had four years of development experience. We know exactly what portions of the IGA process need to be controlled by security people and what portions need to be driven by the platform owners.

Validation from an External Partner
Problem: When you build your own solution, you do not get any third-party certification or review of your application’s security or development practices. This can make it difficult to determine if you have met appropriate industry standards or best practices.

Solution: As a “Built on Now” certified store application, the Clear Skye solution has been reviewed by ServiceNow to ensure that we have followed ServiceNow’s security and development best practices.

A Solution For the Needs of Tomorrow – Not Just Today
Problem: There is no guarantee that the solution you build will meet your long-term needs, or that your will be able to support a home-grown solution over time. This makes building your own IGA solution a risky proposition.

Solution: ServiceNow is invested in your success – and the company has made a financial investment in Clear Skye. You may purchase Clear Skye on your ServiceNow contract, using the same terms and conditions you have already negotiated. ServiceNow’s support organization will support Clear Skye customers and will also provide business continuity services for Clear Skye.

IGA should be on ServiceNow, but that doesn’t mean you have to build it yourself. At Clear Skye, we have a singular focus on IGA, and we firmly believe you are much more likely to succeed with Clear Skye’s IGA solution than with your own. Read our newest customer success story to learn more about why we believe our solution is #ABetterWaytoIGA.