CIAM: What You Need to Know to Build a Secure and Seamless Customer Experience

Your customers want one thing from your business regardless of the device or channel they use: a secure and seamless experience.  

But with all the high-profile security and data breaches the world has seen in recent years, customers are demanding better security and privacy when it comes to their personal information and digital experiences. Organisations that fail to provide next-level security and privacy for their customers will lose them. 

So now, more than ever, organisations are called to prioritise customer identity security.  

Traditional approaches to identity and access management — which were originally built solely for on-premises workspaces — are falling short.   

This prompted the rise of Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM).  

It’s a specialised branch of identity and access management (IAM) that focuses on managing identities, access privileges, and personal data across various digital channels. CIAM solutions are designed to provide secure and seamless customer experiences while protecting customer data and privacy.  

By providing secure and personalised experiences, your organisation can deliver convenient services while maintaining customer privacy and data security. 

In this article, we will explore the key aspects of modern CIAM, its benefits, and how ThunderLabs can be your trusted partner in building a secure and seamless customer experience. 

When it comes to putting identity front and centre, a modern CIAM solution needs to deliver the following capability. 

1. Frictionless user experiences 

A modern CIAM solution should prioritise frictionless user experiences to enhance customer satisfaction and engagement. By implementing intuitive and user-friendly interfaces, organisations can streamline the registration, login, and account management processes.  

This includes offering social log-in options, progressive profiling (collecting information gradually), and personalised recommendations based on user preferences.  

By reducing friction and simplifying interactions, organisations can enhance customer onboarding, retention, and overall satisfaction. 

2. Speed-to-market

In today’s fast-paced digital landscape, speed-to-market is crucial for gaining a competitive edge. A CIAM solution should provide rapid deployment and configuration capabilities, allowing organisations to quickly adapt to changing business requirements.  

Leveraging cloud-based CIAM platforms, organisations can achieve accelerated implementation, scalability, and flexibility. This enables businesses to launch new products and services rapidly, seize market opportunities, and stay ahead of the competition. 

3. CENTRALISATION OF ACCESS MANAGEMENT 

This is a key capability of a modern CIAM solution. It enables organisations to manage and control user access across multiple applications, platforms, and channels from a single unified interface.  

This approach simplifies administration, improves security, and reduces operational complexity. By leveraging this, organisations can enforce consistent security policies, monitor user activities, and mitigate the risk of unauthorized access or data breaches. 

4. INTERNET SCALE SECURITY

Security threats have become more sophisticated and widespread. A modern CIAM solution must provide internet-scale security to safeguard customer identities and sensitive data.  

This involves implementing robust security measures such as encryption, secure authentication protocols (such as OAuth, OpenID Connect, and SAML), and proactive threat detection mechanisms.  

Additionally, leveraging AI-powered anomaly detection and behaviour analytics can help identify and mitigate emerging security threats in real-time. 

Here are the key differences between a bad and good customer identity experience: 

Bad Customer Identity Experience 

• Forced account creation and password setup just to browse a website. 
• Multiple accounts and passwords required for different apps, websites, and portals within the same company. 
• Inconsistent login experiences and functionalities across devices. 
• Lengthy registration process demanding excessive personal information. 
• Needing to contact customer service for password resets or corrections. 
• Mandatory SMS passcode entry with each login, regardless of location or device consistency. 

Good Customer Identity Experience 

• Simple and streamlined registration process, collecting only essential information. 
• Convenient face recognition or biometric authentication on smart devices. 
• Secure verification through text message or email for sensitive financial transactions. 
• Unified access to all services within a business through a single account.