Video: HR professionals in the UAE can take the lead in protecting employee identity

Whether it’s a new hire, an employee being promoted, a staff member retiring or being terminated – the human resource (HR) department is usually responsible for tracking and maintaining all this information.

However, just because information is up to date in the HR system, it doesn’t mean that it’s the case across all IT systems and applications.

“Out of date information causes security risks and lost productivity for, not only your IT team but your entire workforce,” explains Justin Doo, territory manager, Middle East, Turkey and Africa at US-based identity management company Okta.

For example, while an employee might be terminated in one office, that news sometimes does not travel to the IT segment in another office – perhaps for a few months – posing a gaping security threat.

“Today’s employees and consumers demand seamless digital experiences that keep their data secure. To meet these needs, organisations must move towards a more robust and comprehensive security posture,” states Doo.

No one wants to be the next data breach-related headline. By adopting the zero-trust principle to “never trust, always verify,” organisations can reduce their risk – ensuring that the right users have access to the right resources within the right context.”

“More than 70 per cent of hacking-related breaches are caused by stolen credentials.

One of the main challenges is that while historically, information from on-premises HR systems was manually synchronised by IT with on-premises active directory and then to enterprise applications, companies are now adopting cloud-based applications—email, CRM, content management systems—that hold critical business and customer information.

It is therefore essential to ensure that employee information from HR and IT systems are integrated and in sync, states Doo.

Okta, which offers a cloud-based identity management platform, provides pre-built integrations between HR and IT systems. Multiple user credentials can be replaced with a single identity – all directly from the HR system. Any changes made to a user’s data within an HR system are automatically synced across applications.

The platform is also vendor neutral, offering pre-built integrations with over 6,500 applications including popular HR SaaS platforms such as Workday, SuccessFactors, UltiPro, BambooHR, Namely, and G Suite.

The company says it also has provisions to support other systems.

By implementing Okta, new hire onboarding can be almost instantaneous, allowing companies to get new employees productive from day one. Employee updates can also be synced, and user accounts can be automatically deactivated in a timely manner to reduce the risk of data loss, explains Doo.

In the UAE and across the region, Okta is primarily channel focussed. All business is executed with channel partners. This model ensures that local clients – including the likes of Dubai Airports – can receive service support at their convenience.

To learn more, visit www.okta.com