SailPoint: One in Five Employees Is 'Going Rogue' With Corporate Data

A new survey from identity and access management (IAM) solutions provider SailPoint has revealed there is a “clear disconnect” between cloud usage and IT controls in many businesses.

SailPoint’s “2014 Market Pulse Survey” of at least 3,000 employees worldwide showed that one out of every four workers admitted they would take copies of corporate data with them when they leave a company.

Survey researchers also pointed out that one in five employees is “going rogue” with corporate data and has uploaded this information to a cloud application such as Dropbox or Google Docs with the intent to share it outside the company.

“The challenge with cloud applications is that IT organizations must now manage applications that are deployed – and accessed – completely outside the firewall,” SailPoint President Kevin Cunningham wrote in a blog post. “Adding to the complexity, employees are starting to use consumer-oriented applications for work-related activities, creating a significant blind spot when it comes to risk.”

Other survey results included:

“The survey results are an eye-opener of how cloud applications have made it easy for employees to take information with them when they leave a company,” Cunningham said in a prepared statement. “In order to establish control over this ‘bring-your-own-app’ phenomenon, it’s critical to provide specific incentives for end users to follow corporate [policies] such as offering users a seamless login experience in exchange for using a central access control framework.”

Should MSPs offer IAM solutions?

Cunningham noted IAM strategies are vital for businesses that want to safeguard their corporate data because they allow companies to manage access to cloud apps “anytime, anywhere, via any device.”

Managed service providers (MSPs) also can offer IAM solutions to customers, which could give service providers an additional revenue stream.

MarketsandMarkets recently predicted the IAM market would be worth $10.39 billion by 2018, up from $5.13 billion last year, and MSPs that capitalize on the rising demand for IAM solutions could boost their profits.

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