Identity Access Management (IAM) Modernization

Progress update - October 2023

Note: This is a non-workforce IAM project. 

• Approximately 20 evaluators, and over 30 observers from nine agencies participated in vendor demonstrations Sept. 18-26. A total of seven industry leaders showcased their IAM solutions demonstrating their ability to meet requirements for a modern, cloud-based solution(s) for identity management that is equitable, usable, supportable, and compliant with industry security standards.
• Based on scoring results, three Customer Identity Access Management (CIAM) vendors and one Identity Management (IDM) vendor were selected by the IAM Sub-Committee and Steering Committee to develop a Proof of Concept (POC) for the next stage of the evaluation process.
• In September, five small and medium agencies were added to the IAM Sub-Committee. The IAM sub-committee expansion members will join the evaluation team and participate in selecting the final IAM solution during the POC stage of the selection process.
• The IAM program plans to test the usability of the POC finalists in November. Usability tests will be completed by a third-party vendor known for their UI/UX expertise, who will evaluate the user experience of external-facing customers, including those using assistive devices. The test cases include user journeys for individual consumers accessing programs and public services across multiple agencies.

Overview

Since 2019, a renewed focus has been placed on cloud computing, data management, resident experience, privacy and cybersecurity.  In addition, there is increased recognition that consumers of Washington state services and our vendors expect to be able to interact with the state consistent with the basic levels of Identity Management provided by the private sector. 

There is a recognized need across the enterprise to modernize our Identity Management (IAM) capabilities to meet these expectations and to better manage access to systems and services in a controlled manner. 

Specific drivers of our need to modernize IAM include:

• Existing enterprise solutions are limited to email-based authentication.  The current model of federated identity verification has no single and comprehensive view of user identity.  This has resulted in a disjointed user experience as users manage multiple portions of their identity across disparate systems (trust model).
• Consolidation of access to state services using an updated resident portal that will be a front door for access to all state services and will be dependent on IAM functionality.
• Ever increasing need to mitigate access-related risks and potential fraud.
• Outdated policies driving increased waiver requests that increase barriers to delivery of services while proliferating siloed identity stores.
• Additional IAM functionality needed to realize benefits associated with migration toward cloud computing.
• Supporting the state’s Digital Equity goals by eliminating outdated technology and policies which increase barriers to services.
• Alignment to top priorities of national state CIOs. IAM is the National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) sixth ranked priority of their 2022 top 10 priorities.
• Mitigate identity sprawl by modernizing to meet federation needs and integration with other identity stores while maintaining a single source of truth for identity. 

Vision

IAM Strategic Vision: Washington residents can access state digital services efficiently with confidence that their information is protected and privacy is respected. The state reduces risk by verifying all users and authenticating all transactions while increasing digital equity and access to state services.  

Project goals in support of Strategic Vision:  Engage agency partners and complete a successful technology Proof of Concept resulting in contracts with technology and service providers necessary to modernize IAM technology and processes for the state of Washington.