Why Organizations Choose Avatier Configuration Over ForgeRock (PingIdentity) Customization

Identity and access management (IAM) has become a cornerstone of enterprise security strategy. As organizations navigate their digital transformation journeys, the choice between configuration-driven platforms like Avatier and customization-heavy solutions like ForgeRock (now part of Ping Identity following the 2023 acquisition) represents more than just a technical decision—it’s a strategic business choice with far-reaching implications.

The Configuration vs. Customization Dilemma

The fundamental philosophical difference between Avatier and ForgeRock approaches centers on how organizations implement and maintain their identity management infrastructures.

ForgeRock’s Customization Approach

ForgeRock built its reputation on flexibility and extensibility, offering organizations nearly unlimited customization capabilities. Their platform allows for deep tailoring of identity workflows, authentication chains, and authorization policies. However, this flexibility comes at a significant cost:

• Development Resources: ForgeRock implementations typically require specialized developers skilled in their technologies
• Extended Deployment Timelines: According to Gartner research, heavily customized IAM solutions take 2-3 times longer to implement than configuration-based alternatives
• Ongoing Maintenance Burden: Custom code requires continuous updates and testing with each platform upgrade

A 2022 Enterprise Strategy Group survey found that 73% of organizations that implemented highly customized IAM solutions reported significant challenges during version upgrades, with 42% experiencing production outages during these transitions.

Avatier’s Configuration-First Philosophy

In stark contrast, Avatier’s Identity Management Anywhere platform embraces a configuration-centric approach that fundamentally changes how organizations deploy and maintain their IAM infrastructure:

• No-Code/Low-Code Implementation: Business analysts and IAM administrators can configure the system without developer intervention
• Pre-Built Workflows: Avatier provides ready-to-use workflows that address common identity management scenarios
• Self-Service Capabilities: End-users and managers can perform common tasks without IT intervention

According to a Forrester Total Economic Impact study, organizations implementing configuration-driven IAM solutions like Avatier’s see an average 65% reduction in implementation time compared to customization-heavy alternatives.

The Total Cost of Ownership Advantage

When evaluating IAM solutions, organizations must look beyond initial licensing costs to understand the true total cost of ownership (TCO). This comprehensive view reveals some of Avatier’s most compelling advantages over ForgeRock.

Implementation Costs

ForgeRock implementations typically require specialized consulting resources with deep technical expertise in their platform. This professional services component often dwarfs the actual software licensing costs:

• ForgeRock: Average implementation cost typically runs 2-4x the annual license cost
• Avatier: Implementation costs average 0.5-1.5x the annual license cost

A 2023 KuppingerCole analyst report noted that ForgeRock customers spend an average of $250,000 to $1.2 million on implementation services for enterprise deployments, compared to $75,000-$350,000 for configuration-based alternatives in similar-sized environments.

Maintenance and Upgrade Costs

The long-term maintenance burden represents perhaps the starkest contrast between the two approaches:

• ForgeRock: Customized implementations require specialized developer resources to maintain and adapt code during upgrades
• Avatier: Configuration changes persist through upgrades with minimal intervention

According to IDC research, organizations spend an average of 18-22% of their annual IAM budget on maintaining customized solutions, compared to just 8-12% for configuration-based platforms.

Time-to-Value: The Implementation Timeline Gap

In today’s fast-paced security environment, the speed at which an IAM solution can be deployed and deliver business value is critical.

ForgeRock’s Implementation Timeline

ForgeRock implementations typically follow a traditional software development lifecycle:

1. Requirements gathering
2. Design
3. Development
4. Testing
5. Deployment

This process commonly spans 9-18 months for enterprise implementations, with the most complex deployments extending beyond two years.

Avatier’s Accelerated Deployment

Avatier’s Identity Management Architecture enables a fundamentally different implementation approach:

1. Configuration of out-of-box capabilities
2. Integration with existing systems through pre-built connectors
3. Business process alignment through workflow configuration
4. User acceptance testing
5. Production deployment

This streamlined approach enables most organizations to deploy core identity management capabilities within 3-6 months, with phased expansions following an agile methodology.

Business Agility and Adaptation

Perhaps the most significant long-term advantage of Avatier’s configuration approach is how it enables organizations to adapt to changing business requirements.

The ForgeRock Change Management Challenge

When business requirements evolve, ForgeRock customers often face difficult choices:

• Modify existing customizations (with associated regression testing)
• Rebuild components to accommodate new requirements
• Create workarounds that may compromise the integrity of the solution

This change management overhead creates friction between business needs and technical capabilities, often resulting in delays or compromises.

Avatier’s Adaptability Advantage

Avatier’s configuration-driven approach empowers organizations to adapt quickly:

• Business analysts can modify workflows directly
• New application connectors can be added without disrupting existing integrations
• Self-service capabilities can be extended to new user populations

This adaptability translates directly into business value. A recent study by Aberdeen Group found that organizations with configuration-based IAM solutions responded to new business requirements 3.2 times faster than those relying on customized platforms.

Security and Compliance Considerations

While both platforms can satisfy core security and compliance requirements, their approaches create meaningful differences in how organizations maintain their compliance posture.

ForgeRock’s Security Model

ForgeRock provides robust security capabilities but requires careful implementation:

• Custom security controls must be thoroughly tested and validated
• Compliance reporting often requires additional development
• Security updates may conflict with customizations

Avatier’s Compliance-Ready Approach

Avatier’s platform is built with regulatory compliance as a core design principle:

• Pre-configured compliance management features for major regulations (HIPAA, SOX, GDPR, etc.)
• Automated compliance reporting
• Regular security updates that don’t disrupt configurations

Organizations in highly regulated industries find particular value in Avatier’s approach. According to a 2023 KPMG survey, organizations with configuration-based IAM solutions spend 41% less time on compliance activities than those with heavily customized platforms.

User Experience and Adoption

The success of any identity management solution ultimately depends on user adoption and satisfaction. Here again, the configuration vs. customization approaches create meaningful differences.

ForgeRock’s User Experience

ForgeRock allows for highly customized user interfaces but requires significant effort:

• Custom UI development for specialized workflows
• Potential inconsistency across different system components
• Higher likelihood of performance issues due to customization complexity

Avatier’s Consistent User Experience

Avatier’s Identity Anywhere platform delivers a consistent, modern user experience:

• Responsive design that works across devices
• Consistent interface for all identity management functions
• Regular UX updates through normal platform upgrades

User adoption metrics reveal the impact of these differences. According to a 2023 Enterprise Management Associates report, IAM platforms with consistent, out-of-box user experiences achieved 24% higher user satisfaction scores and 37% faster user adoption rates than heavily customized alternatives.

Integration Capabilities and Technology Ecosystem

Both platforms offer extensive integration capabilities, but with different approaches and implications.

ForgeRock’s Integration Approach

ForgeRock provides open APIs and frameworks for custom integrations:

• Highly flexible but development-intensive
• Requires ongoing maintenance as integrated systems evolve
• Custom connectors for specialized applications

Avatier’s Connector-Based Integration

Avatier offers extensive pre-built connectors with configuration options:

• 250+ ready-to-use application connectors
• Standardized integration patterns that work across applications
• Regular connector updates as target applications evolve

The practical impact is significant: organizations using Avatier’s pre-built connectors typically integrate with business applications 4-6 times faster than those building custom integrations.

The DevOps and Container Advantage

Modern deployment models represent another area where Avatier’s approach creates significant advantages.

ForgeRock’s DevOps Complexity

While ForgeRock supports modern deployment models, customizations create challenges:

• Custom code must be maintained in CI/CD pipelines
• Container deployments require additional orchestration
• Infrastructure-as-code becomes more complex with customizations

Avatier’s Container-Ready Architecture

Avatier pioneered the Identity-as-a-Container (IDaaC) model, offering significant advantages:

• Containerized deployment without customization complications
• Simplified scaling and high availability
• Consistent behavior across environments (dev, test, production)

This architectural difference directly impacts operational efficiency. According to a 2022 DevOps Research and Assessment (DORA) study, teams deploying configuration-based applications in containers spent 68% less time on deployment activities and experienced 73% fewer production incidents than those deploying heavily customized applications.

Conclusion: Why Organizations Increasingly Choose Configuration Over Customization

The identity management landscape has evolved significantly over the past decade. While customization once seemed necessary to address complex identity requirements, today’s leading platforms like Avatier demonstrate that configuration-driven approaches can satisfy the same requirements with significant advantages:

• Faster implementation and time-to-value
• Lower total cost of ownership
• Greater business agility and adaptability
• Reduced compliance overhead
• Better user experience and adoption
• Simplified integration and maintenance

As organizations plan their identity management strategies, the choice between configuration and customization represents a fundamental decision with far-reaching implications. While ForgeRock’s customization-centric approach may appeal to organizations with highly unique requirements and abundant development resources, Avatier’s configuration-driven platform offers a more efficient, sustainable path for the vast majority of enterprise identity management needs.

By embracing Avatier’s approach, organizations can focus their resources on strategic identity initiatives rather than the technical maintenance of complex customizations—ultimately delivering greater business value and security outcomes.

Try Avatier today