It was quite a week in Las Vegas for the annual Gartner Identity and Access Management (IAM) Summit. While Avatier may not have been exactly a household name going into the conference, we certainly did our part to spread the message about the innovative ways the company is taking on IT Cyber Security, User Provisioning, Password Management, Compliance Governance and Enterprise Risk Management.
With key members of the Fortune 500 present at the summit including Visa, Caesars, United Airlines, and many others, all of which have expressed discontent with how IAM is currently handled, Avatier CEO Nelson Cicchitto got things started with the keynote address for Day 1.
Speaking to an estimated crowd of more than 200 (twice as many people as had attended last year’s keynote), Avatier got its first taste of how familiar it was to those in attendance. When asked who in the room had NOT heard of Avatier, nearly all 200 raised their hands. The clear minds in the audience merely provided Cicchitto with the opportunity to set the stage for a very new world and a broader definition of IAM that includes MDM, Cloud App, Physical Access and more.
Along the way, Cicchitto explained that access management software is moving away from a technology-based, IT-only tool to a more user-centric model that is more adaptable to the identity and access management needs of organizations because self-service user provisioning and self-service group management software provide increased transparency while improving access management cyber security. He noted that while the model is becoming more user-centric, the transparency actually allows for faster adoption of new technology and because it ensures trust, automates access provisioning and provides the identity context to render business decisions more effective.
Equally well attended was Avatier’s User Presentation later that morning. The solution provider session titled, "Leveraging Today’s Megatrends to Drive the Future of Identity Management," featured a presentation from one of Avatier’s health care customers who put changes in the Identity Management space into perspective with stories from his experiences on the job. The 150 or so who attended this session expressed their satisfaction with the presentation by monopolizing the full 20 minute Q&A period that followed it.
In addition to the presentations, Avatier’s booth was hopping throughout the show with demos taking place constantly throughout our time on the floor. On Day 1, we were still entertaining interested summit attendees until we shut down at 8 p.m. The second day was equally busy with demos throughout the day in our booth and in private meeting areas. We probably could have gone just as late the second day had it not been for our after-hours tailgate party…
And what a party THAT was!
Roughly 270 of our "closest friends" and clients joined us for a festive night of great food and drink as well as a little gambling on our Madden 13 video football tournament. Prizes galore were handed out ranging from iPod minis to Game Stop gift cards. Everyone left a winner.
This year’s summit was definitely time well-spent for Avatier. We thank all who stopped by our booth and those who attended our party and invite you to come see us next year when the Gartner IAM Summit comes to Las Vegas again.
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