Assessing the risks and opportunities of Cloud Computing — Defining identity management systems and maturity models

Despite the potential that Cloud Computing has for revolutionizing every aspect of the software industry, there are significant shortcomings in the area of security and risk assessment and mitigation. The basic value proposition of Cloud Computing is that by leasing applications online, companies have the potential to significantly reduce their operating costs. What is not often pointed out however is the fact that identity management on Cloud Computing platforms is still in its nascent or very embryonic stages. Often identity management systems fail to fully protect all assets of a given Cloud Computing platform as role-based access has yet to be defined and implemented. Lacking is a protocol stack of Cloud Computing Identity Management and a maturity model to assist organizations in assessing their relative levels of risk. The intent of this analysis is to provide the frameworks for both the protocol stack and maturity model for Cloud Computing platforms.