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Definition: IAM TCO is the total cost of the organization’s IAM services, independently of the organizational structures supporting them.
This gives us the equation:
where:
is the IAM Total Cost
is the function that returns the cost of an activity
is one activity
is the set of all IAM activities
From this definition, we immediately see how important it is to define what the “set of all IAM activities” is. This concept will be analysed in greater details in the § Listing IAM Activities section below.
In contrast, large Large and mature organizations have IAM programs in place, run by IAM managers with clearly defined IAM processes. IAM managers do have a genuine need to measure the costs of the program that is under their responsibility. But the scope of IAM programs differ from organization to organization and may change in time. For instance, some organizations consider PAM as a sub-component of IAM. Others consider CIAM as a sub-component of IAM. And it is legitimate for organizations to define their IAM programs in the way that makes sense in view of their unique constraints.
Definition: IAM Program Cost is the total cost of a program designated as IAM that has a defined scope. That scope may be distinct from the organization’s overall IAM scope, that is some activities traditionally linked to IAM may be out-scoped and other activities traditionally not linked to IAM may be in-scoped.
This gives us the equation:
where:
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is the IAM Program Cost
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Direct
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versus
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Indirect Cost
For cost measurement purposes, the distinction between direct costs and indirect costs is important because the measurement methods are distinct (Foussier, 2006, chapter 2, Cost Measurement).
Definition: IAM Total Direct Cost (or similarly IAM Program Direct Cost) is defined as the expenditures that are fully dedicated to IAM (e.g. IAM dedicated personnel, IAM software licenses, etc.).
Definition: IAM Total Indirect Cost (or similarly IAM Program Direct Cost) is defined as expenditures that are not fully dedicated to IAM (e.g. general administration, general IT infrastructure costs required to support IAM systems, etc.).
From these definitions, we may derive the equation of IAM Total Cost (or similarly IAM Program Cost):
Where:
is the IAM Total Cost
is the IAM Total Direct Cost
is the IAM Total Indirect Cost
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Cost Categories
From this definition, we immediately see how important it is to define what the “set of all IAM activities” is. This concept will be analysed in greater details in the § Listing IAM Activities section below.
Measuring the IAM Total Direct Cost
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