Organizations typically run IAM programs. Such programs may have widely varying scopes between organizations and across time. Keeping track of the total direct costs of these programs is a critical managerial necessity.
Because IAM is composed of process clusters, it may be interesting to keep track of is interesting to allocate costs at both the global and cluster levels (providing that the organization does manage these clusters). The IAM TCO indicator is composed of the following series:
IAM Program Cost = The direct cost of the overall IAM Program.
Core IAM Program Cost = The direct cost of the core IAM Program.
PAM Program Cost = The direct cost of the PAM Program.
Federation IAM Program Cost = The direct cost of the Federation IAM Program.
CIAM Program = The direct cost of the CIAM Program.
Benchmarking
This indicator is not comparable between organizations because program scopes may differ widely. See OM-IND-0003: Identity Average TCO (Indicator) for a distinct flavor of this indicator that is adequate for benchmarking purposes.
This indicator may not be comparable over time if the program scope changes.
If the indicator consolidates costs in multiple currencies, the effect of foreign exchange rates may be significant. Depending on the indicator’s usage (e.g. measuring global versus regional performance in large organizations), this effect need to be specifically accounted for (i.e. historical forex rates vs current forex rates).
Negative Effects
The cost of the IAM Program may be confused with the total cost of IAM for the organization, which may mislead top management. See IAM Cost Measurement Methodology for a discussion on this topic.