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12/06/2026 10:16 pm
TL;DR: Gartner-linked analysis argues that identity-first security has become essential as remote and hybrid work forces enterprises to manage multiple credential types across apps, devices, VPNs, and mobile access, creating silos, help desk friction, and user workarounds, according to Axiad. The real issue is not just consolidation, but whether identity programmes can unify authentication without creating new lifecycle and support gaps.
NHIMG editorial — based on content published by Axiad: What you need to know about identity-first security and vendor consolidation
By the numbers:
- These credential issues lead to over 40% of users’ help desk calls.
Questions worth separating out
Q: How should teams simplify credential management without weakening security?
A: Teams should simplify around governance, not around convenience alone.
Q: Why do multiple authentication systems create operational risk?
A: Multiple authentication systems create risk because each one introduces its own accounts, policies, support process, and offboarding path.
Q: What breaks when onboarding and offboarding are handled in silos?
A: What breaks is accountability.
Practitioner guidance
- Inventory all credential types by business use case Map every authentication method in use across endpoints, cloud apps, VPN, mobile, and remote work tooling.
- Test onboarding and offboarding end to end Run joiner, mover, and leaver tests across the full credential estate, not just primary workforce accounts.
- Measure help desk volume against credential design Treat authentication-related support calls as a control signal.
What's in the full article
Axiad's full blog covers the operational detail this post intentionally leaves for the source:
- The vendor's detailed explanation of how remote work patterns changed credential demand across business applications.
- The specific credential management challenges tied to multiple authentication vendors and product silos.
- The full argument for centralising credential issuance and management in a single platform.
- The product-level discussion of future-proofing credential support as new authentication needs emerge.
👉 Read Axiad's analysis of identity-first security and credential consolidation →
Credential sprawl and identity-first security: what teams miss?
Explore further
13/06/2026 12:56 am
Identity-first security is really a lifecycle governance problem, not just an authentication design choice. Once employees use multiple credentials across apps, devices, VPNs, and mobile access, the real failure point becomes inconsistent issuance, support, and revocation. The programme risk is not only user friction, but the loss of a single accountable lifecycle model for access.
A few things that frame the scale:
- 91.6% of secrets remain valid five days after the targeted organisation is notified, showing a critical gap in remediation procedures, according to the Ultimate Guide to NHIs.
- Only 20% have formal processes for offboarding and revoking API keys, and even fewer have procedures for rotating them.
A question worth separating out:
Q: Who should own identity-first security across workforce and machine access?
A: Identity-first security should be owned jointly by IAM, security architecture, and operations, with clear responsibility for lifecycle and access governance. The same operating model should extend to non-human identities as the estate grows, because service accounts and future autonomous identities will inherit the same control expectations. Shared ownership is essential, but accountability must still be explicit.
👉 Read our full editorial: Identity-first security exposes the cost of credential sprawl
