Can We Solve The Broken Identity Journey?

Does a converged authentication solution exist?

Identity systems are under more pressure than ever. With more users, devices, and AI-driven identities accessing more systems across a broader array of deployment models. But there’s a growing problem: the identity journey is broken.

The Fragmentation Problem

In many organisation, authentication is fragmented across multiple systems, tools, and environments. Employees move between physical access (badges, PINs) and digital systems (passwords, MFA, SSO), each with different processes for enrollment, login, and credential reset.

The result? A disjointed and inconsistent experience that creates what can only be described as credential chaos.

More Friction, Less Security

This fragmentation doesn’t just frustrate users—it actively undermines security.

Users are forced to manage multiple credentials and workflows, leading to frequent resets, workarounds, and mistakes. At the same time, IT teams struggle with rising support costs and operational complexity.

Critically, organisations lose end-to-end visibility of identity. There’s no reliable way to ensure that the person who entered a building is the same one accessing sensitive systems later.

Identity Assurance Breaks Down

Identity assurance—the confidence that someone is truly who they claim to be—depends on consistency across the entire access journey. But when authentication is siloed and inconsistent, that assurance collapses.

Security controls become difficult to enforce, measure, and scale. Integration between systems becomes fragile. Costs increase while trust decreases.

The Case for Unified Authentication

By unifying authentication across physical and digital environments, organizations can create a single, consistent identity journey. This results in:

• One cohesive authentication experience

• Centralized visibility and control

• Stronger, measurable identity assurance

A unified approach not only improves security but also reduces friction and enables future scalability—especially as non-human identities continue to grow.

---

This is a topic I wrote about in more detail in a recent analyst comment made for HID.

---

About The Author

Simon Moffatt has over 25 years experience in IAM, cyber and identity security. He is founder of The Cyber Hut — a specialist research and advisory firm based out of the UK. He is author of Consumer Identity & Access Management: Design Fundamentals and “IAM at 2035: A Future Guide to Identity Security”. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Information Security, a regular keynote speaker and a strategic advisor to entities in the public and private sectors.