Cloud News
CRN’s 2021 Products Of The Year
Wade Tyler Millward, Kyle Alspach
CRN staff compiled the top partner-friendly products that launched over the past year, then turned to solution providers to choose the winners.
SECURITY - IDENTITY AND ACCESS MANAGEMENT
MICROSOFT DEFENDER FOR IDENTITY
WINNER: OVERALL
A centerpiece of Microsoft’s security strategy, the Microsoft Defender for Identity offering—previously Azure Advanced Threat Protection—enables protection of on-premises identities and correlation of signals with the Microsoft 365 productivity suite. Key capabilities include eliminating on premises vulnerabilities to proactively halt cyberattacks, as well as threat assessment to enable security operations teams to focus on the biggest legitimate threats. Using analytics and data intelligence to prioritize threats, Microsoft Defender for Identity allows security teams to rapidly respond to incidents, investigate the riskiest users (using a score that’s based on their behavior and previous incidents) and efficiently hunt for threats with advanced queries.
Subcategory Winner—Customer Need: Okta Identity Cloud
Key updates have included the launch of an access gateway to easily connect on-premises legacy and custom-built applications to the Okta Identity Cloud. Okta has also expanded its portfolio with the rollout of Okta Devices SDK, letting developers enable passwordless authentication through branded push notifications with biometric capabilities.
Finalist: CyberArk Identity Security Platform
The CyberArk Identity Security Platform provides secure access for all applications and across both cloud and on-premises environments. Recent updates to the platform have included new offerings such as Dynamic Privileged Access for provisioning access hybrid and cloud workloads that is “just in time,” lowering the risk of standing access.
Finalist: ForgeRock Identity Cloud
The ForgeRock Identity Cloud recently received enhancements focused on minimizing downtime and modernizing DevOps practices while enabling secure digital experiences for users. New cloud- and AI-driven capabilities have been added to help simplify identity journeys so that users can more quality access what they’re looking for.
Finalist: ThycoticCentrify Platform
With the recent merger of Thycotic and Centrify, ThycoticCentrify offers privileged access management solutions for cloud-driven identity security. Recent enhancements have included the addition of new privilege management security capabilities for the Thycotic Privilege Manager solution, expanding protections for workstations and streamlining reporting for security and compliance across operating systems.
